March 2016 – Todd and Cindy's Travel Blog

Hawaiian Adventure Big Island Post 2

Saturday Aline and Dave picked us up and we went to a small car show at a nearby plaza.

The Lanihau Center Car Show was free and was a fundraiser for the local humane society.

It featured a number of cars, bikes, and trucks.

Sunday the main street (Alii Drive) in Kona was closed to traffic and over a 100 vendors set up stalls along the street.

Monday morning, while we were enjoying coffee on the lanai, a huge group of swimmers and dolphins went past, following the Iron Man course.

Dave and Aline picked us up late morning, and we drove just past Hawi to see the original King Kamehameha I Statue. Known as Hawaii’s greatest king, the statue is erected near his birthplace.

Our next stop was a trail beginning on the roadside, leading down to Kiholo Bay. We saw some wild goats.

Once we reached the water, we walked along the shoreline – a bit of a challenge through the stone and sand.

We came across three interesting properties. First was the “Bali” home built for John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Paul Mitchell hair products. The home was built in Bali by 280 Balinese carpenters. The hand-carved house took 4 years to complete, then it was disassembled and shipped to Hawaii where it took another 2 years to reconstruct.

The next home, “The Yellow House” was built for Earl Bakken, the inventor of the pacemaker. He moved into his 17,000 square foot dream home at the age of 65. He’s over 90 now…

The third house was built for Loretta Lynn, but after the death of her oldest son, she never moved in. The 2,000 square foot house was left vacant and finally sold to Bakkan along with its 3 acres of land in 1999. Bakken then did a land swap with the State – trading the 3 acres of land with Lynn’s house for 6 acres of land next to his existing property (expanding his property to 9 acres).

Tuesday, after a day of rest, Dave, Aline, Todd, and I made our way to Umeke’s again to say hi to Naia. And once again, we had a few beers and ate dinner. I had the short ribs with mac salad and fries…so tasty.

Todd had the Bomb Trio – 3 kinds of Poke served on sushi rice with a wasabi mayo drizzle and a side of cucumber kimchee. He said it was really good (I’ll take his word for it…).

Wednesday, we went with Aline and Dave to see a house being built by a couple they know. It is quite impressive. Their 1 acre of land includes numerous plants: coffee, avocado, mango, lemon, and squash.

Then we went to a market by the Sheraton. We picked up 3 packs of mac nuts, some local honey, and a Patriots hat( Hawaiian style) for Todd.

Thursday we went to Mauka Meadows Coffee Farm with Aline and Dave. We enjoyed walking the grounds as we headed down to the coffee tasting area.

The views are quite picturesque.

Spiders are plentiful and BIG !

And the grounds are impressive (even if few plants were currently blooming).

This was a return visit – we came here last year. They now charge $5 pp, so after 2 visits, we probably will not be returning…

We get such great entertainment just sitting on our lanai looking out to the water.

Saturday, after a night of heavy rain, we woke up to an amazing rainbow, that continued to intensify, then was joined by another rainbow; not quite as intense, but a stunning view.

In the afternoon we, walked into town to the Huilhe’e Palace for their annual fundraiser event. We toured the palace, then walked the grounds.

Todd found this giant bee buzzing around the flowers in the gardens.

Vendors set up on the lawn and live music and hula dancers entertained the masses.

Chef Todd continues to make amazing meals (although, that is no real surprise). Below is one of our lunchtime salads with homemade dressing.

We have been eating a lot of a local mushroom called the Alii Oyster mushroom. It has a firm texture and is delicious.

Fried in butter, they go great with bbq steak.

With only 1 ½ weeks left, we are fully appreciating every amazing sunset…

Hawaiian Adventure Big Island Post 1

Whether it’s a short flight or a long flight, it sure seems like a full day at the airport. On Friday, we arrived at the airport in Maui 2 hours prior to departure, but then had an hour delay… 35 minutes later, we landed in Kona. Aline and Dave arrived a day earlier and said they would pick us up. Upon arrival, we were lei’d by our friends. (Leis are a play on having our luggage with the toilet paper delayed when we first arrived in Maui).

After a quick stop at Costco and getting settled in our condo, we met up at Bongo Ben’s – our Happy Hour spot. …so great seeing our friends again!

We are once again truly enjoying our time on the lanai, right on the ocean front. Lots of surfers and boogie boarders take advantage of the water conditions. Bringing your dog surfing or SUPing is common here !

Parasailers float by, and usually get dipped prior to getting back to the boat.

Numerous paddle boarders and swimmers make their way past following the Iron Man route.

Canoes from solos to tandems like this one out training.

We even get locals fishing out front.

Tuesday was a great day for aquatic action. Lots of Spinner dolphins played in the water.

And there was whale action too. The whales are quiet here compared to Maui, but still exciting to watch.

The days seem to start off sunny, then the vog (volcano fog) sets in, before clearing for sunset.

Last year we enjoyed the company of Naia almost nightly at Bongo’s. She was the bar manager. A few weeks back, she left Bongo’s for another bar manager position at Umeke’s….a lot farther walk for us, but we made the trek Tuesday. It was great seeing her again! She is lovin the new job…

And of course Todd had to try the fish tacos and said they were great !

We have gone snorkeling a couple of times in the lagoon nearby. It is shallow, but we do see quite a few fish in the area.

For St. Patrick’s Day, we met up with Aline and Dave and headed to Quinn’s (the “happening” spot for St. Paddy’s Day). We recognized PonchoMan performing on the stage when we arrived; he’s one of Naia’s friends.

Although we were told it would be about a 35 minute wait to be seated for dinner, it turned out to be only about 10 minutes. Dave and Todd ordered the Irish Stew, Aline ordered the Rueben Potato Skins, and I got one of the last three Shepherd’s Pies. We all enjoyed our meals…and the company.

After eating, we hung around out front where the music was playing for a bit longer. The next group performing we actually met as we were heading to dinner…Lots of fun.

Todd has been spending lots of time at sunset learning to use his new camera !

Hard to believe we have been on the Big Island for a week already, and a total of five weeks in Hawaii…getting used to this Island Life…

Hawaiian Adventure Maui Final Post

After what we were told was a highly unusual whale tour Tuesday (hanging on for dear life in the 4 foot swells while protecting our cameras), we decided to give it another shot. We booked Saturday…what a difference! The weather was clear, waters were calm and no one got wet.

Although we didn’t see any huge breaches, we were treated to numerous sightings.

We saw a lots of dorsal fins breaking the surface,

lots of pectoral fins waving,

and lots of tail slaps.

The next 2 pictures show the scarring on the back and tail of this male that looks like he has been fighting pretty hard for the attention of his possible mates !

Two of the most exciting sightings included a whale peeking out of the water close to the boat,

AND a whale actually swimming right under the zodiac we were on. When there is a whale, the water turns turquoise and the white is the underside of the whale. Without actually jumping in the water for a really good pic, I tried my best to capture it, leaning over the side of the zodiac.

We can see why whale watching could get addictive (talked to lots who go out multiple times each vacation)…

Monday we took a drive to Haleakala National Park and took the long windy road up to the summit. After the Road to Hana, Todd said this drive was a breeze.

Haleakala summit is 10,023 feet (3,055 m) above sea level and the temperature dropped dramatically.

The volcano is currently dormant. In the picture below you can see two volcano peaks on The Big Island peaking through the clouds !

The views are stunning, even if the clouds get in the way.

One of the most interesting plants we saw was the Haleakala Silversword, only found here on the summit. It lives for 15 – 50 years and only blooms once.

After some pics and a walk about, I said, “Okay, enough of this cold, back to the warmth.” The temperature was about 20°F cooler. On the way back down, we stopped at The Visitor’s Center (9,740 ft / 2,969 m above sea level).

Each stop along the way down offered different views. Kalahaku Lookout (9,324 ft / 2,842 m) was impressive with the colours and shapes of the land.

It was interesting watching the clouds roll in as we drove through them. Our last stop down was at Leleiwi Overlook (8,840 ft / 2,694 m).

Tuesday night was a partial eclipse of the sun. The moon was to cover 68% of the sun. Unfortunately, clouds got in the way for a really clear view. The video is a time lapse of what we did see over a 2 hour period. You can notice about ½ way through, it gets really dark (eclipse time), then lightens a bit for the sunset.

Wednesday we drove towards Kihei to go to the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge and walk the boardwalk through the marshlands. Just our luck – the boardwalk was closed for repair… So, we carried on south to Makena Beach State Park where we got out to walk the beach.

It was extremely windy, but the landscape was beautiful with volcanic rock sticking out of the sand.

While in the area, we made a pit stop at Maui Brewing Company’s brewery. We didn’t do a tour, but enjoyed sitting on their patio for a couple of pints of small batch beers craft beers that are available only at the brewery.

Todd contributed to his t-shirt collection. Too bad he didn’t buy it at the beginning of our visit, his beers would have been $2 off…

So, we spent our last day on Maui very low key – some packing and prepping for the morning exodus. We did walk into town so we could get a couple of Red Dirt Shirts (very Maui…).

Then we did our final stop at The Hard Rock. Todd has been quite impressed with their display of memorabilia. He asked if it was actually real and it is. This Tony Iommi jacket (Black Sabbath) is insured for $200,000 by Hard Rock.

The car above the bar was an actual functioning boat at one time – amphibious vehicle…

Usually, I post a lot of dinner pics from restaurants we have eaten at, but this trip so far, we have eaten just about all out meals on the lanai after sunset. Can’t really justify the cost of eating out and the views from the lanai are beautiful, plus Todd is an amazing chef!

We have definitely enjoyed our time at this waterfront condo in Lahaina. Maui has been beautiful – warm, sunny, gorgeous sunsets, lots to see and do, and also very relaxing.

Next up – the Big Island where we will meet up with our friends, Aline and Dave.