Well we are back after two great weeks on the Big Island. We had a tremendous trip that needs to be logged. We started the trip by staying the first night at Uncle Billy's Kona Coast Hotel in Kailua-Kona. It was just easier to get a room there for the first night as after the long plane trips of about 12 combined hours and getting the rent car, i was not ready for a long car trip across the island.
They put us on the fourth floor which was fine for the view, but put us as far away from the elevator as was possible. It took about a 1 block walk to get to the elevator. We touched base with our friend Marty and arranged to meet for breakfast the next morning. Being dead tired by this time we retired for the evening, falling asleep with the Olympics on the TV.
The next morning we called Marty to tell her we were on the way to find out she could not go to breakfast due to illness. Plans change. We took our time getting out of the hotel and decided we would do our shopping for the next week while in Kailua. It was nice to visit the Safeway we had shopped at so many times before and they even had our shopping card still in their computer!
Next we were off to Waipio. Check in time was 2:00 pm so to kill some time we went up to the
Kalopa State Recreation Area where we were looking for the horse my wife had befriended when we lived in Kailua-Kona. To her
disappointment, the horse was not there and the field looked like it was grown up and unattended for some time, so we assumed the horse moved.
Next we were off to The Waipio Ridge Vacation Rental and here is the view we were welcomed to:
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Imagine waking up to this view every morning for seven days! From Waipio we made day trips to Pololu Valley, Waimea, Laupahoahoa, Hawi, Kapa'au and Kaiwaihae. We shopped in Honoka'a and dined at the new Blane's Drive in a couple of times. Spent the evenings watching the Olympics. The accommodations was an old Airstream trailer with a large deck. For more details see: Waipio Valley |
After the stay at Waipio we moved down to Hilo where we stayed at the Hilo Seaside hotel. Parking was a bit of a problem, but we were lucky every evening. The view right outside our room was this great garden:
From Hilo we took day trips down to Puna at Kalapana where the lava closed the highway and then back up the coast road. This is one of the prettiest drives in the world, in our opinion, and rivals the drive to Hana on Maui. For more details on the drive see:
A Trip Through Puna.
We also made a couple trips to the Volcanoes National Park up the Muna Loa road and through the park. Also down the Chain Of Craters Road at sundown to see if we could see the glow where the lava enters the ocean. The lava flow was too far away from the parking area for us to see. For more information on the Volcanoes National Park see:
Volcanoes National Park.
Of course a must visit was to the Lili'uokalani Gardens, a Japanese garden built right on Hilo Bay. For more information see:
Lili'uokalani Gardens.
Another must see for us was the Hilo Zoo. The main attraction is their white Bengal Tiger. I've not done an essay on the Zoo as of this date, but you can get more information at:
www.hilozoo.com.
Another trip from Hilo while on the way back to Kailua-Kona was a stop at Punalu'u black sand beach. This is a particularly beautiful spot and is the only black sand beach of any size since the volcano destroyed the Kalapana black sand beach. For more information see:
Punalu'u.
Also on our way to Kailua-Kona we stopped by Ka Lae, or South Point, the southern most point in the USA. I've not written on this subject yet, but plan to in the near future. This is thought to be where the first humans landed on Hawaii.
Finally we were back in Kailua-Kona where we made day trips to Koloko-Honokohau National Historical park, see:
Koloko-Honokohau National Park, the
Koloko Fish Pond,
Kealakekua Bay., and
Puuhonua O Honaunau where we took the self guided Puuhonua O Honaunau Self Guided Walking Tour.
Another trip up to Waimea to the Parker Ranch Store to but some stuff for the grand babies and friends. Look for an essay in the future. And then one last trip back to check on the horse at Kalopa. The horse was not there, but low and behold there were two horses there that was friendly and cane to the fence when I whistled to them. Barbara got to hug a horse! Just what she wanted. Too bad they were not there when we came two weeks earlier as we had a giant carrot. We carried that carrot looking for a horse for several days until it started to smell!
One evening we dined at the Kona Inn for a special meal and I got lucky. Lucky to get out of there for under $100 that is. Another evening we were able to hook up with Marty and eat at the Big Island Grill a new place that took over the restaurant that used to be Verna's and before that a Jack-In-The-Box. The food was excellent and by the time we left, the place was packed. They have to be the most successful restaurant at that location so far. On yet another afternoon we picked up Marty and went to the Dairy Queen for treats. I was wanting to watch some bikini volleyball, but the high school team showed up - without bikinis.
The ride back home was very exhausting even with a tailwind. Stephen picked us up at the airport with buddy the dog in the truck. He was very excited to see us and I must admit we him. You know what they say about absence and the heart.
Well we are back in Texas and have a lot of good material for the blog, so stay tuned and check back often.
If you hover your cursor over the key, a box with the English pronunciation will be shown. These are as I remember the way the locals pronounced various words and may differ slightly with Hawaiian dictionaries.
