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Road from National Park to Kalapana was closed in early '70's. I stayed in Kalapana 1974-75 and it was definitely closed then. It may have been reopened after that?
As stated above biggest changes: no more Queen's Bath, Kaimu; and the number of people is so many more; Pahoa and Keaau bypasses happened since then. And, of course, the Red Road is no longer red
Sure, Puna has changed. So has the whole world.
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"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."
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Lots of my friends that spent their youth here moving back to the mainland - grin
just not the same old crew
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I forgot about the red road.I was so upset, I wrote a paper on it in high school when they paved it over. Sigh, still miss the red road being red.....
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Royal Gardens being wiped out.
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"Road from National Park to Kalapana was closed in early '70's. I stayed in Kalapana 1974-75 and it was definitely closed then. It may have been reopened after that?"
Yes... road was definitely re-opened afterwards... but got cut off again in late-1986... October maybe?
Loved being able to make the entire circle-- the Kamoamoa-campground and the incredible Visitor's Center down there at the bottom of the National Park being among my very favorite places.
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how was the "aloha" then compared to now in comparison to visitors, newbies etc....peace
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I was born in Hilo on January 27,1960 at 02.40am. Spent my entire life here,yes i am local. I can honestly say that puna/kalapana in my growing up years of the 60's thru 70's was a different time and place then, the aloha spirit permeated the area back then. Sadly puna/kalapana for various reasons is a vastly different place now. The feeling is not the same in my opinion.
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Some changes in Puna are the same as Hawaii in general.
In 2014, lots people in Puna and all of Hawaii study, speak, and sing in the Hawaiian language. Not so in 1978. One big part of one big change.
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The Chain of Craters federal highway from Kilauea's summit area to Kalapana was not completed until the early 1980s. Since it enabled circle-island tours to include the volcano park and an amazing drive down the park's eastern slope to Kalapana without having to double back, scores of busloads of mostly Japanese tourists stopped at Kaimu Beach every day and trundled off the bus to experience the beautiful black sand beach there, snap pix, then clamber back on and head to Hilo.
Some in Kalapana/Kaimu didn't like the opening up of their community. So you can imagine their reaction when Pele reclaimed her turf.
I used to love to go with friends on an evening drive from Pahoa to Kalapana and up the Chain of Craters road to have a really fabulous dinner at the Volcano House (it was a Sheraton property then). At that time, there was no radio or TV reception whatsoever from about before Pahoa on down to the coast. And this was before videotapes, DVRs, etc. Long time gone....
