Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

We made the drive to Hilo on Tuesday (Feb. 24) in order to visit the botanical garden, which was well worth the trip! First we stopped at Onomea Bay overlook and then walked down to the bay itself.

Along the way, we met a friendly duck looking for a handout and then at the bottom of the trail found amazing trees and waterfalls that flowed out of a stream feeding into the bay.

We stopped for lunch at this amazing little place, called What's Shakin' that made fabulous smoothies and yummy sandwiches--most of the ingredients for these came from the farm directly surrounding. That is our crew sitting at the left-most table under the tent. It's for sale if you want to buy a nice little business 7 miles north of Hilo. We were joined by a red headed little bird for lunch!

Then on to the Botanical Garden itself

and here it's hard to pick photos because I took dozens....there were so many amazing and beautiful flowers--many varieties of heliconia (e.g.,lobster claw),

cats whiskers,

gingers,

tons of orchids,

giant bamboo,

and beautiful waterfalls to boot.

Last but not least, we stopped at Big Island Candies to grab some more Mika passion fruit creams--I am addicted!

City of Refuge

Under the early rulers, the laws were rather strict. If you broke a law--a kapu--you died. End of story--almost. If you could make it to the City of Refuge, the kahuna or priest could absolve you of your crime and you returned to society free and clear. As Hal pointed out, somewhat like the confessional process in Catholicism. We drove south to the City of Refuge, not far from Honaunau, and did a self-guided walking tour. I was impressed by this very determined tree that grew out of a chunk of lava. And those that looked like they were ready to take off walking.

The City of Refuge is guarded by quite a number of fearsome looking gods.

Here are my fellow travelers resting outside the wall of the temple.

Also spent a lot of time watching a photographing a turtle that was leisurely munching his/her way around some of the tidal pools.

On the way back to Kailua, we stopped for fish and salad in Honaunau and at the Painted Church (aka St. Benedict's) outside Captain Cook (the town).


At the close of the day, we carried our gin and tonics (disguised in water bottles) up the road to the closest beach to watch the sunset, except there wasn't one, exactly. Still nice, though!

Whale Watching, Temples and Dancing

Yesterday (Thursday, Feb 26) we were out bright and early to go whale watching on a 65 foot long catamaran with Ocean Sports. We did see whales, including two different mother-baby duos with escorts. Not that I could get a decent picture of anything as my camera was too slow. We were never really close but did get within 30-40 feet of the baby whales at a couple points. The flukes are prepatory to deep dives so were either the moms or the escorts.

On the way back down the coast we stopped at the temple built by Kamehameha I who united the Hawaiian islands in the late 18th and early 19th C -- Pu'ukohola

Last night we decided would also be our one night to eat dinner out as there was a free hula and fire dancing show at Mauna Lani.

Today I let the rest of the gang go off snorkeling at Honaunau and I lazed around, read, and got a pedicure.

Waimea and Lapakahi

We drove up (i.e., north and into the Kohala Mts) to Waimea yesterday morning to find cooler and rainy weather. We visited an exhibit on the historical leper colony Kalaupapa and I was surprised to learn how dire the conditions were there. Families were forciby separated once someone was diagnosed, and people often died withing just a couple of years after arriving. What I hadn't realized was that it was often due to starvation. Eventually the royal house of Hawaii stepped in and began delivering clothes and food and money for medical care.  Did not see much else of note in Waimea-Kamuela but did find some freshly made malasadas (big fat deep fried doughnuts covered with cinnamon sugar) to make it all worth while.
Back down to the hot coast of the Waimea peninsula to visit the Lapakahi State Historical Park which is an old fishing village. Beautiful setting once inhabited by about 600 people until the water table dropped and they had to leave.

Stopped for lunch in Kawaihae then continued on down the coast with the McMillen Bruddahs scouting for future snorkeling. We stopped at Kiholo State Park Reserve and while the beaches were interesting, it did not look promising due to rocky entry and steep drop off. We will be heading for another potential snorkeling area this morning (Monday). That's all the news for now.

Mooching around Kailua-Kona

Today was a take-it-easy day and to use my friend Brian's term, we just mooched around Kailua-Kona. We walked from our condo following the coastline into town, stopping to admire the views along the coast, the beautiful water, farmer's market, pretty things in the windows of shops.

Had some free coffee samples, stopped and had lunch overlooking the water and continued to wander around the old harbor.

 Here is the official starting and finishing point of the "Iron Man" race.

Wandered the grounds of the Hulihe'e Palace--home to governors and various members of the royal family--and went in the gift shop there to buy some Hawaiian music CD's.

Found this lovely would-be snorkeler walking along the wall of the grounds.

Went into the lobby of the King Kamehameha Hotel which has an astounding collection of Herb Kane's paintings depicting the history and culture of the native Hawaiians, and the famous racing outrigger, the Mahoe.

These are contemporary versions of the outriggers racing canoes.

These are the famous McMillen Brudders...

And these clever fellows were outside the Crocs store.