Limahuli Hale 1 construction: Olokea

The Limahuli hale project continued today with the construction of the olokea, the ladder system that functions as scaffolding for the construction of the roof.

You will see the hale just above the taro (kalo) paddies (lo'i) at the NTBG Limahuli Garden.

Before starting today the rock work foundation and perimeter posts were already completed from work started here last November. Reusing pieces from the Lawai hale olokea, so little cutting was needed, plus with the crew having experience of building that one, the work went smoothly and quickly.

The photo to the left shows the olokea as of the end of work today. After two roof support posts go in (one is in position ready to set, the other yet to be cut) tomorrow morning, the end supports that comprise the rest of the olokea will be added to complete it. From there the roof structure will go up, working on the olokea.

Today heavy rain interrupted work a few times and made the work site a fairly miserable mud hole. The olokea gets very slippery when wet so for safety work stops when a squall rolls through. Rain was frequent enough that we moved our tent for breaks up next to the hale so we can quickly step out of the rainfall as needed.

As always, the local staff took great care of us including a nice hot lunch of curry rice with a kale salad and a ginger-garlic dressing that was delicious, and Sugarloaf pineapple for dessert. Mahalo!