09-10May2014, Big Island to Home Sweet Home

Last post for this blog.

We departed our condo on the Big Island about 10AM on Friday and headed for the airport.  We got a real kick out of the Hawaii airports, everything is outside, check in, gates...everything.  It is very nice but would not work at home. We had basically uneventful return travel, we arrived home in Addison around 12N on Saturday.  That makes the trip roughly 20 hours. Considering we flew from the Big Island to Oahu, from Oahu to JFK, from JFK to BTV and had an hour drive home, that is not too bad. We flew Hawaiian Airlines, they were great, two meals (with wine) on the long flight and they were super nice.

When we arrived home the weather was great, 70's and June's flowers are blooming...so our timing was good.













One thing we noticed while in Oahu and the Big Island is that the sunsets were not like what we recalled when we were in Maui in 1991.  Sue and Roger are in Maui now and are putting out some of those spectacular sunset pictures we remember.  We were treated to one of our great sunsets on Mother's day, a reminder that we also live in a beautiful part of the world.

Overall it was a very good vacation, we packed allot of fun into a week in the pacific, we came home exhausted but the experience and memories are well worth it.   Can't wait for the credit card bill to arrive....

Ed and Jean, Mahalo for going with us...Aloha

08May2015 - Day 7, Big Island, Waterfalls and Volcanoes

Today we drove the entire island loop road.  We departed about 8AM and met up with Sue and Roger for the first half of the day.  We drove it Northerly since we had not seen this part of the island in the daylight and wanted to see some of the water falls on the North coast.

Our first water fall stop was Akaka Falls, this is 422 ft, and it is beautiful, complete with rainbow at its base.

Akaka Falls




















From there we continued our loop onto the Rainbow Falls in Hilo.  Although the falls themselves are not that impressive, you can take a very short hike up to the head of the falls which gives a unique perspective.

The falls are not as high, about 80 feet, and we did not see a rainbow here, most likely due to the overcast, but they are pretty.

On the trail to the head of the falls you come by about the biggest banyan tree I have ever seen (I think it is a Banyan?). It looks like something from one of J. R. R Tolkien's books/movies. The picture does not do it justice.

The head of Rainbow Falls.

After the falls we drove into Hilo to find lunch. We settled on the Pesto Cafe and it was an excellent choice.  At the cafe, Nurse Sue performed triage on my Humu bite and administered an oral pain killer.

After lunch we parted ways with the Legendres. They were headed for the Saddle Road to see the observatory and we headed south for Volcano National Park.

Volcano National Park is amazing.  The smoking crater in the daylight is cool, but what is really surreal is the landscape. Vast areas around the volcanoes makes you feel as if you landed on another planet, like Mars, it is amazing. The steam vents around the crater exhaust hot steam that is much hotter than I anticipated, giving you some indication of how much heat is below.

 We viewed the smoking Kilauea Caldera, toured the visitor center, went through a lava tube and then decided to take the Chain of Craters Road, which runs down to the ocean, because we wanted to hang around until dark to see Kilauea at night.

The lava tube.

The trip down the Chain of Craters road is well worth the 40 mile round trip.  This is where you see the vast lava fields and eventually where the lava overtook the road (in 1986), which now dead ends in the lava field.

In addition the lava fields, at the end of the road there is the Holei Sea Arch. The arch and the coast in general, where the waves crash, is worth seeing.










The finale for the evening was viewing the the Kilauea Caldera at night. The molten lava in the caldera lights up the steam cloud red and you can see some of the lava jumping into the cloud, a very different view than daytime.

Unfortunately the fun part of our trip is done and we will now travel back to the northeast.  We have heard the weather is improving, we are counting on it...we will be home on Saturday.   All and all it has been a great trip that we will remember for a long time.

07May14 - Day 6, Big Island, Snorkeling, Body Surfing and Manta's

Today we played local.

We went snorkeling at a beach only 3 miles south of our hotel called Kahaluu Beach.

The fish population and size of the fish is as good as I have ever seen.

Something new, apparently there is a fish called a Humu Picasso Triggerfish that is nesting right now and if they feel threatened they will attack. I was in the water about 5 minutes when apparently I pissed one off.

These guys are huge...at least 10 inches (haha)....well it surprised the heck out of me and drew a bit of blood.
I talked to the nice ranger standing in the water telling everyone to stay off the coral and she thought it was quite a hoot, apparently they seldom bite, but I had the marks to prove it.

This beach also has the large green sea turtles and they were swimming about in shallow water.

We had a great time snorkeling and wanted to get some beach time. We went to a local grocery store, bought sandwiches and took them to the next beach up the coast called White Sand Beaches. It has nice sand and moderate waves.

We body surfed until our suits could not hold any more sand.

In this picture, Fred is on the left and Ed on the right.












After we were exhausted and acquired a good sun burn we went back to our hotel to rest up for our next adventure, a night time encounter with the Manta Rays. We had also convinced Sue and Roger to join us to get a better rate on the encounter, Sue was a bit apprehensive but is a good sport so went along.

We met for dinner at a place called Splashers, it was great with outside balcony seating looking out over the bay, if you are in Kona, do it.

The company was Bluesea cruises.

There were about 20 of us on the boat and the crew was made up of three young guys the youngest being from NH, so Sue and Roger hit it off with Chris. The crew went out of their way to make the 40 min trip out and back pleasant.
Since we float on the surface in cooler conditions, we were all fitted with wet suits.

The Mantas are drawn to an area at night by putting lights in the water that attract plankton much like bugs to a light. The Mantas feed on the plankton and actually like to play with humans.

I would say it is a bit of a religious experience to be that close to these graceful giants and not be afraid.  We had Mantas come up and brush you, the Manta blessing or kiss, that had a 12 to 14 foot wing span, just amazing.

We all had a magical experience, including Sue.
So we concluded another spectacular day and are planning to head west tomorrow to do the tourist thing, see the waterfalls and volcano.

06May14 - Day 5, Big Island, Turtles and Luau

Today we explored the South West and a bit of the South East side of the Big Island by car.  We drove to the famous Black Sand Beaches in Punalu'u.

The drive there was only 75 miles but it took 2 hours, not much traffic but the roads are not highways and the landscape changes from tropical to woods, to fields, to moonscape lava rocks and back again in a few miles, it is very strange.

The Black Sand Beaches are very cool and what makes them extra cool is that the large Honu, or Hawaiian Green Sea turtles, love the black sand. They are swimming about everywhere and a few come up on the beach. They are protected but you can get close enough for some good pictures.

This one appears to be nesting....

From the black sand beaches we started back with intentions of finding lunch and doing a bit of snorkeling. We found lunch at a famous Hawaiian sweet bread store in Punalu'u, the Southernmost Bakery in the USA. It was very good and inexpensive (a change from what we have been experiencing).

After lunch we decided we would try to snorkel at Kealakekua Bay since what we read on the web said it has some of the best snorkeling in Hawaii, however it appears that access from the state park is difficult so most arrive by boat. We decided to forgo the skinned knees and move on. It was getting late so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Luau.

We met Sue and Roger for the Luau, to say we had a great time is an understatement.  The drinks were flowing, the entertainment good, the food was excellent and the weather gave us some entertainment too.

During dinner and much of the entertainment, it was nice and we had a fabulous sunset that provided a nice photo opportunity, but once the sun went down it started to rain...but by then most were having so much fun we just stuck it out.  We sat with a young couple, Ryan and Julie from Michigan who were on their honeymoon. They were fun and probably a bit overwhelmed by three couples who have been married, 35+ years each having such a  good time.

They put on a good show, dancing with fire and the girls really enjoyed the rain soaked Hawaiian men.













After the Luau we moved onto Sue and Roger's room for continued partying, Sue and Roger again celebrated my retirement.  This is after they insisted on treating us to dinner in Oahu, I told them ok, this is my retirement year...we can continue this all of 2014.

It was another fun day....we retired exhausted...and it was good.

05May2014 - Day 4, Oahu to the Big Island

Today we travelled from Oahu to the Big Island of Hawaii. After breakfast we shuttled to the airport expecting a puddle jumper like June and I took in 1991 between Islands, but we got a jet bigger than our plane from BTV to JFK, so all went smoothly.  Even our beer made it, I stuffed a few beers in Ed's sneakers in his checked bag, I figured if they burst his shoes would catch most of it.











We arrived at the condo we rented about 3PM, nice place set back from the ocean with nice views.

They have something going on nearly every evening at the pool, Monday is free Pupu and music, the Pupu tastes better than it sounds.  We were served chips with bean dip, salsa, fruit, cake and juice while some local musicians played Hawaiian music.

View from the south pool.

Ed and Jean just kept doing this!!










Since it was Cinco De Mayo we decided to head down to the restaurant area for some drinks and dinner.   We settled on shrimp.

We walked to Bubba Gump's, it was a bit of a hike about 1.5 miles in each direction, but after traveling here today, it felt good to get out and walk.  The Big Island is very different from Oahu, it is much less crowded, we talked to one local and he said they consider Oahu their California or Vegas.

We got a nice table out on the deck overlooking the ocean.  In the back ground is the Royal Kona resort, we will have breakfast there tomorrow and that is where Sue and Roger will stay when they arrive today.

All in all it was mostly a travel day, but again the weather was just beautiful and we had another good day















We hope to explore the island by car today and get in some snorkeling.  Maybe a Luau tonight....

04May2014 - Day 3, Touring Oahu

We all wanted to get to see more of Oahu than the Waikiki beach area but we did not rent a car here. We did not despair, we rented Harleys!! Fred got a 2014 Road King and Ed a 2014 Heritage Softail and the girls threw a leg over the back and off we went.

We took the usual route around the island, counter clockwise, with many others. This is prime tourist season and the roads were very crowded close to the city but the views were spectacular. It took us over an hour to go the first 10 miles not because of traffic but because we kept stopping for the views.  We finally decided that we could not stop at every place or we would never get around the island.

The temperatures changed from 80's to 70's depending upon how the wind came off the water, and we even got a sprinkle or two. 

We stopped for lunch at a very small diner called Bobo's BBQ, it was slow but awesome food. 

The road follows the coast up to the North Shore and there are many many parks along the way. We stopped at more than a few, including one where we saw the 'Chinaman's Hat'. I included the picture because Jean liked it so much. 

As we moved North, the temps declined some, wind picked up and the waves started looking a bit more impressive. We stopped at Sunset Beach park, near where the famous 'Pipeline' surfing area is and had to take a swim.  Fred went first and the others decided it was too exciting for them.  The waves were huge and powerful, and sand gets everywhere, but it was fun getting man handled by the waves. 





We eventually moved onto Waimea Bay park which still has big waves but the girls braved it and had fun playing in the surf. 






We then made the more direct trip back to the city, taking the interstate, yes Oahu has three interstates even though you can't leave the island. We arrived back at our hotel around 7PM. Total ride was about 120 miles but took over 8 hours...that is Hawaii riding...it was a blast.

So after getting as much sand out of our orifices as possible, we met the Legendre's, their daughter Valarie and her new husband Farid at Duke's downtown for dinner.  It was a great meal and an appropriate end to a spectacular day in paradise. 

03May14 - Day 2 Pearl Harbor

We started today by going to a free breakfast put on by our tour company, "Pleasant Holidays" at the Hard Rock Cafe.

They put on a bit of a show and of course they pushed tours etc for you to buy, but I would not call it high pressure sales.  We were planning on doing the Arizona Memorial anyway, so that is the only tour we booked.

























Our tour guide picked us up at the hotel, where do they get these guys? Ours was Jorge (pronounced Whore-hay, but you can call him George or driver or anything) and he was not only a walking history book but a very entertaining gentleman. He certainly made the trip more educational and entertaining.

The touring of the Arizona is somewhat of a somber experience but something we all should do if we get the chance.  The entrance, museum area and movie has been redone since we last visited in 1991, but the memorial is very much the same. Frankly, I saw many fewer Japanese than in 1991, maybe due to their economy?

We looked around a bit before we took the boat out to the Arizona but did not have time to tour the Bowfin as we did in 1991.

Ed is just a little guy next to the Arizona Anchor

The Arizona is a tomb and there is much concern with what to do about the leaking oil, it still has about 50,000 gallons on board and they are worried that it is going to collapse and create an environmental event.







One bonus of taking the tour is we got a ticket to the Missouri.  The Missouri is the destroyer that was used for the surrender ceremony of the Japanese for WWII. It is an impressive ship.

It saw action in WWII and was modernized during the Reagan years, it will shoot a 16" shell 25 miles.
It is now kept at Pearl Harbor as a symbol of the end of the war as Arizona is the beginning.

It was not all a somber occasion, we toured the ship and did have a little fun along the way.

 From the Missouri we were given a driving tour including the 'Punch Bowl', a cemetery for many of those killed at Pearl Harbor, it is on top of an extinct volcano.

We got back to our hotel around 6PM and headed out for dinner...we ran into the "Spam Jam", I am not kidding...it is huge. They shut down the main drag in Waikiki for this and it is one big party.  There were bands and a variety of foods with spam.  We passed on the spam and found a really good pizza place called "Giovanni Pastrami", good food and good drinks.





All in all it was a good day, we were exhausted and looking forward to an adventure tomorrow around the island.