Hawaiian Adventure - Day 10

Thursday March 18 2010

Today is the day when we start the long trek home. Before we went to the airport, we had to take in that beautiful scenery one more time.

Notice the elephant ear plants growing up the trees like ivy.

Relaxing in the nice Hilo Airport lounge area, and thinking about our favorites, while we shared a bag of coconut flavored M&M's.

Our favorites include:

Fresh papaya in the morning

Pina Colada's (non-alcoholic version) at night

Teriyaki BBQ

Walks on the beach

Snorkeling up close with all the turtles and fish in the ocean

Seeing whales in the wild

Sunsets on the beach listening to Hawaiian music

Beautiful waterfalls

Unbelievable green tropical forests and beautiful flowers

Clear, turquoise blue ocean water

Fascinating Polynesian cultures

Not getting sun burned (much)

Going to sleep to the sounds of waves (north shore) and waterfalls (The Inn at Kulanaiapia Falls)

Mahalo, Hawaii

Hawaiian Adventure - Day 9

Wednesday 17 March 2010

First we went to the Farmer's Market, which is a big thing here every Wednesday and Saturday. Lots of local handicrafts and local fresh produce. We picked up a few trinkets and tried some cold coconut juice.

Guy cutting the coconuts right there with his machete.

They had some beautiful fresh tropical flowers at unbelievably low prices. Try to get this for 5 bucks at FTD!

Then we went snorkeling at Richardson's Beach, which our host recommended for seeing sea turtles, and we did see quite a few and Colleen and I went in to snorkel and swim right there next to the turtles. Way Cool!

We also saw lots and lots of beautiful brightly colored big tropical fish, and yes we did see the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a fish, which is the Hawaiian state fish that has the longest name.

The black sand beach was really pretty, and is made from the lava that exploded when it hit the sea water.

Some pretty good waves there, and we were able to see whales jumping and spouting off in the distance, but couldn't get our camera to take the picture quick enough to catch the whales.

Then we cleaned up, went out for some good local Thai food and went to see Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots

Our little friend welcoming us home from our adventures.

Hawaiian Adventure - Day 8

Pele, the Goddess of Fire

Tuesday, March16, 2010

Before we went to the Volcano National park, we did some exploring around the property here at the Kulaniapia Falls B&B.

You can see Hilo and the small airport from our balcony

A beautiful walk with several small water falls

And the Kulaniapia Falls, which we can watch from the patio where we eat breakfast

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on where you are standing, there were no active lava fountains or lava flows today coming from Mount Kiluea, but lots of steam vents, and still a very active volcano. The last big eruption was 2003.

This is where the 2003 lava crossed the road

Road closed. Duh!

We went through some lava tubes

Beautiful Ferns growing out of old lava

Cliffs where the lava met the sea

At the end of the day, relaxed in a geothermally heated pond, that mixed hot water coming from the hot artesian water with waves from the ocean. Pretty awesome!

And some sage advice for the end of the day:

Hawaiian Adventure - Day 7

Monday, March 15 2010

Today we flew to the island of Hawaii, known here as "The Big Island". We had a few hours before we checked in to our bed and breakfast, so we went up the east coast, north of Hilo for a scenic drive. It is very tropical.

We also visited the sites of a couple of villages that were wiped during a 1946 tsunami. One of the village sites is considered a sacred place to the Hawaiians here, and has only limited access. It is called the Waipio Valley, and we just went to the lookout. If you look carefully on the opposite cliff, you will see a long waterfall coming out of the side of the cliff.

We also saw the Akaka Falls, and here is a video of it.

Danny in a bamboo forest.

Until tomorrow, Aloha

Hawaiian Adventure - Day 6

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Today we visited a ward in Laie for Sacrament Meeting; which was very nice. They had testimony meeting today. Afterward, we visited the Laie Temple's visitor center, which had a nice presentation of the history of the Church in Laie.

We also drove around the BYU-Hawaii campus.

We went by Laie Point, where I remember we had early morning testimony meetings when I went the Language Training Mission here to learn Japanese way back in 1975.

They had the strangest mountains/cliffs on the northeast shore of Oahu, as we took the scenic route back to Honolulu.

Another weird thing, we noticed during dinner a parade going by.

Can't end the day in Hawaii without a beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow, we head to the Big Island!

Hawaiian Adventure - Day 5

13 March 2010

This morning while we ate our breakfast on our lanai (balcony), we saw whale spouting off several times. We weren't sure until all of a sudden we saw it's head shooting up in the air, and then splashing down. Talk about awesome! Sorry, I couldn't get to the camera in time.

Then we went to watch some surfing. No I did not try it, just watched, because a couple of days ago, a surfer in that area was killed and eaten by tiger sharks. They only closed the beach for a couple of days, but that wasn't enough for me. We just snorkeled in a couple of close to the shore areas. Still saw a lot of beautiful fish all around us. I also saw a few fish that were pretty big (about the size of a dog). As you can see, I still don't have much of a tan yet, but at least I'm not burn't.

Colleen is perfecting the art of relaxing at the beach

Cool reflections in her sunglasses.

We dined at the local shrimp truck. The kitchen drove away and left the restaurant here.

And relaxed some more by tiki light.

Aloha !