Hawaii Day Sixteen

Today we decided we should probably do something fun during our last full day here, so we headed to the Big Island's north shore and the cute little town of Hawi.

At Pololu Valley Lookout, about as far north as you can drive on the Big Island, looking west along the north coast:




We went to the Lighthouse Delicatessen in Hawi for lunch, where Jerry ate that entire BBQ sandwich (only half is pictured here). In his defense, I had a bite and it was really excellent. We also spent some time around the town, shopping and taking in a number of the art galleries there.


For dinner, we went to the Beach Tree Bar and Grill at the Four Seasons. The setting was perfect, right on the beach, and the food and drinks were great. This was a really nice way to spend our last night in Hawaii.


We head home tomorrow!

Hawaii Day Fifteen

We spent another day not doing much of anything, just mostly eating, running errands and shopping. I'm trying to be okay with that, although I'll admit it's still a bit of a challenge for me. I like to be able to point to something I've done or accomplished each day, even while on vacation.

The local ABC store, where they now know me by sight (mostly because they seem to be the only reliable source of cold diet DP around here):


We went out for dinner again at Jerry's favorite place here, Jackie Rey's. I like it okay; it's a lot of fish dishes (pretty common around here), without a lot of varied options for non-seafood eaters like me. But the quality is good, the service is excellent, and they make an awesome lilikoi martini!

Hawaii Day Fourteen

Nothing much to report today, and no photos, as I spent much of the day trying to recover from the motion sickness I got while on the boat yesterday. I knew better than to get on a boat after my last experience on one in Kauai, but it was the only way to get to the night swim with the manta rays and I wasn't going to miss that for anything.

I was feeling a bit better by the evening, so we went to a lovely little restaurant with gorgeous gardens about halfway up the mountain, but we forgot to get photos of that, too. I'll try to do better tomorrow.

Hawaii Day Thirteen

This afternoon, we headed out for a two-part snorkeling trip. Jerry had snorkeled before, but I never had, and I admit I was a little intimidated. Due in large part, I think, to my bone density and muscle mass, I've always been a bit of a sinker in the water, and I was a bit nervous about constantly getting seawater down my breathing tube. I needn't have worried, however; I wore a wetsuit and that really helped me stay afloat (and keep a bit warmer). Here I am, testing out equipment:


Visibility in the water was truly amazing, much better than appears in these photos. From the boat deck we could clearly see the ocean floor, which at that point was 35 feet down! This was such an incredible experience; I'll definitely go snorkeling again!





Sorry there are no photos of Jerry; he was in charge of the underwater camera (a rental), and got some really great pics (tough to do when you're constantly being jostled about by the waves).

The second part of our snorkeling trip was a night swim with manta rays, which was truly incredible, albeit a bit surreal. They swam within inches of us, numerous times. Jerry left the camera on the boat so that he could just enjoy the moment without feeling pressured to take photos. There was an underwater videographer there, and we purchased a great video DVD and photo stills, but I can't seem to download them onto my iPad. Will have to wait to post them until I get home.

This night swim was very cool; it and the helicopter tour are my two favorite things we've done here.

Hawaii Day Twelve

Today we headed for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The Big Island really is big, and the park is fairly far from where we're staying on the west coast. Most guidebooks said this trip would take no less than three hours each way, so we were pleasantly surprised that it took us only slightly over two hours.

The eastern section of the island is much more rainy than the western side, resulting in very different terrain. The rainforest is just lovely.



We headed first for the lava tubes:



More rainforest on the hike back from the lava tubes:


Then we headed down Chain of Craters Road, which stretches 23 miles from the Kilauea crater rim (at 4,190 feet above sea level) down to the ocean, passing a number of craters formed from old eruptions and lava and steam vents.

Pauahi Crater:


Four thousand feet lower, where the lava flow meets the ocean.




We hiked down a long road no longer in use, as a lava flow covered the road in 2003.



The sign appropriately says "Road Closed."



The main Kilauea caldera, which has been continuously erupting since 1983:



We left the park for dinner at Kilauea Lodge, which was great, and then went back to the park to view the caldera at night.

Hawaii Day Eleven

We spent this morning relaxing a bit, eating a leisurely breakfast and just enjoying the house and grounds where we're staying. For lunch, we headed into town (Kailua-Kona) to Lava Java, which we both enjoyed, and some shopping. When we got back to our Jeep, we found its identical twin parked in the next spot. There were plenty of parking spots in the lot closer to the stores than this, so we were pretty certain the owners parked next to us on purpose. I was amused enough to take a photo.


Then we decided to put the Jeep's offroading abilities to work and headed out on a very unimproved road over the lava fields.


At the end of the road, we came upon this lovely, nearly-deserted beach:



Interesting lava formations:



For dinner tonight, Jerry wanted to head back to Jackie Rey's, the same restaurant we went to last night. I absolutely refused to go to the same restaurant two nights in a row, so we ended up wandering all over town trying to find someplace decent to eat. Unfortunately, most of the places near the ocean seem to be bars, and hanging around hordes of drunk tourists is not exactly the way I want to spend my Hawaiian vacation. We finally found a nicer restaurant, but the food was not that great, the service was kind of off, and it was way over-priced, so this was not a great experience. It pains me to say this, but I should have listened to Jerry, and we should have gone to Jackie Rey's.

We won't be eating around here tomorrow night, as we're heading to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for the entire day!

Hawaii Day Ten

Not much to report today, as we spent much of the day traveling and running other errands. There is no direct flight from Kauai to the Big Island, so we had to fly first to Oahu, and then on to the Big Island. Then we spent over an hour in the car rental office, trying to sort out our rental, as they didn't have available the car I'd reserved. After we refused to take the first car they offered (which had clearly been smoked in, often), as well as all the other inferior "upgrades" they offered, we finally ended up with this sweet ride:


So now we'll have to find some offroading opportunities.

The home we're renting here is probably the best place we've ever stayed in our travels. It's a three-bedroom home in a quiet, gated residential neighborhood, beautifully decorated and landscaped, with a great view of the ocean. We both feel very at home here.



This evening's sunset from our back yard:


We went to dinner tonight at Jackie Rey's, which we both really enjoyed. Jerry claimed his fresh catch special (ono, for the record) was one of the best things he'd ever eaten. I'm sure he's not counting my cooking in that conclusion, right?

Hawaii Day Nine

Today we went on a helicopter tour around the entire island. We were a little concerned about motion sickness, given my miserable experience yesterday, but this happily turned out not to be an issue at all.

I'm so happy we went, because this was my absolute favorite thing we've done here, and possibly ever. It was expensive, but worth every penny. Don't tell the helicopter tour companies, but I think I actually would have paid twice what they charged, we enjoyed it that much.

Just waiting for us to hop in. Yes, you're seeing that correctly: there are no doors on this aircraft!


And away we go!



I don't recall the true name of these falls, but they're commonly referred to as "Jurassic Park Falls," because apparently there's a shot of a helicopter landing at their base in the first Jurassic Park movie. I don't recall this, but will definitely be watching the movie again to try to spot it. The falls are on privately-owned land; the only way you can see them is via helicopter.


I love this shot, with the other helicopter visible high above the falls. The flights were timed fairly well; this is the only time we came anywhere near another helicopter during our flight.


Waimea Canyon, from the air this time:



Unknown to me, Jerry turned the camera to snap my photo. I was not posing for this shot; I was literally grinning from ear to ear during the entire flight.


The jaw-dropping Na Pali coast:




View of Hanalei (on Kauai's north shore) from the air (you may recall we drove through here two days ago):


More of Kauai's beautiful north shore:


Wailua Falls:


Our helicopter group, with our awesome pilot, Ben, visible in the pilot's seat:


We stopped at yet another grocery store on our way home (I've previously blogged about my irrational love of visiting grocery stores here).


I'm fairly certain you won't find this in grocery stores around Houston:


Dragonfruit:


We went out for dinner tonight at Red Salt. This was hands down the best dining experience we've had in Hawaii thus far. The food and drinks were amazing and the service was fantastic, from the valet to the hostess to the waitstaff. It was such a great way to spend our last evening on Kauai.


We're off to Hawaii, the Big Island, tomorrow!