In Search of Hāpuʻu

Curtis took the morning shift today, so I was able to start my search for a replacement hāpuʻu for Kelly. I went to check out the 6-foot tall hāpuʻu that the Native Plants Hawaiʻi website said was available at Hui Kū Maoli Ola. It wasnʻt; that was apparently a part of the website that has not been updated in a while. Malia at Hui Kū Maoli Ola said its been several years since they have had any that size; right now they have none at all. The website said the hāpuʻu were "rescued from forest clearing to harvest Eucalyptus"; the Big Island is the only place that I know that has eucalyptus groves that could be harvested. Malia recommended checking Waiāhole Botanicals.


While at Hui Kū Maoli Ola I also checked out the peʻahi fern and talked to Malia about having their crew on the Big Island work with me on moving Grandmaʻs hāpuʻu and also making starts off of it. I will be calling or e-mailing with them later to set that up. I think I will get some peʻahi or palapalai for Dadʻs house to put in the front in the area that gets all the runoff from the roof.

At Waiāhole Botanicals I met Jen; she had some hāpuʻu! Unfortunately the only ones she has have trunks that were not quite 1-foot tall, although the fronds reach up to about 5 feet tall; they were very healthy looking plants. She said these spore-grown plants are several years old; they grow at this faster rate when they are younger. She said they are no longer shipping hāpuʻu from the Big Island due to the little fire ant as well as rapid ʻōhiʻa death, so spore grown plants are the only things available now on Oʻahu. She said about 3 years ago was when they got their last shipment of large hāpuʻu from the Big Island. But she did recommend checking The Plant Place to see what they have available; that will be next weekʻs excursion.

The hāpuʻu.

The precipitation during the morning walk was half way between a mist and a drizzle; I didn't really get soaked through but I was a little damp. There were only 2 very brief, ~2 minute periods when it actually rained. I only saw the Dog Pack out today; there are between 2 to 4 humans and 4 to 6 dogs in the Dog Pack. I found a flattened katydid and unknown bird.

Hmmm, whereʻs the sun?

It wasnʻt visible from Sierra either.

Katydid.

Unknown bird.

When it is drizzling or raining is a good time to trace the route of a drainage system; so I did that during my morning walk starting at Maunalani Circle. I was unable to find the catch basin on Matsonia (#6 on the map below); I drove by twice looking for it. I also did not take photos of the catch basins on the part of Wilhelmina to the east of the park (#10 thru 12) since I donʻt normally walk that route. And I totally missed the one on Maunalani Circle that heads off to the east (#18). The ditch that first started this all (#8) was flowing quite well. When I have photos of the rest of the catch basins Iʻll post them.

Portion of stormwater map; I have numbered the stormwater conveyance features.

Ditch #8 at 7:38 a.m. while it was drizzling.

During my mid-morning walk it was back to warm & sunny; no precipitation to be seen. I checked out the ditch and it was still flowing though not as much as it was during the precipitation event.

Ditch #8 at 10:26 a.m., about 3 hours after the drizzle stopped.

I had lunch from the Waiāhole Poi Factory; its across the street from Waiāhole Botanicals. I order the #4 combo which has the heʻe lūʻau, a side of hoʻio salad, and a Sweet Lady of Waiāhole. I ate the Sweet Lady of Waiāhole while there; have to get that kulolo while its warm and the ice cream hasn't totally melted.

Sweet Lady of Waiāhole.

Combo #4 with hoʻio salad.

My afternoon walk was short & hot. Since I had gotten back a little later than I expected, I skipped the Maunalani Circle portion of this walk. There was still water flowing in the ditch; which tells me that it is carrying groundwater and is part of a natural drainage that has been altered.

Not sure why I took this photo and not my usual one that is 90 degrees from this one.

Ditch #8 at 2:25 p.m., about 7 hours after the drizzle stopped.

I established 2 photopoints for the fern and took reference photos on every walk to document the amount of sun that is reaching its location. This will help in determining what additional measures need to be taken to ensure the viability of a replacement hāpuʻu.

Photopoint #1 at 7:49 a.m.

Photopoint #1 at 10:37 a.m.

Photopoint #1 at 2:36 p.m.

Dinner tonight was Beef tomato, Steamed rice, Pacific vegetable mix, Caramel custard, and Corn chowder. Obviously the vegetable mix wasnʻt on my plate and cantaloupe showed up just for the heck of it. I actually enjoyed the corn chowder tonight.


Sʻmores now runs up to me when she sees me coming in the door! She likes to play with my shoe laces as I take my Hokas off. I think she is also looking for a treat, but I am now at the point in her training where the treats are intermittent rather than every time she responds. Soon there will be no treats, just pets & cuddles.

At my weigh-in this morning I found  gained 1.3 pounds over the last week. At least over the 2 week period my average is about 1 pound lost, which is what my plan is. So while it is annoying to go back and forth, it is assuring that I am keeping to my guidelines for weight loss.

Hauʻoli lā hānau to Josey!