Cinderland
is located about one-half mile due West of Kumukahi Point and Lighthouse,
the easternmost point on Hawaii, where an air-quality monitoring station
reports some of the cleanest air on the planet. [1,
2] About 2.4 miles south along the coast is the "warm pond"; Ahalanui Park. A few miles toward Pahoa, in the jungle, is Lava Tree State Park. Seven miles away, across the lava flats and through the jungle, the closest "town" is a strange little village, Pahoa (pop. < 1000 in 2000), that seems like a '60's flashback, complete with a natural food store, some covered sidewalks, a general funkiness, an Internet cafe, and time-warp characters. The closest "city",
Hilo, is 37 miles north on the
coast (pop. ~ 40k) which presents both quaint early-1900's architecture,
and a modern mall with Wal-Mart, Sears, Radio Shack, Home Depot, Office
Max, Borders, other chain stores, and a health food store. Farmers'
markets are on Wednesdays and Saturday in Hilo and Sunday in Makuu.
Hilo has a first-run mall theater, the Palace (built in 1925) for avant-garde
flicks, and a 50 cent theater ($1 in 2007). We live on the world's most active volcano, Kilauea. Active lava flows are less than 30 miles away, line of sight. The ecosystems and lava types/formations are the most varied per mile imaginable; EVERYthing changes every 10 miles, or so. This is a Nature freak's paradise. The land owner has brought in large quantities of soil and mulch to create a lush oasis of green plants, on the baren lava, as a background for the camp sites. A large community garden is in the construction phase. We are an experiment in "off the grid living" with no city water, electricity, mail delivery, phone lines, or other common annoyances of living in "civilization". As the construction of the last camps is currently in progress, the focus will next shift to attaining food-self-sufficiency. Robert's Octagonal Home-building Project on the lava at Kalapana COMING...never... Pahoa Photos Lava Photos Hilo Photos Kumukahi Photos Kalapana Photos
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