Sitework

October 16 - November 12, 2014

It took about a month to prepare the site for the house and driveway. We had to make a little bit of a dent in the jungle and remove a pile of lava rock. Our sitework contractor, Moore's Excavation, did a fantastic job saving as many trees as possible!

First, George needed a dry spot to get out of the rain.

  








 Then the small equipment arrived for the initial tree clearing.



 






























The driveway was opened up to allow the bigger equipment in.

Once the trees were cleared, it was time to take out some rock.
















 We used the rock that was removed on the driveway.

 




























Next, the septic tank was installed.



















 And the driveway and house site were compacted.

A little lot plotting

Fast forward one year, and we are back in Volcano to do a little clearing and ponder how a house might fit on the lot.

George slashes away at the dead uluhe

A new hapu'u frond getting ready to unfurl

Among the ohi'a trees and hapu'u tree ferns, there was also a tangle of uluhe fern and invasive Kahili ginger. We did a lot of hacking! It will be impossible to get rid of the ginger with its huge, spreading rhizomes. All we can do is keep chopping away as the shoots appear. And some will actually be useful as a screen around the perimeter. All the brown stuff in the photo is dead uluhe fern, which is tough and scratchy. But we were able to make a nice little clearing and figure out a good location for about a 1,000-square foot house.

A mass of ginger rhizomes

During the week we spent swinging our machetes and lopping, we stayed in our favorite Volcano vacation rental - the Crater Rim Cabin. We feel so lucky to have found this place! The owners, Barry Stokes and Jim Griggs have made this the coziest vacation rental you could imagine. Jim is a long time photographer for the USGS and has taken some of the most stunning pictures of Hawai'i volcanoes. Many of these are on the walls and in books in the cabin. One of Jim's photos was even selected for the back of the Hawai'i quarter.