Although it's the Big Island's capital, and largest town, just 45,000 people live in HILO , which remains endearing and unpressured. Mass tourism has never taken off here; basically it rains too much. However, the rain falls mostly at night, and America's wettest city blazes with tropical blooms, set against a backdrop of rainbows.

Hilo has always been at the mercy of fire and water. Cataclysmic tsunami killed 96 people in April 1946, and a further 61 in May 1960. Countless lava flows have also threatened to engulf it; in 1881 Princess Ruth summoned up all her spiritual power to halt one on the edge of town, while in 1984 another flow stopped just eight miles short.