Meet Bill and Antoinette
Bill and Antoinette met while they were students at the University of Hawaii. At the time hosting a vacation rental in the small rural village outside a national park was never remotely on their horizon. Bill had come to Hawaii at age nineteen in the military at the onset of the war in Vietnam and subsequently served two tours of duty in the war struck country. He loved Hawaii so much that he came back after service and attended the university. Antoinette was attending the nursing program and working at a hospital in Honolulu, where she and Bill met.
After marrying Antoinette started her career as an RN in a hospital on Oahu, and Bill changed his career direction and became a cabinetmaker working for local shops before opening his own business. As time went on and Oahu became increasing urban, congested and expensive, they started trekking to the Big Island of Hawaii and looking for larger land opportunities at affordable prices. They spent a couple of years traveling back and forth spending time at various locations on the Big Island but kept gravitating back to the Volcano area. And trying to time their trips with the sporadic eruptions at Kilauea. To put it simply, they fell in love with this volcanic landscape, mostly inhabited by national park employees, scientists, artists and retirees who were also escapees from an increasingly populated Oahu.
No doubt, over the years, Bill and Antoinette have become Lavaholics. Whether it is lava spattering from the crater lava lake or lava flowing down the mountain side toward an ocean entry, they never tire of it’s awe and majesty. Antoinette developed a passion for English afternoon tea and sharing this love for tea with friends and fellow tea lovers through tea classes at the local community college. Bill’s craftsmanship and Antoinette’s love for tea combined to create a wonderful guest cottage. It was here that they could share with travelers this unique community and experience of awesome beauty and the power of nature’s creative forces.
