Hawaii! Read online

  “What kind of whales are they?” Emilia asked.

  “Humpback whales,” Lana replied. “They swim all the way from Alaska to breed off the coast of Hawaii.”

  “And this exact spot—on the west shore of Maui—is one of the best places for whale watching in the world,” Jacob added.

  “That’s so awesome!” Alfie replied. He couldn’t believe their luck—or maybe it was Zia’s incredible timing.

  They watched the ocean for a bit longer and saw a few more spouts and one whale that launched halfway out of the water before splashing into the sea again. They could hardly believe what they were seeing!

  Pretty soon, the highway turned away from the water and headed inland.

  “Now we’re driving north to the other side of the island,” Jacob said from the backseat.

  “Yeah, we’re going Upcountry,” Lana added.

  “What’s that?” Alfie asked.

  “Upcountry is the inland area of Maui at the base of the Haleakala Crater,” Kai explained.

  “Is that one of the volcanoes?” Alfie asked.

  “Yep,” Kai said.

  “Cool,” Alfie replied as they drove up a winding road into the green rolling hills.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Emilia said.

  Alfie nodded in agreement. He was glad they were getting to see what the island looked like away from the resort. He saw kids playing in yards as they wound their way up the twisty road. He smiled. “It would be so fun to grow up on an island like this.”

  Kai smiled back. “It is. We spend most of our time outside.”

  Soon Kai clicked his right turn signal and slowed in front of a big sign.

  “‘Ohi Farm,’” Alfie read aloud.

  “Ohi means to gather or pick up,” Lana said. “This is an organic fruit farm where they let you pick your own if you want.”

  Kai swung the truck into a dirt parking lot, and they all piled out of the cab. Alfie stretched his legs. It was a longer drive than he’d expected.

  Alfie and Emilia followed their friends around the side of a big building. There was a covered area set up with several large wooden tables piled high with different kinds of fruit. Alfie breathed deep, sniffing the sweetness of various fruits in the air. Emilia smiled and closed her eyes, smelling the fruit, too.

  When Alfie stepped up to one of the tables, he scanned the fruit in front of him, looking for anything that was familiar. He could only pick out a couple of things that he recognized. He saw pineapples, mangoes, and pomegranates, but the rest were a mystery!

  “Good afternoon,” the woman behind the table said. “Let me know what you’d like to try. You’re welcome to sample anything we have.”

  “Thank you,” Emilia said. “I guess I don’t know what a lot of these fruits are.”

  “That’s okay!” The woman smiled. “We have got a lot of exotic varieties. I’ll cut a few things for you.”

  Alfie and Emilia watched as she picked up a bright red oval-shaped fruit with flat green spikes growing out of the sides. She cut the fruit in half. The inside was white with little black seeds. Alfie was surprised. He hadn’t known what to expect, but he hadn’t expected it to look so strange inside!

  The woman cut two small cubes from the inside and handed them to Alfie and Emilia. “This is dragon fruit,” she said.

  The flesh was crunchy and easy to bite, with a mild sweetness to it. It was really good! Alfie decided he liked dragon fruit.

  Next the woman carefully picked up a spiky yellow fruit the size of a volleyball.

  “That looks dangerous!” Emilia said.

  Jacob, Lana, Kai, and the woman all laughed. “You definitely have to be careful handling it,” the woman said.

  “What is it?” Alfie asked.

  “This is durian,” the woman replied. “Have you heard of durian before?”

  Alfie and Emilia shook their heads.

  “I’m going to stand over here for this one,” Kai said, moving away from the table. Alfie turned to see Jacob and Lana backing up, too. He couldn’t imagine why they’d be scared of a piece of fruit—although it did look a little dangerous . . .

  “It can be a bit of an acquired taste,” the woman said, using a sharp knife to cut lengthwise across the fruit between rows of spikes.

  Alfie frowned. He’d already heard that about the poi. He glanced at Emilia, and she didn’t look so sure, either.

  Next the woman used her hands to pry the two halves of the durian husk apart, revealing yellowish flesh inside with big pits in each half. And that’s when Alfie smelled it. It smelled like stinky cheese or sweaty gym socks—or a combination of the two; either way, it wasn’t exactly something he wanted to put in his mouth. Emilia was already backing away from the table to join their Hawaiian friends, who were laughing, but from a pretty big distance.

  “Are you going to try it?” Alfie asked Emilia. She pinched her nose and shook her head.

  “What about you?” the woman asked, holding out a spoonful of the fleshy fruit. Alfie took a deep breath. He hadn’t shied away from trying anything new on their travels, and he certainly didn’t want to now. Alfie took the spoon and shoved it into his mouth before he could change his mind. The durian was slightly creamy and very soft. It tasted kind of like custard, but had more of a strong stinky-cheese aftertaste. Alfie swallowed quickly and made a face. He’d done it, but he wouldn’t be going back for more.

  Jacob and Kai laughed and clapped from several tables away.

  “Bravo!” Kai cheered.

  The woman behind the table laughed, too. “We can move to another table and try a couple of other things if you want.”

  “Yes, please,” Alfie said, swiftly joining his friends. He definitely needed to try more fruit to get the cheesy taste out of his mouth.

  After that, the woman cut star fruit, rose apple, and jackfruit, which were all interesting and really tasty—much better than the durian. When they were finished, Jacob pulled out Uncle Gene’s list and handed it to the woman. She disappeared into the building. A few minutes later she returned with two big wooden crates brimming with fresh tropical fruit.

  “I’ll put it on the resort’s tab,” she said. “Enjoy the luau!”

  Kai led the way to the truck, and they slid the crates into the back. They thanked the woman and climbed inside. Emilia still looked like she might be sick from the durian smell. Kai started the engine, and they turned onto the road again. Emilia rolled down the window and stuck her head out.

  “You’re quite the adventurer,” Kai said to Alfie.

  Alfie beamed. Kai was right—Alfie was up for anything. He just hoped he could get rid of that durian aftertaste eventually!

  They continued on the winding Upcountry road for a few more miles. Then Kai pulled off the road and through two big open wooden gates. An archway over the gates read HOKU RANCH.

  “I never imagined there would be ranches in Hawaii,” Emilia said.

  Alfie nodded. He thought ranches only existed in places like Colorado and Montana.

  “Absolutely,” Kai said. “Hawaii has a long history of cattle ranching. This ranch even raises elk.”

  “Elk?” Alfie said. That was even harder to imagine!

  “Yep,” Jacob said as they climbed out of the truck. “They make really good elk burgers.”

  Kai went into the ranch store to get the extra meats Uncle Gene needed for the luau while Lana, Jacob, Alfie, and Emilia stood at the edge of the pasture fence and watched some cattle grazing on a hill nearby. Clouds covered the sun for a few minutes, and Alfie felt a couple of raindrops on his face. But just as quickly, the sun came out again and the rain disappeared.

  “What does elk meat taste like?” Emilia asked.

  “It’s a little like venison, if you’ve ever had that,” Jacob answered. “I bet they’d give you a taste of elk
burger in the store if you want.”

  “Okay, sure!” Emilia said. She’d tried most of the adventurous foods they’d been offered on their travels—like chicken’s feet in Hong Kong and alligator tail in New Orleans. She could be just as daring as Alfie.

  Jacob led Emilia into the store to try the elk burger. Alfie and Lana followed them inside. Kai was at the counter talking to one of the ranch workers when Jacob appeared at his side to ask about the elk.

  “Just a small taste,” Emilia told them. The man behind the counter smiled and nodded and went back to the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with a couple bites of a grilled burger patty on a paper plate.

  “Thank you,” Emilia said as she picked up a piece of the elk burger and chewed it slowly. “It’s good!” she said. “It tastes a little richer and sweeter than a hamburger.”

  Jacob grabbed the other piece from the plate and popped it into his mouth. “Mahalo,” he said to the man behind the counter.

  “What does mahalo mean?” Emilia asked.

  “It means thank you,” Jacob told her.

  Two men emerged from the back of the store carrying a large cooler. Kai grabbed a second, smaller cooler from the counter and led the way out to the truck.

  “Uncle Gene must have ordered another pig to roast,” Lana said. “This luau is going to be big!”

  Kai and the men slid the coolers into the back next to the fruit crates. Then Emilia and Alfie and their Hawaiian friends all piled into the cab and were on their way. They headed down from the Upcountry and back onto one of the main highways. Alfie read the names of roads and businesses as they drove. “A lot of the names of things seem really similar,” he observed.

  “That’s because the Hawaiian alphabet only has thirteen letters.” Jacob leaned over the backseat of the truck.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. The Hawaiian language was never written down until British explorers and missionaries came here. Then they recorded it.”

  “Wow,” Emilia said. Alfie could tell she was interested in hearing more about Hawaiian history—especially if it came from Jacob.

  After they drove for a while longer, Kai pulled into a convenience-store parking lot. “Who needs a snack?”

  “I do!” Jacob called from the back. Alfie agreed. They hadn’t really had any lunch. The fruit had been delicious—well, except for the durian—but it hadn’t filled him up.

  Alfie and Emilia followed their friends into the roadside store and looked around. For the most part, it looked like any convenience store they’d see back home. There were rows of chips and candy and coolers of drinks. But Lana, Jacob, and Kai weren’t interested in that stuff. Alfie walked up to the counter to see what they were getting.

  “Five Spam musubis, please,” Jacob told the man behind the counter. “You have to try one,” Jacob said to Alfie and Emilia.

  Alfie dug in his pocket to give Jacob the couple of dollars he had left after the resort store, but Jacob just waved him away.

  “Our treat,” he said.

  “Thank you!” Alfie and Emilia both said.

  They headed to a picnic table outside the convenience store and sat down to eat their snack.

  “How long are you two here for?” Kai asked.

  Alfie looked at Emilia. “Oh, you know, a few days, I think . . . ,” he stumbled.

  “We’re going to one of the other islands after this,” Emilia jumped in. “We’re just not sure when exactly.”

  “Oh, cool,” Jacob said. “Which one?”

  Emilia gave Alfie a purposeful look. He knew she was hoping he’d remember the other island names from all his map studying. “Uh . . . Oahu?”

  “Nice!” Kai responded. “You’ll definitely have to check out the North Shore on Oahu. That’s where all the crazy surfing competitions are. The waves are insane.”

  “Awesome!” Alfie said. Now he wished they really were going to Oahu!

  Jacob removed the plastic wrap from his Spam musubi. “You’ve had Spam before, right?”

  “No . . .” Alfie and Emilia shook their heads.

  “Really?” Jacob asked with wide eyes. “Spam is so delicious. You definitely can’t come to Hawaii without trying it.”

  “We Hawaiians love our Spam.” Lana laughed.

  “What . . . what is it?” Emilia asked tentatively.

  “Spam stands for spiced ham,” Kai said. “It comes in a can. It got popular during World War II when a lot of soldiers were stationed here.”

  “Canned ham?” Alfie asked. He was intrigued.

  “So Spam musubi is kind of like a Hawaiian-slash-Japanese snack because it’s served almost like sushi,” Kai continued. “It’s a ball of rice with a piece of fried Spam on top and wrapped in nori, which is seaweed.”

  “It does look like a big piece of sushi,” Emilia said.

  “That’s another cool thing about Hawaii,” Jacob said. “We are a mix of a lot of different cultures. Hawaiian culture comes from all the other cultures that have settled here: Polynesian, Japanese, Filipino, even Portuguese.”

  “That is cool,” Emilia said. “It’s not like anywhere else in the United States.”

  “Totally,” Alfie agreed. He was ready to try his Spam snack. He unwrapped it and took a big bite. The ham was greasy and salty. The consistency wasn’t like any ham he’d ever had—it was almost spongy, but he really liked it.

  “What do you think?” Kai asked.

  “It’s really different, but it’s good!” Alfie said.

  “Emilia?”

  “It’s pretty good!” Emilia answered, chewing her bite.

  “Now you can definitely say you’ve experienced Hawaiian culture,” Jacob said.

  Alfie thought he could see Emilia’s cheeks get pink as she smiled at Jacob.

  He finished his snack in just a few more bites. “I wonder what Zia would think of Spam,” he said to Emilia. “Do you think she tried it when she lived here?”

  Emilia laughed. “Good question. I bet she did.”

  “Yeah.” Alfie nodded. Alfie knew Zia would happily try local foods anywhere she visited. That must be where he got his own sense of food adventure.

  Back at the resort, Alfie and Emilia carried one of the crates of fruit into the kitchen. Uncle Gene and Pika were arguing again but stopped abruptly when they realized they had company.

  “How did it go?” Uncle Gene asked, attempting a smile, but looking even more frazzled than when they had left. Pika sighed loudly and stormed off to the walk-in freezer.

  “No problems at all!” Kai said.

  “Good,” Uncle Gene said. He turned to Alfie and Emilia. “Did you have fun?”

  “We did!” Emilia answered. “The Upcountry was beautiful.”

  “And I tried durian at the fruit farm,” Alfie announced.

  “You did?” Uncle Gene looked really surprised. Even one of dishwashers stopped working and looked at Alfie.

  “It was disgusting, but I tried it!”

  Uncle Gene threw his head back and laughed. “Good for you! It’s always good to try new things.”

  “That’s what our zia always says,” Alfie replied.

  Uncle Gene looked like he was going to ask Alfie a question, but Kai spoke first. “I think you’ve earned yourself another surf lesson, bro—even just for trying that durian today!”

  “Sweet!” Alfie said.

  Kai smiled. “Well, I’ve got some other lessons scheduled this afternoon, but I have an opening tomorrow morning if you want to meet me down at the beach at eight o’clock.”

  “I’ll be there!” Alfie replied, excitement building in his chest again. He couldn’t wait to get back out on a surfboard.

  “I’ll come down in the morning, too,” Lana said to Emilia. “We can do hula then.”

  “Great!” Emilia answered. Alfi
e knew she was as excited about learning to hula dance as he was about surfing.

  “Well, I better get back to dealing with this luau,” Uncle Gene said, glancing in Pika’s direction. “I just hope we can pull it all together.”

  Jacob patted his uncle’s arm. “You can do it!”

  “Thanks again for your help, kids,” Uncle Gene said. “Now go have fun!”

  “Are you sure?” Lana asked.

  “Yes,” Uncle Gene said. “I think we can take it from here.”

  Alfie heard Pika mumble something as he walked by, but he couldn’t make it out.

  “Bye, Uncle Gene!” they all called as they filed out of the kitchen and back into the parking lot. Kai waved good-bye as he headed down to the beach for his next lesson.

  “What are you guys doing now?” Jacob asked.

  Alfie and Emilia looked at each other and shrugged.

  “Want to go snorkeling or paddleboarding?” Jacob asked.

  “Sure!”

  “We can borrow gear from the resort’s rental cabana,” Lana said, walking toward the path to the beach. “Kai won’t mind.”

  They hurried down the path to the cabana, and Lana and Jacob went inside. Alfie watched Kai giving his surf lesson out in the water. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow!

  Lana and Jacob emerged from the cabana, with a couple of net bags of snorkel gear and two paddleboards with paddles.

  “We have to walk a little ways to the cove from here,” Jacob said. “But it’s worth it.”

  Alfie grabbed one of the boards from Jacob. “Sounds good.”

  Emilia frowned at him. “I want to try paddleboarding,” she said.

  “Okay,” Alfie huffed. “We’ll figure it out when we get there.”

  Emilia opened her mouth to argue again, but then changed her mind. She took one of the net snorkeling bags from Lana.

  They walked down the beach away from the resort. Alfie kicked off his flip-flops, ready to feel the warm, soft sand on his toes again. “Is all the sand in Hawaii like this?” he asked.

  “Nope,” Lana said. “All the beaches are different. Some have really coarse yellow sand. Others even have black sand.”