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I have not tested the hardness yet, but I guess rain water is on the harder side?

Rain water is quite soft.

Hawaii is so incredibly beautiful. I got a chance to visit a few months ago and WOW oh WOW. I've never eaten so much SPAM, snowcones, and Macadamian nuts before. Hehehe. :biggrin: The true highlights for me were the lushness of it all, the incredible sunsets, the numerous un-crowded beaches, and the scenic windy roads one only finds in car commercials. Most memorable have to be (1) eating fresh coconut while watching the sun descends on Sunset Beach and (2) eating freshly-picked guava while trekking through the tropical rainforest. Hawaiians must find mainland USA repugnant. I feel like Homer after house-sitting for Mr. Burns. Eating blackberries while avoiding cottonmouths just no longer hold the same appeal after that trip. :lol:

The caves and streams are haven to so many varieties of moss and liverworts. I brought back many samples but got caught by the Department of Agriculture at the airport. DOH! #-o

 

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Ha ha ha. That is so true. :biggrin: It took us less than 2 days to leisurely drive all along the coastlines of the big island before trekking to the pristine outer islands. We made special plans to visit the North Shore in the hope of catching some surfing action and perhaps getting to meet Danny Fuller. He was unfortunately nowhere to be found. Needless to say, I watched every single episodes of the WB's Boarding House: North Shore reality TV series.

Concerning the Eco-Complete, Aaron, have you considered using crushed lava rocks? I was visiting the volcanic eruption sites and there were tons of black lava rocks strewn about. I bet there's Fe in those rocks as well as the macroporosity to boot. Perhaps too jagged? Or maybe when you get to visit mainland US, you can carry Eco-Complete back. It's not that heavy once the liquid has been drained. Between luggage and carry-ons, I bet you can easily bring 5 bags per person back. :mrgreen:

I got caught with the moss at the airport. I didn't want to put the ziplock bag full of moss/liverworts/ferns in with my luggage because they would have to go through custom, so I brought it along with me. At the security checkpoint where you put personal belongings through the X-ray machine, I hid the cargo in my jacket. Well, they pulled me aside as soon as I went through, apparently because of a suspicious bag. So when I can't produce a Phytosanitary certificate, they confiscated it despite my pleadings. #-o I should have just buried it in with the suitcase full of dirty clothes. At least I came back with a killer tan. Hehehe.

 

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Danny is a surfer. He remains in Hawaii, waiting for the competition to come to the island, instead of following the others to compete abroad. Oh, I completely forgot about the black sand. Isn't it illegal to remove it from the premise? I recall seeing signs all over warning tourists not to take any sand as souvenirs. 8-[