Tag: The Big Island

The Big Island Hawaii Post 2

Week 2

We returned to Kona Brewing Sunday evening because they have live music. Colin John and his brother played a mix of Hawaiian, country, and classic rock – Johnny Cash songs with a Uke and Sitar. Good music, good food, lots of fun.

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Can’t get enough of sitting on the lanai – whale watching….

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People watching….

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Beautiful sunsets….

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Amazing moonsets….

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Friday, we were up bright and early because we booked a tour with Volcano Van to see the sites south of Kona and head over to Volcano National Park. Our first stop (not really a stop, more of a drive-by because some local said no commercial vehicles were allowed to park) was Kealakekua.

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This is the area was the inspiration for Don Ho’s song “Little Grass Shack”.

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Our next stop was a lookout point amidst A’a lava.

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A’a lava is rocky and sharp on the top and extremely dense underneath – producing some of the most difficult rock to cut through. A’a lava tumbles in the form of small rocks with very jagged sharp edges.

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As we continued our drive, the harshness of the landscape gave way to lush forest. Apparently the island has 10+ climate zones.

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Next we drove to Black Sands Beach (aka Punalu’u Beach).

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What an exciting day to show up! Research biologists and volunteer students from University of Hawaii’s Marine Option Program were there to study the green sea turtles.

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The green sea turtles (actually all sea turtles in Hawaii) are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The turtles were temporarily captured.

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Thorough examinations were conducted to check for injuries or disease. They were measured and weighed.

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Then they were tagged before being released. Tagging allows insight into how fast they grow, where they travel to, and (for adults) how often they breed.

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Well, that was about it for the tour – the van broke down. The poor independent tour operator was beside himself. We assured him we were “okay”; it was just something that happened, nothing he could do about it. His wife came and picked us up with her vehicle (after 1 ½ hr. wait…). We are rebooked for next week… Upon return, we strolled on over to Bongo Ben’s for Happy Hour and to meet up with a couple from BC whom we met who are here for a month long vacation.

Most nights we have eaten at the condo, on the lanai – watching the sunset. Saturday night, we decided to dine out and chose Lava Java. Live music + sunset + good food.

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Kalua Pork Pizza

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Hard to believe 2 weeks have gone by !!

The Big Island Hawaii Post 1

Week 1

We started our trip with a couple of short delays. The first was in Toronto – snow started falling before take-off, so we needed to de-ice (a 50 minute delay). The delay was easy to take though, because we were flying first class (got a great deal when I booked).

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In Los Angeles we had another delay – the plane was overbooked and overweight, so they were seeking volunteers to take the next flight out to Honolulu and fly to Kona the next morning – accommodations, food voucher, and a travel voucher included (the travel voucher started at $500 and was up to $1500 as time ticked and they still needed people to give up their seats). We thought about it, but they couldn’t guarantee we would get first class seats together. Finally after another 50 minute delay, we were on our way to Paradise.

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The accommodations aren’t bad – cottage-like, but comfortable. (Besides who spends time indoors while in Hawaii?) The views from the lanai (balcony) are absolutely amazing! We are directly on the water where waves roll into the rocky shore.

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The walk to the heart of the town is a short 5 minutes. And the walk for groceries is about 35 minutes (uphill, so the walk back feels great). We have found a great place for Happy Hour – Bongo Ben’s serves local drafts pints for $3 from 3PM to 6PM (cheaper than buying beer at the ABC store).

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From the lanai, throughout the day, we can see whales blowing and jumping – very exciting! Yes look close that is a person on a paddle board next to the splash

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The one night we watched an eel slink around in the water right below us. The camera didn’t take very good pics because of the darkness, but that was okay, because we were treated to a return visit the following morning.

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Wednesday morning we woke up to view a cruise ship anchored offshore. It was there for the day, transporting passengers to and from the mainland.

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The waves were pretty rough through the night, and I guess, one guy didn’t have his boat secured.

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The sunset here is gorgeous! Every night we sit and marvel at the view….

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We have visitors each day on the lanai….

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Thursday, we headed up to Kona Brewing for a tour and some tastings. Rachel, originally from Canada, took us threw the brewery and explained the history.

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Kona only brews beers on the Island that are kegged and distributed locally. All bottling is done on the Mainland (part of the partnerships with Red Hook Brewery….Oh yah maybe you remember our visit to Redhook from our travels West in 2012 !). Afterwards pizza at the brewery restaurant was very good, they use some of the spent grains in the crust recipe.

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On Friday, we checked out the lagoon next to our condo unit to do some snorkeling, but it was closed for a wedding – beautiful backdrop, but loud with the waves rolling in.

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It is hard to believe a week has passed since our arrival….