HOME AT LAST

Ah, that feeling of stepping into a world you know you've always belonged to...it feels comfortable, it feels familiar, it feels right...the feeling of coming home. That's how it felt stepping off that last airplane and into a land that seems to perpetually smell of fresh blossoms...a fragrance I will never tire of. Even under the dingy underpass leaving the airport, there was no stink of diesel or urine or Kentucky fried chicken...just flowers...HOME!

Still much to learn and much to organise, but life is about taking one step at a time and learning not to stress future events that we ultimately will never have control over.

The prices at the supermarket were somewhat disheartening until we finally discovered a small Farmer's market in Hilo.
Bananas for a buck, a bag a papayas for a buck, a trio of jumbo avocados for a deuce...HOME!

The market open daily is just a skeleton version of the main show, which we have yet to see, open Wednesdays and Saturdays. Hundreds of vendors from all over the area. Even the small market version we visited today had a half dozen varieties of bananas...not one of them the north american standard Cavendish. HOME!

Fruits we've never seen or heard of just ready for the munching after the exchange of a few measly paper dollars. Golden pineapples and soft juicy papayas the likes of which a Canadian supermarket will never see.

The sun is out and this morning we wet our feet for the first time in the ocean - Michelle's first time ever seeing or feeling the ocean...a magical moment! Coconut trees dropping ripe nuts down on black volcanic sandy beaches a hundred yards from where we slept last night.

Much more to talk about and share, but that can wait for later as it's time to go back out and explore...

It's good to be home!!

Mike