Hawai'i Big Island - January 2012

Tuesday January 3 – We spent about 21 hours just getting there!  We had to be up at "O dark 30"  (3:30 AM in this case) to leave at 4:20 for Cedar Rapids. The 4 planes were all on time, though no more comfortable than ever and no food other than the ubiquitous peanuts, pretzels and cookies was served.    We did this using frequent flier miles and in the "low" category there weren't any nice, direct flights so we hip-hopped from Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Honolulu and Kona!   But we coped - we had packed lunches and we had time in Honolulu to grab some chicken supper in the airport.   The Kona airport is interesting - it's mostly outdoors!   We only had one checked suitcase and it arrived, we got the shuttle to the Budget Rental center, picked up a nice new Dodge Avenger.  

We had rented a unit at the Islander Inn directly from the owner and she sent us perfect directions.  It was only about 15 minutes away but it was late (well, by our body time), dark and we were exhausted.  The room is more like a large motel room than an apartment but it was quite acceptable.  The kitchen consists of a microwave, small fridge and a few electric appliances (frying pan, coffee maker, rice cooker, blender, toaster).  The kitchen sink doubles as the bathroom sink – there is a pocket door between the kitchen and bathroom (toilet/ shower) for privacy.   The shower is very nice, the A/C works nicely.  We slept comfortably but woke up early due to the time change.  The WiFi is free and strong (this unit owner only – the Inn itself charges a fee for wifi and it's only in the public areas.)  The view of the garden and pool area is delightful, the balcony has a table and 4 chairs; there is also a table and 2 chairs inside.  The only negative would be the very limited parking but there are a couple of alternative areas not very far away.  All in all, this was a super location and a good value.  

Wednesday January 4 – We had breakast this morning at Tante's restaurant on Kona Bay.  There was a lady playing amd singing soft songs on a ukele.  It wasn't intrusive, just very pleasant.  The breakfasts were delightful ranging from $6-$10.  I had an extremely yummy papaya filled with yogurt and granola; John had pancakes.  We enjoyed the good food, nice music and very friendly people.  Then we walked along the waterfront and the downtown; there were people swimming in the bay right by the pier.  I was impressed with the huge tree (left).  We stopped at the Farmer's Market (right) just a couple blocks from the apartment and brought back lots of goodies including strawberry papaya and great big avocados.

We drove up to WalMart and Safeway to get the toiletries we didn't bring (to save luggage space) and food for a few days. By noon it felt like naptime again! After lunch and a rest we walked south on Ali'i drive, stopping at a couple of beach access places.  We saw birds, watched surfers and waves and interesting sites.  We were quite taken by the saffron finches (left below) that we saw all over the island.  The surf was rough today so we enjoyed the waves and also the many starling-like Common Mynas (right).  Finally, we stopped at the Wyland Coffee Cafe across Ali'i  from the Islander Inn for some Tropical Dreams ice cream.  What a treat!

   

The first vacation sunset was "ruined" by a stupid cruise ship (left) but it was lovely anyway! We attempted to eat supper at the Kona Brew Pub tonight but at 6:45 PM the wait was 45 minutes!  Lesson learned: even at midweek the lines get long after 6 pm.  I've since been told that you could sit at the bar and still order dinner from the menu. Instead we walked down to Ali'i drive at Palani to Splasher's Grill and it was great.  They were playing 60's music but not real loudly - it was just perfect.  We both had mahi mahi – John's was macademia nut encrusted with pineapple sauce; mine was grilled, stuffed with crab and covered with avocado sauce.  We also shared a lilikoi cheesecake on chocolate crust with chocolate sauce.  A marvelous supper and dessert to die for.

 I did too much walking for a first day and my feet were very sore... they did, however,  rest up overnight and were ready for more activity on Thursday!

Thursday January 5

This morning we breakfasted in the room, then headed out for the loop up through Weimea, to Pololu and back down the coast road.   What an interesting change of scenery!  We drove through true ranch country - red and black cows (many with cattle egrets following them around), goats, sheep, donkeys, wild turkeys, chickens.  In spite of numerous "Nene Crossing" signs, we never did see one.  We passed Holoholoku (photo on the left) - the hill that was used as practice before the Marines stormed Iwo Jima!   We stopped in Weimea for a Starbucks coffee break and checked out the nearby Parker Ranch store but didn't stay!  

Leaving Weimea, we continued north on the Kohala Mountain road – except for the lava strewn around (left picture below), it looked much like the high desert of the southwest.    We saw a rather etherial looking Maui across the channel (right below), and the Kohala coastline (center below) was beautiful.  

   

We stopped in Hawi, a cute little town (left), at the Kohala Coffee Mill for an ice cream break (more Tropical Dreams - made on the island and very creamy).    Driving through Kapa'au we paused for a photo op of King Kamehameha the Great (pictured at right).

Then we drove to the end of the road and the Pololu lookout.  The parking area was pretty full and people were parked all along the highway for the equivalent of a couple of blocks, but we lucked out and somebody left just as we got there.  We had packed lunches so we loaded up food, drink, hiking poles and headed down. We brought the walking sticks because one review I read had suggested it.  They were a huge help!   It only took about 15 minutes going down,  even stopping to take pictures of the many awesome views.  

The left picture was taken part way down the trail - you can see the black sand beach.  The center one is most of the way down  - that view reminds me of the Na Pali Coast on Kauai.  Finally, on the right, I was standing on the beach looking back at the cliff we climbed down! 

  

We had lunch down on the beach; I sat on the sand and watched the waves while John hunted up driftwood (so much wood, so little space to pack it!)   On the left below is the view looking away from the ocean back into the valley.  On the right, I'm getting ready to start back up the very rocky trail.  The hike up took about 20 minutes – but not being in a hurry and also having the sticks to help pull myself up the steeper parts made it actually easier than going down.  After a quick stop in Hawi for fudge (the fudge shop wasn't open when we were there earlier) we headed down to the coast road.  

  

Along the coast road (highway 270) going back to town, we visited Lapakahi State Historical Park (all 3 pictures below).  It is a partially restored fishing village dated about 600 years ago.  There is a nice self-guided trail to help explore the history - we walked through most of it but primarily enjoyed the scenery. 

  

As we travelled south on the coast road, we passed Mauna Kea (elevation 13796 ft) and had a view of the observatories on top, as well as some snow.  So hard to believe that the Big Island can have snow as well as beaches within not so many miles of each other.   We also stopped at Hapuna Beach State Park for a while to enjoy the sun. There were some people playing in the shallow surf, but there were warnings out so nobody was swimming or surfing out very far.  There weren't any good shells, rocks or driftwood, so we didn't stay very long.  By the end of our trip, a white sand beach seemed out of place!

We made a stop at Kona Natural Foods (next to the Safeway) for a "little" curry powder (it ended up being 6 cents worth), and then at Long Drugs because John wanted to try a Kona Red.  Back at the Inn we felt the need for a hot tub soak and discovered we were sharing it with a couple from Cedar Falls!  That "small world" thing.  Then, wrapped up in towels, we walked out the back gate to watch the sunset – it wasn't great, but the layer of clouds at the bottom did give it an interesting effect.  John made a very yummy shrimp salad in avocado for supper.  What a fun, full day! 

Friday January 6 -  Happy birthday to me!  We started out this morning at the Kahalu'u Beach Park (around mile 5 on Ali'i Drive).  John had a good snorkel (left) – finally the high surf warning was removed.  I just laid on the beach (sort of rocky sandy but comfortable on the towel) and watched the kids and others having fun.  I was joined by assorted birds, including the zebra dove above.   After John dried off a bit, we headed back towards town – stopped at the Poke Shack (John said it was absolutely fantastic - not something I wanted to try) and then at the Ali'i Gardens Marketplace which had mostly craft items, and jewelry but not much fresh food. We had lunch "in" then split up for the early afternoon.

John wandered around town, visiting galleries and various eateries while I laid at the pool.  Around 4 PM we walked up the street and visited the Mokuaikaua Congregational church (the first Christian church in the islands, picture at the right), and then walked down to the pier where we watched a canoe club practicing for a race tomorrow.  The spotted dove below was hanging around on the sea wall and I thought it was an interesting comparison to the zebra dove above that I met earlier in the afternoon. 
 
We had my birthday dinner at the Krua Thai at the corner of Kukani and Henry which was within walking distance for us.  We were very happy with the food and service.  We had the Golden Shrimp appetizer – they brought us two different sauces (a hot one for John and non-hot for me); I had Hawaiian pineapple fried rice with chicken and John had a grilled beef salad.  Both were excellent!

We got mostly packed up tonight so we could leave tomorrow morning for the eastern side of the island.   Perhaps a brief explanation of our schedule logic (such as it was) is in order.   We were told that, in the winter, it rained nearly every day  on the east side.  While there are many things we want to see on the "wet side," we  wanted to leave Iowa for SUN, and also to have a dose of sun before we returned.  So we decided to both start and finish over on the sunny, west side.  As it turns out, we didn't experience much rain at all and would have rather eliminated one of the moving days...  but who knew?

Saturday January 7  

In spite of all advice to the contrary, we took the southern route.   The only reason we could figure out was that it took longer. Well, there were things we wanted to see down there and we weren't in a hurry so we did it.  But now we know that the reason WE wouldn't do it again is that the passenger is likely to get quite ill on the very twisty turny road.   

I got to drive so poor John was suffering until we got down to South Point.   Access is through a very rough, one lane road for the last little bit but we drove through some interesting ranch country, saw some nice views and got blown around in the high winds.  We ate our packed lunches there at South Point then drove on around the tip.   At left John is checking out some serious fish tackle near South Point.  Below, left to right:  guess which direction the wind was blowing; wind farm near South Point and a colt and mom in pasture.



The picture at left was taken along Highway 11, not too far from Na'alehu - the southernmost city in the US.  The picture below, right is Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park which was a very nice beach.  It is also a sanctuary for Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles - we didn't see any here but did see some later on in the week.  We stopped briefly at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park just to pick up a brochure and information about what we might want to do when we go back.  Finally, we stopped in Pahoa for grocery shopping at the Malama store. It's a little smaller than the Safeway but it had everything we needed and the prices were about the same.  Then we made our way back down to the coast to DolphinSong, our home for the next week.