Michael Another specialty on Big Island is the coffee from Kona. It is actually grown, harvested, and roasted there. This is unusual because coffee requires a very special climate to thrive.

A pound of the best costs 25 dollars! We joined a tour of the plantation. The fruits, which grow on bushes and look somewhat like rose hips, are picked when they are red.

Subsequently, an ancient machine removes approximately three layers of shell, leaving behind small kernels that look like a mixture of hazelnut and oatmeal. Or unsalted peanuts without shells. These are then dried, and finally, they go into the roastery, which roasts them and extracts the typical coffee aroma from them.

Due to the peeling and roasting, 5 pounds of coffee cherries yield only 1 pound of coffee, which is why, according to the not-so-dumb tour guide, coffee is so expensive. Additionally, the farm also had macadamia nuts, and I immediately bought a bag. But then I remembered that to return to California, you have to go through what is called "Agriculture." Even though you are only moving from one U.S. state to another, the men and women of the American agricultural authority make a big fuss and check whether you are bringing in plants with pests that could endanger California's agriculture. So, I ate the whole bag of nuts until I felt sick! Since nuts are known to be brain food, I also quickly disproved the theory of relativity in the process.

In Hawaii, there is an old law that states: Every beach must be publicly accessible. If a hotel chain sets up an ocean front property, it must leave a small access path open for locals to get to the beach. Begrudgingly, the uniformed staff will let you pass when you shuffle by them in flip-flops to get to the beach. No wealthy snob is allowed to build their fortress on the beach and fence it off--the beach is for everyone. This is very unusual in capitalist America, where property ownership is generally considered inviolable. I remember areas on the East Coast where you had to drive around for hours to get to the beach because house after house was built along the beach and everything was fenced off.

Hawaii has beaches for tourists and also some for the locals. Tourist beaches are signposted. That's where all the clueless people go. The locals' beaches are secret. Suddenly, there are five cars parked on the shoulder of a country road for no apparent reason (they're not too strict about that in Hawaii), and you just have to join them, then trek through some wilderness until palm trees suddenly appear and a few guys are surfing on their boards in the waves, giving you a funny look if you show up as a tourist.

At a beach, I managed to accidentally cut off a local in a wave because we were surfing too close to each other. Angelika watched the whole thing from the beach and later told me that the local angrily hit the water with his fist while I quickly made my escape. I laughed so hard when, a few minutes later, I almost ran into the same person again by sheer coincidence. Luckily, I was able to dive into the wave just in time, otherwise, there might have been a nasty international incident!

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Hawaii: Big Island
  	South Point
  	Mauna Kea
  	Supermarket Chains
  	Tellme

  
  

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Hawaii: Big Island
  	South Point
  	Mauna Kea
  	Supermarket Chains
  	Tellme