We spent about 4 hours on our feet and walked another 4 miles or so. We were pretty tired and sore from the day before still, so I think it was a day too early... We did find the packets and they had less protein in them than Joe was hoping, but he still picked up a bag of them.
On our way home, we stopped at a vegan restaurant that was very good.
Today, we have been sitting at the house just working, resting and playing. Joe's getting a little bored, but it should mean we have more energy for doing something tomorrow.
-Miranda
[ add comment ]
We were picked up last night from the airport by our host. The view from our room is of the city and is pretty amazing. Lucas and his mother are very nice and fun. They're both basically vegans. We had fun chatting with them quite a bit last night.
This morning, we headed out to get breakfast. Unfortunately, the house is up quite a hill. We walked a mile down and found a small grocery store and a cute cafe. We had breakfast at the cafe, walked around a little bit, then headed back to the supermarket, back up the hill in the hot sun, and home.
We were due for our second Twinrix shot (Hep A and Hep B shot in one) so I called a travel clinic that was a little under 2 miles away. They could get us in at 2. We headed back out and hoofed it down there. We each got our shot and decided to walk around and explore some. We walked down to the beach and over to Waikiki before starting to work our way back, finding dinner along the way. We ended up walking around 13-14 miles today total. We're hurting pretty good.
-Miranda
[ add comment ]
On Sunday, we decided to try taking Mary boogie boarding. We checked out a few different beaches. One beach we had to drive down a crazy awful road to get to the parking area. The beach was absolutely gorgeous though. Joe and Mary played in the water some before we headed back out. We checked out another beach that was very pretty, and far easier to get to. We decided to come back there when the sun was lower.
We found lunch and even some desert before heading back to the other beach. Once there, we sat in the shade and watched the others in the water for a while. An older couple (just retired age) were watching whales out from the beach. They let us use their binoculars some. Joe and Mary went into the water and I sat with them chatting and watching the whales. They were super active!
For dinner, we found a little hole in the wall sushi joint. The food was excellent.
All three of us were flying out on Monday, so in the morning, we had heard of another good snorkeling spot. We decided to head there. The snorkeling was great. We got to see an eel and a couple turtles. The geography of the coral was amazing. Afterwards, we headed back to the house, cleaned up, and headed to the airport.
We got there early, like you're supposed to do. It looked like the waiting area for our gate was through a line that had a sign about agricultural inspection (you can't bring fresh fruits, vegetables or flowers from Hawaii to the mainland), so an hour before our flight, the previous flight was done boarding though the plane hadn't taken off yet, we got into line to go into the waiting area. The lady checked our tickets, wrote a new seat number and said, 'here ya go'. Apparently we were supposed to board the plane? So weird. Because we happened to be there, they put us on the flight before ours.
It worked out fine in the end because we just stayed in the Honolulu airport with Mary until our ride was coming to get us.
-Miranda
The gorgeous beach.
Joe and Mary hanging out in the waves.
Another gorgeous beach. The colors were amazing.
[ add comment ]
The following morning we got up early and headed south to get a kayak. We rented a two person kayak so we could kayak the mile across Kaleakala Bay to Captain Cook Monument. The area is supposed to be the best snorkeling in the state. It's the same place Joe and I walked down to before Mary came.
We got across without a problem and went snorkeling, took a break, then hopped in again. The water was very clear! There were fish everywhere. We had loads of fun. We paddled back to shore by early afternoon. We were pretty tired just from that, so we stayed at the house for the rest of the evening.
The next day, we got up relatively early again and headed out to drive around the island. We started by heading north. We stopped a few places to check out some lava tubes that were marked in the guidebook and waterfalls, which were gorgeous. Akaka Falls had a small bamboo forest that was neat. The bamboo looked very different from the bamboo in the forest on Maui.
We got to Volcano National Park around 3pm. Over half of Crater Rim Drive was closed due to high sulfur concentrations in the air. The crater was spewing out quite a bit of smoke. There was possibly some lava flow, but the road we would have had to go down to get to it would have been an extra 50 or so miles of driving had we gone that way to start. Since we already passed the area, it would have been way too much driving without even knowing we were for sure going to see some. So, we enjoyed the sites, checked out the Thurston Lava Tube, and headed out. Part of the lava tube was developed (basically paved ground and lights all along it), but about 350 meters was undeveloped. We had a flashlight, so we headed down there. It was very neat. Huge! It was a lot longer for the size (standing 98% of the time with lots of head room) than the lava tubes in the California National Monument that we like so much.
Our hope once we left the park was to find dinner. We stopped a few places but were not successful. We ended up getting to the Captain Cook area (about half an hour from home) when Joe spotted a hitchhiking girl, so he stopped to pick her up. She ended up telling us that her wallet and cell phone and been lost or stolen when she was on the bus. We told her we were just going to get some food, so if she wanted, we could buy her dinner, then drop her off at the airport (she wanted to get home to San Diego). She agreed, but then started getting really scared. So, we ended up just going to a plaza type area that is brightly lit and serves pizza. She kept saying she wanted to go to the airport and go home. We kept telling her that we didn't want to leave her stranded at the airport because it might close (which we found out later that it does) and the airport is 8-10 miles away from anything. Also, she can't even get a ticket without money or get on a plane without her ID.
Joe finally called the police (sort of with her permission). They came to help, but she was really fidgety, kept getting offended by odd things and was not being very cooperative even though the police officer was being very friendly and helpful. They finally got a hold of a sibling or friend for her, which I think helped. When we finally left the officer said he would be sure she had some place safe to stay tonight and would continue to help her out. He said she had classic symptoms of PTSD. So, something must of happened while she was on the island recently. We're just hoping that she was able to get things straightened out and get a flight home today.
Today, Mary went shopping while Joe and I stayed at the house resting and getting work done. Tomorrow may be a mostly rest day. We'll see.
-Miranda
One of the neat lava tubes. Around the outside was so green! Definitely not what we were used to seeing with lava tubes.
Akaka Falls.
Smoking volcano.
A very neat crater that was once a lake of lava. A hike goes down into the crater. If we had more time and energy, that would have been an amazing hike.
[ add comment ]
We left the hostel the next morning and planned on killing time in Kailua-Kona area before heading to the airport to get a rental car and pick up Mary. We had a good Indian buffet lunch and did start heading towards the airport. Once it was getting to be time, we headed up to the main highway and met another couple that was working their way to the airport. We let them go ahead of us and catch the first ride. It took them about 40 minutes... It was at least an 8 mile walk, so we weren't feeling too great about our chances. Fortunately, within 5 minutes, someone picked us up.
We got to the airport, then headed to the rental companies to get a car. Budget was sold out, so we headed to the Thrifty. They wanted $400 for a car for the week... Joe had looked online at Budget earlier and it quoted $250. So, we headed to National. While he checked there, I went online and checked the other rental places. Avis wanted about $300, so I reserved a car and we headed over there. Nice that we ended up saving $100 just by checking online quick. :p
We picked up Mary without a problem and got to the place we were staying. It's super cute. It's the middle floor in a house (the house is built on the hillside) and is completely separate from the top and bottom floors.
In the morning, we picked up some snorkel gear and headed north. Unfortunately, a lot of the possible places were pretty choppy. We did end up snorkeling for a bit in one place, but it was a bit murky.
From there, we headed to Hawi to have lunch at the Bamboo restaurant. It was very good. We kept going to Pulolu Bay, which is at the end of the road. The walk down to the water was a little painful, but it was worth it. The beach was gorgeous as well as the forest. There were huge ropes all over the place. It was like a boy scout playground sometimes... So odd.
The drive back was nice and we had dinner at home. The next morning we headed out for some early snorkeling. There is a protected bay pretty much right in town. It was shallow and relatively busy, but there were fish everywhere. We also saw 2-4 turtles. It was great. It was good we got there when we did. It was packed when we were leaving.
From there we headed south to check out the sights. We stopped at a few Kona Coffee places. They provide a number of free samples and one of the places you can watch the coffee getting roasted, etc. The farthest south we went was to Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. It was a gorgeous area. From there, we headed back home, dropped Mary off in the touristy shopping area of Kailua-Kona and headed home. Joe will be picking her up shortly.
So, basically lazy day, but still fun.-Miranda
;)
Neat flowers around the isle. (Click on photo for larger.)
Joe and me in front of Pulolu Bay.
;)
Some amusing signage. (Click for larger.)
[ 2 comments ] ( 18 views )
Back Next
Calendar