Thursday, March 19, 2009

A Beautiful Case of Boils

No, not THAT kind of boils … but rather, a stream phenomenon that LOOKS like boiling water in a pot – so much so, in fact, that they named the Hilo attraction “Boiling Pots.”

This was one of the sights that we visited during our recent trip to Hilo. The wife had never seen it, so I thought it a good time to show her a little bit of Hawaii’s wonders.

When it rains a lot, the river swells and the waters rush into huge depressions in the river bed, churning violently, giving the appearance of boiling water.

It’s pretty dangerous, and every year, one or more people drown when they fall into the water. It’s their own fault. The viewing area is high above the river and there are signs warning of the danger. Still, as you can see from the picture, people ignore or disregard the warnings and climb down for a close-up view.

If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you take a side trip there. The area is absolutely beautiful.

Just go up Waianuenue Street (on the way to Hilo Medical Center), and look for Peepee Falls Street. Yep, you read that right. But it’s not pronounced the way you think it is. It’s pronounced “peh-eh peh-eh.” Got that? Good. I’d hate to have you ask a local where you can find Peepee Falls; I’d hear the laughter all the way over in Honolulu.

2 comments:

R. said...

It looks gorgeous! I think I'd stay up high though. I'm just clumsy enough to fall in. ;)

Montee said...

That is a beautiful place. I bet it looks like a painting. I hear you on people ignoring signs. I was in Florida during Spring Training and there was a nearby body of water with gators in it. A warning sign was posted, but tourists would still wade into the water, trying to see a gator. Crazy!