Departure

It was sad to wake up and know that this day would be our last in Hawai'i and the end of our honeymoon. Neither Susan or I were ready to leave. We woke up just before 6AM to a beautiful sunrise. We packed our bags while trying to finish what was open in our refrigerator or we couldn't take home. We pet Black Kitty and fed the horses. And we finally packed the car and drove down to Waipi'o Valley Artworks and returned the electric gate opener. We wandered the store one more time and picked up a book on Hawai'ian words. Then we drove down the road and up into the hills to the Hawai'ian Vanilla Company. We were greeted by a very nice family who bought the company eight or so years ago and have added a restaurant and gift shop to the premises. They had us watch a video, which made me feel like I was getting a time-share pitched at us. But this was followed by vanilla lemonade, which was really refreshing, and lunch. Susan had a grilled chicken panini and I had the ham and cheese panini. Both came with a tomatoe-red pepper soup and tarot chips. The lunch was fresh, and delicious, and the vanilla was present, but never overpowered any of the dishes. We bought a 4oz. bottle of vanilla to take home with us. The lunch was too much food for me, along with cleaning that refrigerator out, and I would be uncomfortably full for the rest of the trip and on into the first couple of days at home. Susan felt the same, but recovered a bit quicker than me.

We took the scenic freeway back to Hilo, past a botanical tropical garden and through the jungle....even seeing one of the streams emerge from a lava tube near one of the many bridges. All the while it was starting to rain a little more as we closed in on Hilo. Once there, we returned to the little trade store that we bought beach mats in and Susan picked up a few last things to bring home. We were several hours early for the airport, so we walked around downtown Hilo in the rain, exploring, until we were too wet. Then we hopped back in the car and explored that way. We drove the Banyon Grove and explored a small Japanese Garden along the south side of the harbor. Then we headed to the airport, dropped off our car and sadly got on the plane to Honolulu, where we transferred to the flight to Portland. The one great thing about our flight home is we both slept almost the entire way.

My mom picked us up at the airport. It was really nice to see her. She dropped us off at home to some very happy pets and Susan and I napped on the couch for the rest of the morning. Sad to leave Hawai'i, but happy to be home.

Our Last Full Day on the Big Island

We started out day with a little fresh fruit and coffee and watched the sun rise from Cliff House. We decided to spend the majority of our day on the sunny side of the island, and we packed and prepared for the beach, taking with us the leftover pizza and macadamia nuts. We got an early start and left the house before 9AM. We stopped at the Waipi'o Valley Lookout in order to view the valley floor before heading back through Honoka'a and then Waimea, where we tried to stop for a cup of coffee unsuccessfully. Most of the town was closed, it being Sunday. We headed towards Kailua, detouring to check out a cinder cone at Waikoloa. The cone was surreal with a big round lava vent in one side. When we arrived in Kailua, we parked and got a cup of good Kona coffee and walked the city boardwalk. It's very touristy, but it's a nice little town. The sun was intense even for the sunny side of the island. We watched some huge waves at the rocky shoreline in town. And then headed back and had a beer in a mexican cantina before hopping back in the car and heading for the beach. The first beach we went to was a bit north, off milepost 74 on Hwy 190 and was at the Mauna Lani Resort. The beach was in a very protected cove and you had to walk a mile from the parking lot through a lava field filled with lava tubes once used as homes by the early Hawai'ians. We also came across a group of beautiful fish ponds that are still being maintained....it was truly a little oasis. There were no waves at this beach, due to the protective harbor, but you could rent snorkel gear for really cheap ($10 total for both of us, for an hour), and there is a reef just off the shore. Susan flipped out over snorkeling. She loved it and we spent well over an hour in the water and only got out because the current shifted and the water became too cold for us. We saw countless types of fish of all colors, lots of different coral, and sea urchins too. After the nature walk back to the car, we were shocked that it was already after 3PM. Time can fly when you're in the water. We wanted to have a drink at the Mauna Lani hotel, but it was closed for renovation, so instead, we headed up to Mauna Kea Beach, hoping to catch some of the big waves we had seen earlier in the day. Mauna Kea was a resort and golf community, protected by security, but they will give you a pass to use the public beach. The beach here was really nice, similar to Hapuna, but a bit more upscale. Unfortunately, the waves from this morning were gone and the ocean was very mellow. We still played in the water for a little bit, dried off in the sun, and then used the showers before returning to the car.


We headed into the town of Kawaihae and straight to Seafood Bar, a real tiki bar that we had read about the night before. Seafood Bar did not disappoint. The served fresh fruit Mai Tais and we had a couple of Pu Pu's, a California Roll Tempura and an excellent fried squid, which consisted of the body of the squid instead of the usual tentacles. We stayed there and watched the sunset, admiring the thatched roof of the bar, the mango wood construction and the various tiki lamps. The staff was really nice and the bar was full of locals.

We saw the Blue Dragon, where Gary was playing, on our way out of town. We were too tired to stay, but drove through the parking lot in order to take a closer look. At the far end of the lot, there was a small farmer's market selling fresh fruit and beautiful orchids. As we were leaving the lot, we saw Gary getting out of his car but kept going so that we wouldn't have to give any excuses as to why we couldn't come in and stay for a bit....the truth was, one more drink would have sent us over the edge and we wanted to get back to Cliff House in order to enjoy our last night there. We stopped in Waimea on the return trip at a grocery store called Maika'i. It was a lot like Fred Meyer. We picked up a couple of Poke because Susan wanted to try them...they were delicious. We put the poke on top of a Hawai'ian cracker with a bit of cream cheese...it was a lot like sashimi. We also picked up a bunch of rum because it was so cheap. We got a bottle of Trader Vic's Gold, two bottles of Trader Vic's Dark, and a bottle of Meyer's Platinum, saving almost $30....our total bill was under $60.

When we returned to the Cliff House, it was dark and we could see a pair of cat eyes in the bushes. As we were laughing at the cat hiding out, I saw a giant Hawai'ian toad cross the driveway in front of us. I got out of the car and found him in the grass. Susan came over and we looked at him for a couple of minutes before he hopped back across the driveway and through the fence into the pasture. Susan made us drinks and we saw a really weird bug on our deck...it looked like the top of a flowering blade of grass. We then took our drinks down to the lawn chairs in the grass, turned out all of the house lights and watched the stars. We both saw shooting stars. It's so dark here, I've never seen so many stars. You could see the milky way with no effort at all. We finished our drinks and went to bed....our last night on Big Island.

Horses and a Lazy Day

We woke up, fixed coffee and set out for Waipi'o Valley Artworks in order to be picked up for the horse ride that we booked the day before. I didn't sleep very well the night before, due to the downpours of rain and my anxiety of riding a horse for the first time in my life. The valley was still obscured by clouds as we left the house, and our hopes were up that it would clear by the time we started the ride. We were excited about the prospects of roaring waterfalls with the overnight storm. We packed a small lunch of a couple hard boiled eggs and some sweet bread. The guide with the van was a little late picking us up....apparently, he had to change a tire before coming down. He drove us up a steep farming road, five minutes out of town, to the horse stables. We signed waivers and they placed us on two horses. Susan was on Noni and I was on Kapa'a. Noni was the leader horse and always wanted to be in front. Kapa'a was more mellow, liked to follow, and his name means "sure footed."

The ride was wet....it rained really hard several times on the ride and I gave up wearing the hood to my provided overcoat as it obstructed my view and ears and it directed water down the back of my neck. The ride was still great, despite the rain. When we made it to the falls viewing point, a ledge on the edge of the valley, it cleared up just enough so that we could see the full falls and the valley floor below. The ride took us through a planted and never harvested eucalyptus forest, and the hawai'ian guide picked orchids for the girls and shared strawberry guava from the trail and macadamia nuts from his home. The other guide, Gary, was a houlie who had been on the island since the early 1970's. He was a former music arranger for Motown after they moved to LA. I took the opportunity to pick his brain about what life is like for a former musician on the island. We might go see him play with a few of his friends on Sunday night in South Kohala. The hawai'ian guide took two of the riders, natives from South Kona, on the 5 hour adventure.

Luckily for my butt, we were on the 2 1/2 hour adventure and we returned after making it to the top valley lookout, where the clouds cooperated for just a few minutes and we saw a spectacular view of Waipi'o Valley and the coastline. I really enjoyed the horse ride, and Susan and I plan on doing it again some time...even while back on the main land.

We decided to enjoy the house this day. And so, after the ride, we headed into Honoka'a and did a little shopping. I got a great Hawai'ian shirt with matched pockets and bamboo buttons. Susan got a hand painted sarong and a really cool coffee mug for her states of the US collection. We also hit the grocery store and a fruit market. In the middle of our adventure in Honoka'a, we went to a local hamburger stand called Tex's, and ordered a Hawai'ian 12" with Kahlua Pork and fresh pineapple. Kahlua Pork is made from the local wild pigs that roam the island. They bury the pig in a bbq pit and roast it for an entire day. It's very flavorful, and a bit gamey, which we really enjoy. Needless to say, once again, the local food is great.

We returned to the cliff house and spent the rest of the day making fresh fruit pina coladas and hanging out with Black Kitty and the horses. Susan fed the horses a banana and the three of them almost got in a fight over it. At dusk, I saw a rare Hawai'ian Hoary bat out our front window.

For dinner, we had grass-fed, free range, local ground beef burgers with pineapple and local greens and onion. They were so good, that we each had seconds! We turned in after dark and attempted to watch TV, but I think we were both asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.