02x05 - Hawaii: The Big Island

[bunniefuu]

Sometimes in our collective
consciousness...

There's a whale!

A place can be reduced
to a cliche...

I didn't expect Hawaii
to look like this at all.

But often, the reality's
nothing as it seems.

This is a land of
sweeping contrast

and impeccable beauty,

perpetually being destroyed
and created,

but in many ways
untouched by time.

This is the Big Island
of Hawaii,

one of the most remote,
inhabited places in the world.

That is just stupid-pretty.

Arriving on the Big Island...

this wasn't exactly
what I had in mind.

What I envisioned was
a little more like this.

But let's be honest,

that kind of schtick
was never really my scene,

which is what brought me
to the Big Island.

It's so pretty out here.

These mountains in the
background are so beautiful.

You know what I mean.
And the weather is perfect.

It's so beautiful here.
All right, let's hit it.

I made my first visit
to these islands in

to sh**t the pilot
for "Hawaii Five- ."

I flew into Honolulu
and got k*lled off

and spent a few days playing
tourist on the beaches of Oahu.

But this time I'm trading
those tourist traps

for a road less traveled.

When people think of Hawaii,
they picture Waikiki

and little do they know
the Big Island

is actually very unique.

For me, I think the Big Island
is just so magical.

Big Island specifically,
is probably one of

the most amazing islands
you'll ever find.

One day, you can go up
to the mountain

and play in the snow
and by the end of the day,

you can be down at the beach,

eating your poke with some poi
and some beers.

I don't ever want to live
anyplace else.

Before heading out,
I'm meeting up

with my good friend,
photographer Patrick Hoelck

to load up on some local moco,

the go-to comfort food
for the locals.

Is that us? Yes.

I'll get it.
You got it?

Is this the local,
local thingie thing we want?

Yes, it is. Loco moco.

Patrick and I first met back

in the ' s... Look at this.

Crossing paths
in New York and L.A.

He'd spent some time
surfing in Oahu,

but like me, he's never seen
the Big Island up close.

And sometimes the best way
to unmask an old friend

is by taking a new journey.

I think I want to try soy sauce,
if that's what you do.

It's just an egg,
a burger, rice, and gravy.

Yeah.

Not bad. It's good.

A renowned filmmaker
and director,

Patrick's also
one of Hollywood's

most sought-after photographers.

And you're so easy-going
and it just felt like

we were hanging out
like we always do.

You must get stories
while you do that,

that you wouldn't
normally get?

Yeah, like when you talked
about your dishwashing

with the Clash songs
with your mother.

We didn't have
a washing machine,

right, so we'd just do
the dishes together,

but she... she, you know,
had the old turntable

and the big speakers
and she would blast,

you know, that song and sing it
and she taught me the words.

I've known you forever
and I've never heard that.

Yeah. It took this
thing to just...

It just came up.

Are you ready
to get out of here?

Done. All right, let's roll.

Let's go explore.

Perfect weather.

Patrick,
we're in Hawaii, man.

Over the next three days,
we'll zigzag through

this , -square-mile island,

using its main coastal beltway
as our guide.

We'll pass through
tropical rainforests,

sun-soaked beaches,
and snow-capped mountains,

making stops wherever
the road takes us

before reaching our final
destination, Kilauea Volcano.

How high is this volcano?

I don't know,
I don't know.

I wonder how long ago
the last eruption was?

I don't that it's...
It's running all the time,

which is really cool.

I can't wait.

For the last years,
its eruptions

have been reshaping the island.

It seems so untouched here.
I love it.

And I've heard that the only way
to truly understand this place

is to see it
with your own eyes.

I love these rolling hills
that go off into the ocean.

But when on a tropical island,
my first inclination

is always to hit the water.

Yeah, let's check it out.
Patrick?

Look at that rainbow
right there.

Beautiful. Yeah.

I've never seen one
that clear, ever.

Let's get down here. I want
to see like, the full view.

We got to jump
in that water.

When in Hawaii...
Do Hawaiian stuff?

Yeah.

It's a double rainbow.
How pretty is this?

The rainbow's
just not going away.

Here, come here,
let me get a picture

of you with the rainbow.

I wonder if you
could swim here?

Yeah.

Good morning.

What you doing?

This is like a little
homemade fish scaler.

Just made out
of beer caps.

That's interesting. Did
somebody teach you

how to do that or you
just make that up?

It's been around
for awhile.

Pretty much, this is it.
Clean it real good.

It's really pretty once
you strip its skin off.

Norman. Calvin.
Nice to meet you.

Patrick, pleasure. Nice to meet you.
Yeah.

What kind of fish do you catch here?
All kind of reef fish.

You got like,
unicorn fish.

Unicorn fish? Yeah.

Well, that's a unicorn fish right there.
These are beautiful.

Shut up. Unicorn fish
has a unicorn horn.

Do you spearfish
to catch these?

Yeah, I'm a free diver,
so I don't use any tanks,

I just...
I just hold my breath.

How long can you
hold your breath for?

Two, three minutes.
Yeah.

I don't think I've ever
held my breath, ever.

Yeah. Yeah.

I was just going
to go do some snorkeling

and I got extra gear
if you guys want to jump in.

Do you wanna? I'm down.

Yeah. Let's do it.

Wait, let me...
Let me fluff the package.

Hey, Calvin?
You could pee in these,

right, these suits?
Just in case?

Yeah!

You see all those fish? Yeah.

You see how
big that one is?

That's your parrot fish,
yeah.

Let's go deeper?
Can we go deeper?

There's a whale!
Turn around!

Yeah, turn
your camera around,

'cause a whale jumped
out of the water.

Should be right there.

Giant whale came out
of the water

and just went ka-plow!

That was crazy.
That's cool, yeah.

That was...
That was Dutch.

If you guys want to
come up and eat fish,

we're going to cook
some fish on the grill.

Hell, yeah. Cool.

Yeah. Let's do it.

Yeah. We did it!

That was dope.

That whale was crazy.
It was huge.

Yeah, it was... I mean,
it was like, whale size,

you know what I mean?

The easy way is to pull down
over your elbows.

That was
awesome!

How's it going? Hi.

How was the water?
It was awesome.

I saw a whale.

There's a lot of whales
coming through now.

Always in this area,
they go back

to the channel
and they go to Maui.

And are they protected
out here in the waters?

Yes. Everything.

All the whales in Hawaii
are protected.

That's awesome.

It's really good.

Where'd you learn
how to spearfish?

I learned how to spearfish when
I was about seven years old.

My grandpa used
to take me to the beach

and lie down underneath a rock
and sh**t fish.

That's cool you have like,
memory of learning how to do it.

You just got to
respect the ocean,

you know,
whatever you take,

you don't want
to take too much.

I mean, is that like, the...
The law of the land here?

Yeah.
It's basically just

the whole culture thing
about Hawaii,

sharing your catch,
you know.

In Hawaii, we call ohana...
"ohana" means family.

Nice to meet you.
Hi.

In Hawaii, ohana is like...

It's ohana over everything.
Family over everything.

In the Hawaiian culture,
family extends past blood.

Sharing everything you've got,

everything you believe in,
sharing all the love.

Thanks for having us. A
pleasure to meet you.

Pleasure. And everybody is one.

This kind of inclusiveness

could only could from a people

isolated through much of history

by thousands of miles of sea.

What probably started out
as a means of survival,

of man looking
after fellow man,

became embedded
into their culture

as an essential way of life.

Bye, whale!

I've never seen
a whale that close.

I've never seen a whale,
I don't think.

That was nice of him.

Yeah,
he was awesome, that guy.

Is that snow on top
of the mountain?

Yeah, you can see
snow right there, dude.

It's such a contradiction
down here and up there.

It keeps shifting
from like,

"Lost in Space,"
to an American western.

Yeah, I didn't expect Hawaii
to look like this at all.

I mean, they've got
a lot of everything here.

Wild goats.

Part of any ride
is the hunt for authenticity,

finding the little things
that make a place

all its own and in Hawaii,

that means coffee.

Of the states,
it's the only one

producing my main caffeine fix.

So we're heading to a spot
I've heard serves

the best cup of coffee
on the island.

I'm excited.
I'm a coffee enthusiast.

You are definitely
a coffee junkie.

Whenever I go to L. A.
And I hang out with you,

I probably drink cups
of coffee a day.

I hope it's like,
super-dark roast.

I don't know, I'm excited
to find out, though.

I brought a thermos,
I'm going to fill it up.

But first, a quick pit stop.

Yo, Patrick,
you need to stop?

We're going to stop
at this pink hotel.

Yeah, let's go.

Yeah,
this is real pink.

This is pinky pink.

Hi. Aloha.

Aloha. Hi. How are you?

Can we use your bathroom real quick?
Yeah, of course.

We have a great
bathroom out back.

- Great.
- Let's go see it.

Look at this.

My goodness.

This is great.
Look at... look at this.

Go in there.

Crazy, right? This is kind
of like, the best pit stop ever.

Do you feel more
connected to nature now?

A little bit.

I can hear you peeing,
by the way.

How does it sound? It
sounds like you're peeing.

Are you still peeing? I'm done.

Listen how far down it goes.

Well worth the wait.

Thanks so much
for letting us come in.

Thank you. What's
going on right here?

? This is Mr.
Inaba's parents,

who actually
started the hotel.

Is this one of those old photos
that you had to sit

for an hour
to get the photo?

Look at these old cars,
too.

Has the bathroom
always been

that scenic bathroom?
It has been.

It was actually a dry toilet,
back in the day,

before they even had
running water.

So they've decided to just
keep it as a bathroom

and it's been the talk of
the town ever since.

I'm glad you men were able
to stop by and use our bathroom.

You're so sweet.

Later, gator.
Later, gator.

Good job.
Thank you.

Y'all have a safe ride.
Thank you.

What'd you think
of the pink hotel?

I liked it.
I liked peeing there.

I wish the urinal
had a better view.

This whole day
has been a pee pee party.

As my buddy Negan would say,
it was a "pee pee pants party."

Bada-baba.

This is unreal.

It's actually
the home of Pele,

our Hawaiian
volcano goddess.

I feel like I would have
a crush on Pele

and then she would
turn me into a tree.

[Birds

Yeah!

This is so cool.
There's all this mountain vibe.

The colors are extreme,
right?

Yeah. Smells good.

It does smell good.

Coffee!
Coffee, coffee!

years ago, the first
Westerners showed up on Hawaii,

bringing along agricultural
staples from the mainland.

Soon, Hawaiian cowboys
and coffee farmers

took over the countryside,

transforming the island forever.

Leaving Holualoa, it's
a -mile coastline ride

around the island's
southern tip into Pahala,

where we reach
Aikane Plantation.

It's a working ranch
and a coffee farm, all in one.

Hi. I'm Meryl. Hi.

Nice to meet you, Norman.
Nice to meet you, yeah.

Nice to meet you. Hi,
nice to meet you.

Pleasure. Please,
come help yourself.

Yeah?
Do you drink so much coffee,

having your own
coffee spot?

No, I try not to.

I'd be like, ay-yi-yi-yi,
all the time.

Yeah. I would.

My grandfather
was a rancher,

but my great-grandfather
was the coffee grower.

And he was the first coffee
grower in this district.

This has been in my family
since the s.

Yeah.

This is delicious.

Yeah.-

I'm moving in.

What's happening?
That's protocol,

announcing that we're going up
into the mountain area

and we don't mean
any harm to the mountain.

That was beautiful.

Are we ready to
go see some cows?

You give us coffee
and then put us to work.

Is that how it works?
That's right.

Let's do it.

Am I driving? Yeah.

Patrick, we're friends,
drive nicely.

I'm going to go nice.

Come down, come!

Coming up
over the mountain.

Yo!

And the bull's
in the lead.

Come, come,
come, come!

There's some that don't want
to go through that gate.

Come!

Come on. I think we
can stop up here.

Here we go.

Come on, I got lunch.

You are so slimy.

Over here!

There's a... there's a...
There's a fly problem.

We got a fly problem.

You are super-gross.

Hi.

Yes, over here.

Yeah, so this right
here... He licked my...

nothing like playing
a cowboy in the movies.

I have cow slime
all over my pants.

This is my ohana.

They're friends
that have been

in the area
for a long time.

This is a feast right here.

Growing up in Hawaii,
you go to a luau.

That's a big party
and family comes

with guitars, ukuleles.

A lot of times, it's to pay back
all your workers.

It's saying thank you,

saying mahalo for all
the work that was done.

They don't mess around.
Mnh-Mnh.

You're good on a horse.

Thank you. Yeah.

Did you ever
ride motorcycles?

No, I'm scared. Really?

But you ride the black stallion
like it's nothing.

You could ride a bike.

Today, we caught
a glimpse of Hawaii

that I didn't even know existed

and that alone made it
worth the journey.

This is a great
time here.

Thank you so much.
Thanks for having us.

I'm not usually one
to eat and run,

but it's been a long day.

Bye, cutie. Bye-bye.

And after all that
cattle slobber...

Wait, wait, wait,
I got to get my coffee to go.

I think a hot bath
might just be in my future.

Bye, guys!

Morning.

My phone, grab my change,
got the camera.

I got my dad's
lucky belt buckle. See that?

That used to be
my dad's belt buckle.

And the back says, " ."

Dad for luck. Cool.
Let's do it.

Quick, close your eyes
and picture Hawaii.

What do you see?

Probably not this. Chickens.

What's up, chickens?

But on the Big Island,

even with its miles
of barren landscape,

beauty is all around.

Flamingo.

You just need to know
where to look.

That's so purple.

That's the best part
about bikes is like,

you can't text
and you can't look

at some stupid
scroll on Instagram.

That's so true. Patrick's
heard about one

of the most
picturesque spots here,

so we're going
to go start our day

by checking it out.

Hi.

You smell that nature.

Good morning. Hey. How are you?

Yeah.

It's crazy with
all this jungle

that they don't have
any poisonous snakes.

There's like no monkeys
or anything, right?

No. Like, if this
was Costa Rica,

it'd be,
pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow!

Is that the waterfall?

That's just stupid.

Right? Yes.

That is just
stupid-pretty.

You know what this is?

What? Paradise.

I'm going to do
the pano real quick.

I suck at panos.
You know what I mean?

Like, I suck
at the panorama.

Derba-derba-derba-deb,
you know?

Look at this tree.

I've never seen
a tree like this.

This tree here
is a banyan tree.

It grows these aerial roots

and when they touch the ground,

they just form another trunk.

Did the
lava come through here

and take these out,
back in the day?

The lava
won't come here.

There's a legend
about the fire god,

Pele and her
boyfriend Kamapua'a.

They were like lovers,
but then they fought.

She said, you live from
Wailuku River to the north

and I'll stay from
Wailuku River, east to south.

So that's why
when she pass a river,

you start seeing
lava flows, lava rocks.

Pele is an ancient
Hawaiian goddess

that pretty much created
all the islands.

Is... what does she look like?
Is there any like,

visions of what she's
supposed to look like?

There's various
interpretations.

Old woman with long,
gray hair.

I thought she would be
a redhead, for sure.

She's beautiful.

She's normally
dressed in white,

from what I understand.

She's a walking
lava goddess.

You respect her,
she'll respect us.

Creates, as well as takes away?
Yeah.

You don't mess with her. No,
you don't mess with her.

Yeah.

I like your shirt. Can we
have one more picture?

Listen, lady...

Please? Please?

This one had a few drinks
this morning.

Thank you! Of course, yeah.

Give me whatever
she's having.

On second thought,
scratch that.

We're off to see a group
whose respect for Pele

and her creations is evident
in how they ride.

Rock Island Riders.

I can't wait.

Look at all these hoodlums.

If we could get a permit,
we could ride over the lava.

Why do I think
you're messing with me?

I mean, right?
He's just got that face.

I had this lady come up to me
the other day and she's like,

"My God,
I watched your show.

It was so depressing,"
and I'm like, "Yeah, yeah."

She's like, "Sean Penn was
the r*pist, molester, whatever,"

and I'm like,
"That's not my show."

She's like,
"Yeah, the 'Dead' thing."

They know
that you're famous,

but they don't know
what it is.

Leaving Honomu,
we're taking a -mile ride

down the Mamalahoa Highway

to meet up with
a dual sport biker group

who knows the best way
to experience this island

is to leave
the roads behind.

Don't you have
another dirt bike?

Yeah, I'm really liking
the enduro, though,

because it's just
so light and fun.

It's kind of like a regression,
because I used to do motorcross.

When I was a kid,
that's how it all started.

This must be the place.

Look at all
these hoodlums.

You look like a hoodlum. I know,
I'm the worst one and trust me.

How are you, man?
Norman. Steve.

Nice to meet you, brother.
What's up, man?

How are you? Norman.
Nice to meet you.

Good to meet you.

This looks like a...
A guy's wet dream.

Man and his toys,

You got everything in here.

Yeah. How was your ride so far?

It's been beautiful.
It's so pretty here.

Yeah, this island is a favorite
for all motorcycle riders,

because this is
a volcanic island,

you know, so,
and it's still going.

How close can you get to it?

If we could get a permit,
we could ride over the lava,

which we used to do
in the old days.

That doesn't rip your tires?
It does.

It does? Eats it.

You can burn up
a set of tires

in one day
on that stuff.

Like a dangerous
crew right here.

I can feel it.

We do off-road only.

Yeah, that's kind
of his forte as well.

Really? Yes. Sunset Boulevard.

Right?

We used to do a...
A -mile enduro

on this island.

The terrain is so varied,

the weather so different
from point to point,

that the Mauna Kea
is truly a ride to remember.

We... we quit it about,
a few years ago,

just because getting permits
was too much of a pain.

There's all kinds
of close calls, you know.

Cars coming your way
when we're off-roading

and cows going in...
In your path and...

A cow? Yeah.

So coming home in one piece is
really the most important thing.

So we're going to get
something to eat.

Yeah. Yeah, sounds good.

All right!
This is awesome.

I feel like we're going
to go rob a bank.

Beautiful day.

I see some gray clouds
up ahead, though.

Well, some of that might be the
fall from the volcanoes, so...

That's volcano
smoke over there?

That's volcano smoke,
yes, sir.

Cujo!

We're entering Old
Historic Hilo.

Look at this.
This is beautiful.

This is Honoli'i,
a local surfing beach.

That's a real wave.

This town has been hit
by tidal waves twice.

Really? The whole town is...

Was wiped out.
Yeah.

That's why,
if you look on the horizon,

you see the break
wall out there.

That could stop tidal waves?
Actually, it does.

If... if the wave's coming in,
it breaks the wave.

This place is fully
alive all the time.

This is the Old
Mamalahoa Highway.

You can just
imagine driving

all the way
to Kona on this road.

It'd take you all day
to get there.

Look at this.
Beautiful.

Making our way
through this narrow,

twisted, old highway,

it's as if it were made
with a motorcycle in mind.

Look at that bamboo.
Look how tall that is.

Everything
gets big in Hawaii.

The towering trees,
the lush tropical air,

you're totally encompassed
by your surroundings.

This is awesome, man.

Yeah.

Okay. All right, let's go.

Poi. Let's see if we can find
some poi, too, okay.

This is all
fresh stuff.

Hi. How are you?

Gosh!

What was I getting? Poi.

Poi. Poi and poke.

Okay. Why do I think
you're messing with me?

I mean, right?
He's just got that face.

Like he's trying to trick me
into eating something gnarly.

Is this us? Yes.

And then what do I
do with that?

You dip your poke in it
and you eat it.

Dip? You sure?

Yes.

Bye, thank you.
Have a nice day.

We stole all this food.
We're not paying.

You'll never catch us.

This is so pretty here.

Where's your poi?
Where's your poi?

Poi is the staple food
of the ancient Hawaiians.

What is it made out of?

It's taro.

It's a taro plant

that we squash
and we smash,

turns to like, putty.
Take a s*ab.

My children,
they ate poi

before they even ate baby food.

It doesn't taste
like nothing.

Yeah. There's no
flavor to that.

Tastes like dirt.

Right here.

The real Hawaiians actually
like it when it starts

actually growing green stuff
on the top of it.

Like fungus and mold. Yeah.

I lived in Japan
for awhile.

I've had some funky food
in Japan, I'll tell you that.

Yeah. There's
some things in Georgia you

don't want to eat, too.

You guys are great

at protecting things here.

Well, it comes...
Comes down from the Hawaiians.

'Cause the population
of the Big Island

used to be like
, people before.

Really? Way more
than it is now.

This was pre-Western
contact.

And all of those people had to
be supported off the land, so...

Why has it changed
to where there's

less people
on the Big Island?

Well, when Western people
started coming here,

they brought diseases
with 'em.

And so the Hawaiian
population d*ed out.

I didn't know any of this.

I didn't know that, either.
Yeah.

Anybody like some poi?
Norman, you don't like poi?

You know, I'm kind of
on the fence with the poi,

I got to tell you.

Thank you guys for
taking us on this journey.

You guys are awesome.
Yeah.

The Rock Island Riders
aren't your typical biker group,

but after two days
on the Big Island,

I'm realizing this place
is full of surprises.

How amazing. This is
beautiful right here.

We can sit here.

Look,
they have a koi farm.

I like that there's a group
like those guys, like...

They were the coolest.

They're like, older and they're
like still doing it.

And they're good people. Yeah.

You think you could
ever live here,

like, does it
drive you nuts...?

Full-time, no? Don't
you get tired of L.A.,

though, after awhile?
I get tired

of wherever after awhile

and want to just pick up
everything and move.

Yeah. Yeah.
If I didn't have

the job I have in L.A.,
the life I have,

I'd probably be
very different about it.

Yeah.

I've heard paradise
isn't a place,

but a state of mind.

Whoever said that obviously
never made it to Hawaii.

What... what are we doing
tomorrow, by the way?

Everything.

Timber! Watch out!
Banana!

Yeah!

The lava itself is about
feet below the surface.

My God.
There's a pig.

Are we breaking
in someone's house right now?

Yeah.

My God! Hi. Don't let him out.

Come here.

He's feisty, come here.

No, no, he's like biting at me.
Hey, come here.

Hi.
Hi.

He bit me!

This is Humphrey.

He was on the beach

all by himself,
about a week old.

He's about four months now.

Does he bite you?
Yeah, he bit me.

He's teething.

It's interesting he doesn't
freak out on you.

He knows it's you, right?
Yeah, he sleeps with me.

He matches your outfit.
He bit me again.

I could see you
with one of these.

Yeah, right, my cat
would k*ll this thing.

That's what I sound
like when I wake up.

Oink, oink,
oink, oink.

So thi
cool little area, right?

Yeah, it's very...
It's like a western town.

What's up, man? Last night,
we caught some zzz's

in the coastal town of Hilo.

My God! What's popping, baby?

Can I get a picture with you, man?
Of course, yeah.

It's a cool, little city
with a volatile past.

Twice, they've had to rebuild

after tsunamis
wiped out the downtown.

You hear that?

What is that?

Let's check this out.

Hi. Hello.

Who's the puppy?
Hi, puppy.

That's Sonny. Hi, Sonny.

How are you? You're awesome.

That was great.

Is that like
an electric ukulele?

Yeah. What a cool shop.

Believe it or not,
there was only three ukuleles

from the start
of the shop.

I soon realized this was
a serious instrument over here.

So as you can see now,

there's close
to ukuleles here.

Where... where are you from?
Scotland.

What are you doing out here?

Having fun.

I looked up Hawaii on
the Internet

and I came over here
and after an hour in Hilo,

I said, "Okay, this is
where I want to live."

So what...

What's your most prized
ukulele?

Look at that one.
This is Hawaiian koa.

Which is now
protected by the state.

And next to Brazilian
rosewood,

it's the most expensive
wood in the world.

Can't make it any...

That's a $ , ukulele.

Yeah, it is. I only
play the best.

Well,
tell me about this area.

This area seems...
Seems super-cool.

Well, if you look out there
where the soccer fields were,

that actually used to be
the Downtown Hilo.

And when the tsunami came,
it completely wiped it out.

And rather than rebuild,

they just put
soccer fields in there.

My wife said that
she remembers as a child,

her house being lifted up

and moved
about or yards.

That's crazy. I've
actually had to empty

out the store
about seven times.

You know, we get
the tsunami warnings,

it's sirens go off
and it's pretty spooky.

And then we get hurricanes
and...

Active volcanoes.
Active volcanoes.

I'm kind of scared
of Pele, to be honest.

I feel like I would have
a crush on Pele

and then she would turn me
into a tree like, right away.

It's a pleasure to meet you.
Thank you so much.

A pleasure to meet you, too.
Aloha.

Aloha.

Patrick, where are you taking me
for breakfast?

I kind of want one of them coconuts.
Why not?

Riding around this island,

you meet a lot of people
like Ken, transplants,

vagabonds,
those who packed up

and came here
for their next chapter.

That kind of life
is in my blood.

Hey, is this where we went
with the Rock Island Riders?

This is it, right?

We're on our way
to Mount Kilauea,

because when you're on an island
with an active volcano,

you head straight towards
the eruption...

Here we go, here we go,
here we go.

Unless you're hungry,
in which case,

you look for some breakfast.

Here we go..

Yeah,
this is going to be yummy.

Aloha. Hey, what's up, man?

Hi. Norman. Aloha.

Nice to meet you. How
you guys doing today?

Really good.

We got all kind of good,
fresh fruit for you today.

I'll have a coconut.

You don't mess around
with that Kn*fe.

You ever cut
yourself or never?

Yeah, yeah.
For sure.

I just learned to
go easy with it.

Where you from, dude? I was
born right here in Hilo, man.

Really? Yeah, born and
raised right in Hilo.

My brother right here.
What's up, man?

Hi, how are you?
Thank you, sir.

Did he show you
these ice cream beans?

These ones came out
of the Amazon

and they're kind
of new to Hawaii

and it's been studied as a tree
to help heal the Amazon.

They call it inga.

I-N-G-A.

Those are great. Yeah.

They're like candy.
How'd you guys start doing this?

We all started this
with my family in the year .

Yeah.

We started the homestead.

The banana was one
of the first things we planted

and then I have
my two daughters and my mom

and other people
who help on the land and stuff.

You guys got this
island figured out.

Yeah. This one's called
the apple banana.

And they're
all organic.

So much better than
your fancy grocery store.

I know. It's like
a whole new experience.

Simple.
So dense.

You're going to do
it Hawaiian style.

Coconut spoon
meat breakfast.

And this is the stuff,
this is amazing.

It's actually one of
the reasons why the Hawaiians

used to have kids
each right here.

What do you mean?

Very fertile. Lot of...

It's really good.

Yeah,
it's good stuff.

Hi!

Hi, cutie.

She feed
the peacocks coconut?

Yeah.
Our dogs eat coconut.

Everything pretty much
eats the coconut.

Are those the bananas
that we tried?

Yep, you can see that...
That one rack right up there

is pretty much
getting ripe.

Once they start getting
full and round,

you go and you follow
that trunk down

and you cut down
that whole stock of the tree.

Inga.

Get in there, Patrick!
Get in there!

Come on, get in there.

Do a big... a big,
like a wedge, like...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got you.
You got it.

Get me that banana, Patrick.
Come on.

There we go. Yeah.

Timber! Watch out! Banana!

There you go. Yeah.

Yeah! You know what I'm saying?

His first rack of bananas!

Thank you very much.
Thanks for this food.

It's delicious. Have a
good trip, you guys.

Next stop, Kilauea,
and a potential date

with a certain volcano goddess.

Look at this, dude.
This doesn't even look real.

This is a very, very sacred area.
Yeah.

You know how you just
get that shiver up your spine

and it's like...? I
have it right now.

That's so pretty.your right.

It looks so cool with all
this black sand down to it, too.

Leaving Hilo,
it's a -mile ride

down Hawaii Belt Road
to Volcanoes National Park.

Once there, a -mile,

, -foot ascent up
Chain of Craters Road

will give us the perfect
vantage point of Kilauea.

Hawaii's famed volcanoes
are the most spectacular,

yet the most readily
accessible in all the world.

Of the five volcanoes
that helped create this island,

it's the only one still
currently erupting.

This is unreal.

It's hard to imagine,

but where these
lava rocks dominate

the landscape,
there was once life.

Smells like a forest fire.

Trees, farms,
even villages.

But as the lava spread,

it engulfed everything
in its path.

Over time, this area
will be completely reborn,

but today, it's kind
of like riding on Mars.

Look at that sunset,
man.

My God.
Yeah, it's so beautiful.

That's a real gust.

I feel like a sail
on a sailboat right now.

Going to blow you
right off this cliff.

Stay low.

I'm blowing over.

Yo, I'm stopping.
It's crazy.

-mile-per-hour winds
and bikes

don't really mix,
but we've made it.

We're at Volcanoes
National Park.

Honestly, I thought
I was going to flip over.

It got real.

Just lay back.

We've done sand,
we've done ice.

Fancy air.
Don't go far.

And wind is my
least favorite.

Look at this, dude.

This doesn't
even look real.

This is really pretty.

What's this called,
this little point?

So this is the Holei Sea Arch.

This arch is about
years old

and you can see
how the erosions

have been gradual over time

and has a...

Is it always
this windy?

No, we have really
high winds today.

Look how...

Look how the waves
are like, wa-wah!

Right? How was your
ride down the road?

It was scary.

Well, you guys came down
Chain of Craters Road,

which is a notoriously
famous road.

In , Kilauea erupted
and covered it.

And then the Park Service
built the road again.

We'd rebuild it and Kilauea
would come and reclaim it again.

How do you know it's not
going to erupt

right now
and come down here?

Actually, Kilauea is erupting
right now, from two spots.

Let's get out of here.

Let's go.

We have an eruption
from Kilauea,

which is going into
the ocean just five miles

from where we are.-

And we also have the one
back up at the summit.

There's a giant lava lake.

It's actually the legendary
home of Pele-honua-mea.

She's our Hawaiian
volcano goddess.

She's a bad ass. Yes.

Pele. She has gotten jealous

and changed a would-be suitor
into an ohia tree.

She's struck some men dead
and there's many,

many legends about this
very fiery volcano goddess.

And her home is that
actual summit crater.

You guys have to go up
and see the lava lake.

Yeah, let's do it.

Pele is real.

In my eyes, she's real.

We were taught when
we were growing up,

it was basically
never disbelief.

Respecting Pele and all
she stands for, it's...

it's just what we do.

I'm taking you right
to the edge of Kilauea Volcano.

Yeah, this is a very,
very sacred area.

We're about a mile away
from that lava lake,

which is about feet across.

The lava itself is about
feet below the surface.

And it's , ° Fahrenheit.

Yeah.

Does it ever like, puhk!,
in the air?

We've actually
had the lava rise up

and ooze
over that ledge,

which was really
spectacular to see.

But mostly,

it's kind of this beautiful
type of effusive volcano.

Pele is also all the steam
and the gasses rising from it,

so a lot of times, these clouds
will take the shape of faces

and a lot people feel like
they can really see Pele

and connect
with the volcano goddess.

Have you ever seen faces?

All the time. What
happens when you do?

You know how you just
get that shiver

up your spine and it's like...?
I have it right now.

Watching steam rise
from the glowing lava

and you realize,
this place is alive.

Volcanoes destroy,
but also create.

And for the Hawaiian people,

learning to coexist with
this ever-changing landscape

has been paramount
to their survival,

which is why their
reverence for Pele makes

all the sense
in the world.

I'm glad we finally got to do
this together.

I know, it's amazing.

I knew you would
hate this.

Before coming to Hawaii,

"aloha" was just a word,
a kitsch greeting

to make tourist feel like
they're off the mainland,

but being here,
I realize that aloha,

the spirit of
the Hawaiian people, it's real.

There's a hospitality
and inclusiveness

on this island
that doesn't exist

anywhere else in the world.

All right.
This is amazing down here.

Yeah,
it's surreal.