About Us
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WANA’AO means "Dawn or Sunrise." It relates to New Beginnings! The word resonates a deep inner desire to serve humanity by giving & sharing abundance, knowledge & experience, or creative & artistic ability.
AINA means, "Love of the Land", or “That Which Feeds Us”. Aina is life in harmony with nature. The spirit of the earth!
Julia Bee Conner, and her herd of Appaloosa horses joined up with many devoted friends and family, as ohana, and developed a sustainable homestead on the Big Island of Hawaii based on those very ideas.
Sustainable, “off-the-grid” homesteading and permaculture is what Wanao’ao Aina shared with those who came to lodge & to share their skills in a unique lifestyle on Pohoiki, Pahoa, Hawaii. The 8 acres were shared with many special friends like cats, dogs, sheep, chickens, rabbits, ducks & MANY speckled horses!
All on the land lived by the grace of the sun & the rain for energy, communications and purification. They planted many gardens for food and medicine. They once hosted a class for Master Cho of Korean Natural Farming. There were over 21 mature fruit trees dropping sweet fruits of Ulu, Rollinia, Cacao, Soursop, Avocado and others before the disaster consumed the entire land.
Wanao’ao offered affordable rental homes and income to Julia to support the many projects. It offered retreat space for travelers & artists in residency to share their cultural exchange, their horsemanship, their artistic abilities, their music, in addition to a private hideaway for honeymooners & single adventurists all the while, connecting with Horse Spirit & the Aina.
On May 4th, 2018, the Kilauea Volcano began to erupt and by May 18, 2018, the force of the eruption covered the land with a river that ran deep from one corner at the top, diagonal to the bottom of the entire 8 acres.
The lava covered a pond with tilapia and koi with aquaculture planned in the future. There were three two-story living structures meant for full time rental and lodge for special guests. There was a four-stall barn with a loft studio and porch overlooking the ocean. There was a round pen and tack and saddles that were not able to be rescued that were left behind hoping for the return.
There were three unique bathhouses and infrastructure; one each of a star-pod, lava rock with ocean view, and a bamboo bathhouse, all with clawfoot tubs and flushing toilets. There was a 40 foot greenhouse; a large fenced garden for vegetable and herbs with two gates for entry in the east and the west.
There were two 40 foot refrigerated containers used for storage of equipment to include a Bobcat, a Yanmar Diesel Tractor with Brush Hog, a Zeroturn Radius Lawnmower. The monies awarded by FEMA could not begin to replace the homestead, let alone the equipment necessary to take care of it.
Two years past the devastation, the Appaloosas have been moved many times, separated with no end in sight. Julia’s vision and her heart remained on the land where she chose to be 20 years ago.
Julia’s life and her future have been permanently changed, impermanence a harsh lesson in reality. At this stage in life, as a single independent woman, who once had everything in place to retire in her 60s, now needs to ask for help, when it was her who always offered the assistance and support necessary for other peoples growth.
Wana'ao Aina desires to begin anew! The Kilauea Eruption, pushed Julia to travel across the United States from the West Coast to the East, camping and exploring the North American continent and all its majestic beauty. Even in all its splendor, it is with perseverance and strength that Julia and her herd of Appaloosa horses, wish to return to the land on Pohoiki, Wana’ao Aina.
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