Wednesday 7th April 2010

Rode our bikes in to town today to explore Hilo. What a glorious day! While it feels a bit humid due to all the rain, it was about 28 degrees and sunny. Fantastic. We headed to the local farmers market craving fresh food and we weren’t disappointed. First up, coconut! The guy hacks them open on the spot and the liquid is so sweet and refreshing! Then he splits it right open to get the meat, which was absolutely divine. We scoffed it like starving people!

I also tried a sticky rice, sweet coconut and taro dish, which comes wrapped in banana leaves and which was so tasty (despite appearances...)

We also stocked up on delicious lady finger bananas, pineapple, avocadoes as big as footballs and papaya (6 for $1!!!)

This week in Hilo it is the Merrie Monarch Festival, which is a massive annual Hula event. We heard that tickets sell out almost a year in advance, but there was a free show on tonight so we decided to go as it’s the biggest even of the year in Hilo with Hula troupes coming from all of the islands as well as from other countries to compete (kind of like “Bring It On", but with hula!!). The tennis stadium was absolutely packed, and the hula troupes got the kind of welcome that you would expect if Pink or Robbie Williams had walked on stage. The fan base is amazing! And the show was pretty amazing too – it would keep you incredibly fit!

Of course, walking back to the boat we got caught in a torrential downpour and got drenched, but I guess that’s Hilo!