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| Morning Tryst |
This past week has been so full...and so AMAZING...that I'm not sure where to start. It is now 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 26 and I am sitting on the balcony of a condo in Waikaloa, Hawaii (about 20 miles north of the Kailua-Kona airport on Big Island). The trade winds are providing soothing circulation and creating the sounds of surf in the fronds of the numerous palms. A variety of birds are supplying a background symphony. I'm enjoying all the sensations as I sip a cup of Tazo.
I am traveling with my sister Judy, who was "tapped" by the Gideon Int'l Auxiliary to coordinate a scripture distribution at a pre-natal nursing convention on Oahu this past week. Share a room, share a car...and purchase the ticket with accumulated points on my credit card made it pretty much of a "no brainer".
You gotta eat no matter where you are...though I must admit we wouldn't have eaten like this at home! At least once a day we've had some exotic repast...coconut crusted shrimp, fresh mahi, macadamia nut ice cream at the HaleKoa; we tried a ramen burger at Tanaka's Saimen and Italian pasta at Baca de Bepo.
In the afternoon following the first day of the convention, we met up with Zachalyn and her fiancé Keone. Zachalyn and her brother Jacob (at ages 3 & 4) were a foster placement with Randy and Judy during the time they were stationed at Kaneohe 30 years ago, so they share a lot of history. This was my first time to meet her; though Mom & Daddy and Mary Lou had all gotten acquainted with the children during Randy's military tour.
The second afternoon we drove out to Waianai and enjoyed a family evening with her family, including Zackalyn's father and her older brother, his wife and children. Zachalyn has two children at home; a daughter finishing her junior year of high school and a son who is a freshman basketball player.
Friday afternoon (yesterday) we flew inter-island to Kailua-Kona. We picked up a rental car and arrived at The Bay Club at Waikaloa near sunset. Our accommodations here are "huge" --dual master bedrooms connected by a great room furnished as both dining & living rooms and a galley kitchen (with full-sized appliances). My "suite" has a king bed and a bath with a garden tub (no Jacuzzi jets). Judy chose the one with dual queen beds. Surrounding most of the exterior is a wide, covered porch/ balcony furnished for alfresco dining and lounging.
Our time-share in Honolulu (downtown Waikiki) just opened in January (read, very modern) and is quite Asian in design. I loved that most openings between rooms had wide pocket doors so the spaces could be rearranged to accommodate current use. Judy photographed the plumbing as soon as we got in...fascinated with water for the tub and shower that dispensed from the ceiling. The shower also had a wand if you preferred not to be "rained on". And the tub--reminiscent of an antique claw-footed one--was a free-standing bowl (from which water easily splashed).
Of the whole trip, the landing on Kona was the most emotional part for me. Remembering the arrival and lei greeting on our family visit. I find it difficult to believe that it will be NINE years come June since my last visit to "Big Island". Our family (Mom, Mary Lou, Judy & Randy, Tom and I) spent a week in a condo at Puako (about 15 minutes north of where Judy and I are this week). Some of the scenery is familiar and some has changed. There are new houses. It's amazing to see how they have been able to landscape the yards over the lava beds which is the primary "top soil" in Kona. I've learned that there is dark lava (from more recent flows) and lighter lava (older flows). At one location we read about the kinds of plants that begin to grow through the lava as it ages. Another interesting study! And today we saw a house that was destroyed by a lava flow. I've read that in total some 200+ houses have been lost to volcanic eruptions on Hawaii. As we're driving along there will be an abrupt foliage change where a lava flow has come through; and in a few miles, we're back to the vegetation.
SUNDAY morning: Another sunny day in paradise! Back on the balcony listening to the birds and watching the feral cats from down in the lava canyon. (There are a number of them). Earlier I saw a mongoose run across the lawn. Judy saw one yesterday. On our excursion yesterday we saw several Nene (state bird of Hawaii) as well as a wild pheasant and several wild turkeys. (Lots of photo ops!) We also saw a large herd of sheep including a ram with curling horns.
Our destination yesterday was the Merrie Monarchs festival in Hilo. Learned this was the 50th anniversary of Merrie Monarchs; primarily a hula-dancing competition but with many local crafters displaying their wares. A tour of the Hilo harbor, "Loco Moco" for lunch at L&L, a little shopping at Hilo Hatties, a quick visit to one of Judy's Gideon friends, a hike up to see Rainbow Falls (didn't go all the way in because it was muddy & slippery). On the way back we took a 4-mile detour; the scenic route. It was gorgeous! Very many reminders of our trip on the road to Hana (Maui) as in narrow roads and even narrower bridges, tall trees growing up from the canyon floor and water falls rushing down the hill. There's actually a Botanical Garden there but we opted not to pay $15 each to tour it in the rain that suddenly began pouring down. A few curves further along we found a vendor from whom we purchased a container of chocolate macadamia nut ice cream (which we ate immediately, as soon as it thawed enough to use the plastic spoons) And a small loaf of banana bread, which was our breakfast this morning, along with a fresh Papaya. :)
I've been trying to catalog the beautiful flowers we see...almost like a kaleidoscope changing as we drive along. There are red, pink, salmon and white Bouganvilla, white, pink and red Plumeria, pink, red, yellow, and orange Hibiscus, gorgeous deep blue Plumbago, orchids in a variety of sizes and colors. We've seen several fish ponds with wild water lettuce and lily pads (pink on Oahu; blue on Hawaii). Of course there are several varieties of Palms and other green plants. I'm particularly taken with something similar to a peace plant that is burgundy red on the underside and dark green on the top of the leaves. In front of our unit is a plant that resembles a gardenia but the flower looks more like the white star of Boxwood. Over toward Hilo we saw something raspberry red growing on the volcanic rock... resembling Sedum; fields of yellow daisies, delicate white orchids poking through other roadside shrubbery.
We've seen 2 Geckos (bright green), a good-sized cameleon (also bright green), 2 long-horn steers, 3 buffalos, a donkey and a zebra! Tonight I found a small critter in my bathroom. At first I thought it was a spider, but upon observation found it's a tiny gecko about 2" long. Very cute!
Monday morning
When Judy and I made our first trip to Hawaii about 10 years ago, I spent a good deal of time on my bed, propped up with pillows, with her computer on my knees, trying to document our experiences and my impressions of Hawaii. I was thinking last night that some things haven't changed a great deal. Propped up with pillows on my king-sized bed with my laptop across my knees...
One significant difference between then and now... each morning we got up and took a walk on the beach (which was just outside the back door of our hotel on Waikiki). This year we walked on the beach in Waikiki only once. :( Yesterday we took a short trek on the shore at Black Sand beach. It truly
is BLACK sand. Very coarse. I'm sure it's origin is volcanic rock.
Tuesday morning
A "down day"... slow rolling start, a load of laundry, a bit of local shopping, lunch at the Food Court, nap time, a soak in the community pool after their social hour with free ice cream cones (!) Our lunch portions were so large that we had the left-overs for dinner (which was plenty after double scoops of mac nut and Kona coffee ice cream), and then went for a walk on the shore. Actually it IS the ocean, but where we have beach access is within a quiet cove. Very pleasant.
I did manage to download 150+ photos from my camera onto the computer last night. Next learning curve is to import photos into my blog. One challenge per day... I'm liking the camera, which is water-resistant (to 33' but I'm not planning an underwater excursion with it). It IS a point-and-click camera (perfect for me!) so the lens doesn't allow focus on the orange, yellow and white butterflies which flutter near the blossoms or the dragonflies that hover over the lily pads in the koi ponds.
Today's itinerary proposes a return trip to Hilo via the Saddle Road (between the 2 volcano mountains: Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa) and from there, south along the east shore of the Island to the active volcano area.
Of course we had to tour Kileawa, the only active volcano (at present). Some roads were closed due
to “bad air” which prevented a drive all the way around the caldera but we were told even if we could
drive there, we wouldn’t see molten lava. We did see a number of steam vents.
I would suppose a person could spend an entire vacation in that immediate area just learning about the
several kinds of lava; the age of the various runs, and the progression of plants that take root in volcanic
rock. I thought it was interesting to read that it would be possible to grow sweet potatoes under a pile
of volcano rock (as in moisture & temperature). There is also a lava tube through which tourists may
walk but we opted out.
Here are pics of our dinner at L&L. The "sides" are always 2 scoops of sticky rice and mac salad. The mac salad is always delicious but we discovered the recipe differs some from one location to another. We also discovered that one portion was sufficient for two meals.
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| Garlic crusted Ahi |
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| Garlic shrimp & steak at L&L |
We discussed a tour of an orchid farm on the return trip, but ultimately opted to continue on around
the island to Kailua-Kona rather than back-tracking to Hilo. This allowed us to enjoy a pleasant visit with
Judy’s friends Lanny & Tatiana Green at Ocean View. For the next bunch of miles we watched the sun
set. For some reason the camera wouldn’t capture the radiance, but it was glorious…and lasted quite
a long time. It was full-on dark when we got back to Waikaloa and without street lights, it’s DARK out
there, but we could still differentiate the sea from the sky; it was just picking out the roadway though
the approaching headlights that was challenging.
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| After Glow |
Yesterday we planned a short excursion to the Vanilla farm…and THAT part was reasonably short but on the way back to Waikaloa we “detoured” up the side of Mauna Kea all the way to Hawi (which I think is the northern most town) and back up to an elevation of 3500+ feet (and down again!). Lots of cattle up that way and riding stables. From the scenic overlook we could see “South Point” which is literally that.. the southern end of Hawaii. There are wind chargers farmed out there as it is a very windy area. Also saw the big propellers near Hawi.
Eventually we came out to an area I recognized from our trip 9 years ago. We took the turn off into
Puako and saw the condo where we stayed. The little Church where we worshipped is still there and
well upkept. Lots more houses added to the community. We found a “beach access” sign and waded
in the surf. Seems the shoreline has changed some; gets deep very quickly now. I remember using the
lava rocks as stepping stones; they are now submerged. The deep chocolate color of the lava makes the water along the coastline beautiful shades of aqua and teal…in contrast to the deep blue of the ocean.
While walking barefoot in the sand (from the shoreline to the car) I found a small piece of coral partially buried in the sand. It is water-worn into the shape of a heart. An emotional responses, I'm sure ...but I felt like it was a message from Tom.
Wednesday morning
Last luxurious morning to blog on the balcony, gazing across the green golf course and through a screen of palms at the blue water of the Pacific while listening to several different bird calls. By this time tomorrow we'll be back in Kailua-Kona waiting for our inter-island flight to Oahu. From there it's a 6-hour flight to San Diego plus a 3-hour time change so it'll be a long day before we get home.
I think the agenda for today is trying to make room in the suitcases for everything we brought along as well as what's been acquired since we got here. We've tried to be good...and collect only small items, but even those will take up suitcase space! This is probably my least favorite part of the trip...
Well, maybe second to the lengthy delay in picking up our rental car in Oahu. We've decided to change the spelling of that company to "Hurts". Even with a gold-card reservation it took us 1-1/2 hours to process...and resulted in getting caught in end-of-work-day traffic. Ugh!
Then we're going to go "up island" for a tour of the Vanilla farm (and maybe lunch). Would be interesting to see that process. Yesterday we toured the Mauna Loa facility... watched nuts being dipped in chocolate or Kona coffee syrup, tossed with sea salt or garlic (or spam flavor!) Of course the samples were the best part!!
evening
It's been another interesting day. We did make it up to the Vanilla farm...in the rain. We started in sunshine (and ended in sunshine) but in between was a trip through the rain forest! The farm is 3 miles up the side of Mauna Kea volcano on roads that twist & bend & dip, with foliage nearly meeting in an overhead arch. Although their brochure says they serve lunch Monday through Friday, today they were closed for inventory. We were still able to have vanilla-flavored coffee with vanilla sugar; and a Arnold Palmer flavored with vanilla bean.
Coming back from the Vanilla farm, we stopped off in Homoko at a place called Tex’s Drive Inn (NOT drive through) to experience Maladaves…a version of filled sugar donut (with no hole). We prefaced that with a Hawaiian hamburger which has pineapple chunks and Thousand Island dressing in addition to the meat patty, lettuce & tomato on a bun of “sweet bread:.
Thursday afternoon
Some 30,000 above the ocean…and above a layer of clouds that look like cotton balls below us…we are headed back to the mainland. We left Kona for Honolulu about 9:30 this morning. I think we completed an entire circuit of Big Island and crossed via the Saddle Road (mid island) twice. Judy found several “scenic detours”. The one called Manua Kea loop was especially fun. The two-lane road is unimproved so in addition to being somewhat narrow, it climbs and dips. As the car approaches the crest of a rise, the driver can’t be certain where the lane will continue on the other side. Along the way we saw a wild pheasant (on both trips) as well as a number of good-sized turkeys…and, common to Hawaii, bantam roosters with their flocks,Then just before the loop rejoins Saddle Road, the road steeply loses elevation…with a view like a roller coaster. Whee! So much fun the first time, we did it again the next day.
We just had sweet bread again for our in-flight dinner. A small loaf filled with chicken and sweet ginger peas. Different.
Because we needed to fuel and return the rental car before our flight this morning, we set our alarms
for 5:30, with a target departure time of 6:30. Consequently I slept with the phone next to my bed so I’d be sure to hear it. No worries! At 7 a.m. mainland time, my sister started texting me! Then again I guess it was a good thing I was up as Judy slept through her alarm.
We are blessed to have gotten TSA Pre-(check) on our boarding passes. It’s a nice perk not to be
required to take the lap top and cell phones & baggie of liquids out of carry-on luggage, and remove
shoes & jacket. In Kona, even with the Pre-Check designation we had to take out liquids. In Honolulu, they were sending everyone through the Pre-check line.
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Sounds like you had a fun and relaxing time in Hawaii!
Keep writing----love it !
Sounds llike a wonderful refreshing time! So glad you and Judy were able to go.
