Hawaiian cowboys? – it sounds like a contradiction, but then Hawaii is full of them. In addition to its active volcano, pristine beaches, and the world’s largest observatories on Mauna Kea, the Big Island of Hawaii is also home to one the largest and oldest ranches in the United States. After the war of 1812 John Parker settled in the Islands and became friends with King Kamehameha I. He married the daughter of a high-ranking chief and was given two acres of land and allowed to manage the free-roaming cattle on the island. Over the next 160 years the ranch grew to thousands of acres around the town of Waimea and until 1992, it was the largest privately owned cattle ranch in the United States (including Texas and Montana!).

The paniolos (or Hawaiian cowboys) who work the ranch are descendants of Mexican vaqueros, excellent horsemen brought over by Parker to manage the growing operation. They trained local men to rope and ride a generation before the American cowboys of the Wild West learned their craft, and introduced to the local culture the sound that today is synonymous with Hawaii, the ukulele.

The driving force behind the new design of our website is PhotoShelter - a wonderful photographers service that enables the online stock licensing, print and product fulfillment, search and lightbox functions for our image library.

In addition to customizable themes, which can be seamlessly integrated into an existing website, their marketing and SEO tools are second to none. Add to that, informative webinars on how to effectively use their products and customer service that is outstanding and, well…you get the picture. We’re thrilled!

After nearly 25 years the lava on Hawaii’s Big Island continues to flow from the Pu’u O’o vent on the flanks of Kilauea down into the Pacific Ocean. In the early 90’s I was there to witness the slow destruction of Kalapana and watched in amazement as they rolled the historic painted church down the road to safety, while the palms on the famous black sand beach went up in flames.

I’ve been back many times over the years and I’m always in awe of Pele’s powerful hand in shaping these Islands. Will Rogers once said “buy real estate, they don’t make it any more”, but clearly he had never been to this part of the world!