Lava fields, a marathon and what to do with poo!

Beautiful Hilo Bay with Mauna Kea in the distance

Another eventful journey to the Big Island of Hawaii to continue with our sustainable living dream. Sunday was St Patrick’s day and it also happened to be the day of the Big Island International Marathon in Hilo. We have both done this race before and this year Two Feathers dedicated her run in memory of her late brother Rory as his birthday fell on this day. The weather started out sunny and humid and a stiff wind blew up towards the end of the race in which she placed 3rd in her age group which was an additional nice little surprise!

Picking up race numbers at the Grand Naniloa Hotel

Big Island international Marathon

We learned a lot of new and useful things this time in Hilo , for example: where to get free potable spring water and also where to get free mulch for our developing garden.

Free mulch at the green waste facility in Hilo

Self load or they load....much easier

Potable spring water on tap

We shipped our second truck over which we had purchased for our Big Island property when Two Feathers ran in the Pony Express 100 miler in Utah a couple of years ago. Now that we have secure storage in the form of “Connie” the container we could bring the “ Pony Truck” over to have as our very useful utility vehicle and transport. Shipping it over with Young Brothers shipping company from Honolulu to Hilo was easy, reasonably priced and stress free and it has been an absolute pleasure to have, enabling us to do so much more than before.

Collecting the truck at the Port of Hilo

"Connie" the container and the "Pony Truck"

The main event, so to speak during this episode is to have a septic system installed which involves heavy machinery to excavate holes for the tank and drainage field. Dreadknot has coordinated with Civil Construction who are doing the job in order for us to get signed off on our permit.

Meanwhile we’re enjoying a movable composting toilet in the bush, communing with nature.

Bush toilet

We’re even able to have a warm shower now as Dreadknot bought a solar bag shower typically used for camping and it works perfectly. What a treat after a hard day of manual labor!

Our camping has become more comfortable each time and now with "Connie" thrown into the mix, even more so! We have a table and chairs, a camping stove and ice chest which allows us to cook meals instead of eating out all the time.

Cooking on the camp stove

Chocolate Macadamia nut pancakes with fried banana

Our landscaping and planting of an edible garden has progressed too. We’ve added a couple of pineapple plants, two Emerald Blueberry bushes, some French Lavender and Rosemary to our little garden named "Papaya Plantation", as papayas are the dominant food plant in this garden area.

Adding to our fledgling food forest: Emerald blueberries, pineapples, French lavender & rosemary 

The first garden footpath

Guardian of “Hale Pueo” ( Home of The indigenous pueo owl)🦉

The second garden area we have started called "Papaya Plantation"

Next up is a garden we are naming the Amajam Friendship Garden, named after our dear friends Amanda and James who are our first patrons for our sustainable living dream project. A huge thank you to both of them and we can’t wait to complete this next beautiful garden intended for reflection and meditation.

The beginnings of the Amajam Friendship Garden

Our previously bought fruit trees (avocado, lychee and tangerine are thriving and in blossom) and our Ohia Lehua trees are all healthy and in full flower with brilliant red blossoms.

Ohia Lehua in bloom

We took a drive down to a subdivision called Leilani Estates which was devastated by a volcanic eruption last year. We had previously fallen in love with this area and had put in 3 offers on homes here, each time being outbid by someone else. After feeling quite disappointed we chose a different area to purchase land without a home, which in the end took us out of the pathway of Madam Pele’s (goddess of the volcano) wrath. A huge portion of the subdivision had been obliterated, along with one of my favorite drives through a mango tree tunnel and a huge portion of this corner of the island all the way to Kopoho. 

The lava flow at Leilani Estates

The road and community obliterated

How sustainable is a septic system?

"Septic Systems require very little energy (and if the system is gravity-fed, virtually none), and no chemicals; once the water moves through the drain field, it is “clean”—free of harmful pathogens—and replenishes the groundwater below it. Septic systems can be a part of a sustainable wastewater treatment solutions": (from an article on Green Builder Media: Better Waste Management).

Aerial view of the excavator at work

“Many people do not realize it, but a home septic tank is actually a very environmentally friendly part of the community. Whether you live in the country or the suburbs, having a home septic system is good for your neighbors, the community and the environment as a whole.

Unlike some commercial waste treatment plants, that use artificial and potentially hazardous chemicals, your home septic tank relies on a completely natural process. When you flush the toilet, the waste your family generates is broken down by healthy bacteria, rending the waste products harmless and avoiding environmental contamination.

One of the reasons proper waste treatment is so important is that household waste products can present a disease risk to the community at large. Many serious illnesses are spread through contaminated water and soil, but a well-functioning septic tank can prevent this danger and protect everyone in the community.” (Appropedia: septic tanks)

Excavating the black lava rock

“How Septic Systems Work

Septic systems have two key components, a receiving tank and a leaching system. A sewage line carries wastewater from the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room to the underground septic tank, where heavy particles settle out of the liquid, forming a layer of sludge on the bottom of the tank. Light materials float, forming a layer of scum on top of the water in the tank. Bacteria use the solid materials, liquefying these waste products. To allow sufficient time for particles to settle and for bacteria to break down the sludge, a septic tank should be large enough to hold at least one day’s flow of wastewater from the home, and to provide storage for sludge and scum.” (Longislandsoundstudy.net)

Our 5 bedroom capacity tank

The leach field filled with cinder for optimal drainage

Now that we have our sustainable waste management system in place we can progress onto building the actual house structure which is very exciting.

Delivery of the excavator

We need this machine to dig through lava rock

The first truck load of cinder

All the lava rock rubble was moved to create a driveway to the second half of the property

The final product: septic system in place!

A huge mahalo to Lance, Alika and Hoku for doing such a professional and great job of installing our septic system into our property. 

We bought a shipping container for a workshop!

Day 1: What a day! It started at 02:25am to catch a flight to Hilo at 05:00am. As soon as we touched down, our first stop was at Home Depot to purchase supplies for the next stage of our land development.
We needed four 16inch foundation blocks for the four corners of the shipping container to rest on, as well as a level and string to ensure level placement. In addition I bought organic soil and more non-GMO Papaya seedlings.

Early morning Home Depot date

After a quick breakfast, we made our way to Big Island Containers to pick out a used 40ft shipping container. The big red container we bought was a retired old dame who had spent her last years shipping products from South Korea. We found an old shipping invoice still inside the container which was interesting to read... mostly dried food products and household goods. The exterior was a little dinged up but the interior was clean, sound and dry. We'll name her "Connie" and paint her green.

"Connie"

After arranging Connie's delivery, the next stop on our shopping expedition was at Plant It Hawaii, a wholesale nursery which opens it's doors to the public twice a year and fortunately we happened to arrive on one of those days! It was immense fun and very educational roaming around the nursery and learning about the different varieties of  all the trees they had available. Finally we settled on selecting a Malama Avocado and a Lychee tree

We have an Avocado and Lychee tree selected

After a successful and exhausting day working on our land until the sun went down, we camped in our Ohia forest with thunder and lightening in the distance and the chorus of coqui frogs singing us to sleep with their mating calls.

Ohia trees against late afternoon sky

Our camp

Day 2: The day left us with a sense of accomplishment as we feel like we're making progress and getting things done! Dreadknot did an epic job of  measuring and leveling the foundation blocks for Connie. I was his "right hand woman" and heaved rocks, pulled strings and looked at level bubbles. We spray painted the layout and plan onto the house pad to get a feel of how everything would fit together. The plans are currently at the permitting office and include the first round house or "rondawel" dwelling, septic tank and water catchment tank. It was fun to be able to get a visual of the layout from a high point and from our drone footage.
We dreamed it and now we're seeing it!

Heaving rocks

Precision foundation leveling

I'm standing in the center of the roundhouse, septic tank to the left and water catchment tank in foreground.

Day 3: Today was all about the shipping container delivery. We started with an early morning 5.5 mile run and then made a mad dash to Home Depot to replace a sledgehammer which broke after one day of pounding  into lava rock. Shortly after we arrived back, "Connie" was delivered, which has changed the game considerably as we now have safe, secure dry lock-up storage!

Watch our YouTube video here!

Welcome to "Connie"

The rest of the day was spent installing secure locks and landscaping until the sun went down!

Driveway leading to house pad

Day 4: We started the day off with a 7 mile run in the boonies, followed by dry-stack rock wall building and planting our papaya and banana trees in an area were calling "Papaya Plantation". The layout of the plantation just happened organically (no pun intended) as we built a terraced garden on the bend leading to the container. We had fashioned a water catchment system off our camp area tarp roof and could make lovely little beds for each sapling by pounding holes through the lava rock with an O'o bar, filling them with rich organic soil and watering the trees with buckets of water. We're delighted with the new fledgling garden!

"Papaya Plantation" with dry stack rock wall

Papaya seedling

Dwarf Apple Banana tree

Until next time, a hui ho and mahalo for joining us on our sustainable living dream journey.

Aerial shot of house pad and container

The driveway

Planning and Design of our home

We've reached the very inspiring stage in our sustainable living dream project of designing our home.

This is the initial dwelling we are constructing to be able to live on our property. Dreadknot has designed the entire house with my input on aesthetics and personal desires for certain features like  double front doors and a grand wide staircase leading up to them. 

We then hired an architect JKK Designs here in Hawaii to draw up the official plans to be able to have them approved and stamped by an Structural Engineer and present them to the permitting office for an "Owner-Builder Permit". Yes, I will be helping with the hauling, digging, hammering and nailing.

The principle of the house design is based upon our original dream of living in a round house or as they call it in South Africa, a "rondawel". The structure is not especially big but has high walls and an extra high ceiling with the inclusion of a fairly wide cupola on top of the roof for lighting and ventilation, keeping the house cool without the need of artificial air conditioning. Roundness allows the free flow of energy and has a very calming effect on anyone entering the structure. Rounded structures also survive hurricanes and severe storms much better than squared or rectangular houses which act as obstacles to high winds instead of allowing the wind to simply flow around them and move on. The aesthetic quality of a round, high pitched ceiling is also very pleasing to both of us and the general layout of the home is an open plan living area and kitchen, one bedroom and bathroom and a large lanai or deck outside so that we can enjoy the outdoors as much as possible in the midst of our own personal Ohia forest.

So now we have the blue prints and hopefully we'll be able to get started soon! The first task will not be very glamorous as we will have to have the septic tank installed. The property is rural and as part of being self sufficient, we have to manage our own waste.

I recently inspected the additional grading and grubbing and was very happy about the increased area for our house pad.

We also checked up on our fruit trees and added a few more to the collection. So far we have coconut palms, figs, apple bananas, papayas, lemons and tangerines....all in their infancy and not producing yet. Thank you Sian and Kanaloa for helping with the fruit trees!

A huge "Mahalo" to Jerin Kelly for helping us with our plans. We will never be able to complain of boredom again in our lives!