We lived in Hilo, Hawaii for two wonderful, fun-filled years. We documented our move to the Big Island and life in Hilo in our book Your Ideal Hawaii Move: A Guide for Moving to Hawaii Island and captured our monthly activities in photo logs from January 2008 to January 2010. We published a travel guide that covers over 150 incredible places around the island: Your Ideal Hawaii Island Vacation: A Guide for Visiting the Big Island of Hawaii, with a large chapter about Hilo. The guide has a Hilo driving tour and Hilo downtown walking tour with historic background material and legends.
The monthly logs below provide a view of what it was like to live in Hilo and the many and varied activities that take place in the town and around the island of Hawaii making it the best place on Earth to live. The logs are in date order starting from the most recent. We hope you find reading them enjoyable and useful.
January 2010
The new year started in Hilo with an eerie, red, full moon. Though there was a shortage of rain, emissions from the volcano increased and it was visible from town. To read more about our January in Hilo and our trip to Oahu, go to the January 2010 Log.
December 2009
December brought us clear days and snow on Mauna Kea. We drove around the island and enjoyed the weather in Hilo. More about it in the December 2009 Log
November 2009
Hilo town was busy preparing for Christmas in November. There was a lot of rain and it filled Rainbow falls. More in the November 2009 Log.
October 2009
In October we drove around the island to visit some new stores and take advantage of the great Kama'aina (resident) rates in Kona. We kept busy with our yard and socializing in Hilo. More details in the October 2009 Log
September 2009
BJ Penn is a famous person in Hilo and it is always fun to see him around town. We ran into him at the pool in Hilo. In September we attended the Writer's Conference in Oahu and the Big Island Internet Society. More about it all in the September 2009 Log.
August 2009
In August Hawaii celebrated their 50th anniversary as a State of the US. The celebration in Hilo was more of an anti-American demonstration. At the begining of the month, Hilo hosted the Hawaii State Outrigger Championships in Hilo Bay. More about that and other happenings in Hilo in the August 2009 Log.
July 2009
In July we went swimming at Richardson State Park. We enjoyed the great weather and beautiful rainbows. More in the July 2009 Log.
June 2009
June brings King Kamehameha Day, a State holiday which is celebrated with song and dance on Coconut Island in Hilo. We visited Nani Mau gardens, drove up to check on the Volcano, and went to Kona. For more on those events and the Father's Day car show, Outrigger races, and Hilo's farmer market display go to the June 2009 Log.
May 2009
May happenings in Hilo included AstroDay and UHH graduation bringing Jerry Yang from Yahoo to town. We visited Hilo's historic Shipman House. More about the events in the May 2009 Log
April 2009
April is the most exicting month in Hilo because of Merrie Monarch, the international olympics of Hula. The entire week starting on Easter day, is dedicated to Merrie Monarch and most of the events are free. Here is our log of photos and videos from 2009 Merrie Monarch. There were more happenings in Hilo during the month and they are described in the April 2009 Log
March 2009
In March, Hilo had a Sustainability Forum which was quite interesting. We visited Boiling pots, learned about the Jaboticaba fruit, and took lots of pictures of the fresh fish caught off Hilo. More in the March 2009 Log
February 2009
Hilo celebrated the Chinese New Year in February. Most of the month saw heavy rainfall. See more in the February 2009 Log
January 2009
In January we went to a UHH basketball game and enjoyed UHH's annual Ho'olaule'a celebration. See those events and our visit to KTA Grocery store and walk in the Liliuokalani garden in the January 2009 Log
December 2008
There was a huge storm in Hilo in December leaving heavy snowfall on Mauna Kea. We enjoyed a month of parties and Christmas cheer in Hilo detailed here in the December 2008 Log.
November 2008
Politics are big in Hawaii and the win by Hawaii's boy Obama created a big uproar. More about what was up in Hilo in the November 2008 Log.
October 2008
October was filled with festivals like the yearly Pumpkin Patch Festival in Waimea. We attended a beautiful 100th anniversary of a Buddhist church in Hilo, watched amazing gymnastics by a visiting Danish group, attended a Tahiti festival, and went to numerous other events described in the October 2008 Log
September 2008
Festivals are a constant in Hilo and September was no exception with a city block party, Electric Company (HELCO) fair, Hawaii County fiar, and the Liliuokalani festival in the park. More details about the month in the September 2008 Log
August 2008
August was filled with fun activities like picking 'ohelo berries on the side of Mauna Kea where we saw Nene birds. We went to plant and orchid shows and to the annual Haari boat festival. More about it in the August 2008 Log
July 2008
In July we were busy trying out the Hilo golf course, checking out the home show, enjoying the Big Island music festival, swimming and taking in the Fourth of July fireworks. See photos about it as well as our trip to Kona in the July 2008 Log
June 2008
June was a fun month of swimming, learning about dealing with humidity, attending King Kamehameha Day celebrations on Coconut island, and enjoying Hilo. More about it in our June 2008 Log
May 2008
In May we drove around the island to take in the volcano's impact on the ocean views. In Hilo there was a May Day celebration, a Pow Wow, Astroday, fun in the parks and swimming all described in the May 2008 Log.
April 2008
April was our first Merrie Monarch festival and it was incredible. We were thrilled with the hula dance and music and became big fans. Here is our log of photos and videos from the 2008 Merrie Monarch. There were more about happenings in Hilo during the month in described in the April 2008 Log
March 2008
Our March was busy with travel to Oahu and LA. Gas prices were on the rise and the volcano was very active with an explosion. More about it in the March 2008 Log
February and January 2008
We started our monthly photo log about in Hilo in January to describe what we learned about Hilo yard maintenance, cost of living, activities, and much more as described in the Jan-Feb 2008 Log
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