Friday, May 23, 2014

The Big Island, April and May 2014

So, this was our first visit to the Big Island of Hawaii. Our game plan was that we were spending 2 nights on the dry side of the island, Kona, and 1 night on the wet side of the island, Hilo. Our flight arrived around 11am or so, we picked up or rental car, and off we went to our hotel. When we arrived, the room wasn't ready yet, so we decided to walk around a little and have lunch at the Kona Brewing Company.

Beer flight at Kona Brewing Company
It was a great lunch! Mom and I each got a beer flight so we could sample several beers, and shared a yummy salad & pizza. It was just a nice, chill place with outdoor seating-perfect to enjoy some pizza and beer.

After our lunch, we checked into the room in the late afternoon and decided to do some lounging by the pool. We didn't have a ton of time, because I was scheduled to meet somewhere at 530pm for my night snorkel with the manta rays!

So this snorkel experience was one of my highlights of the trip. This was one of the few "organized" trips I did while on my trip. I scheduled ahead of time with Jack's Diving Locker, who had an awesome reputation (and lived up to it). We all headed out on the boat around sunset, suited up in wet suits, and arrived at the cove where the manta rays are. It's a spot where several companies know about, and do these organized snorkels. Basically there's scuba drivers who go to the bottom and shine light up, and the snorkelers shine light down, which makes it really easy to see the manta rays. Let me say--we had no problem seeing them because they're HUGE!! Most of them in this area had a 12 ft wingspan. They are like much bigger versions of stingrays. It was amazing!! It was scary (to me) being in the water at night--and when these gentle giants come close to you, at first, it's terrifying! But they just swim really gracefully and seem totally comfortable with doing their thing and hearing the screams and delight from the tourists. Some of the manta rays brushed against me--and I was told it means good luck for 7 years! I haven't gotten the pictures back from my underwater camera yet, but this is what they look like on the right. We didn't see this many at once, but we definitely saw maybe 4-5 at once and they looked identical to this. Truly an amazing experience!

Manta Rays--photographs by Thomas P. Peschak
I got back later that evening so Mom and I just got some snacks from the ABC Store (like 7-11) in the hotel and relaxed in our room as I relayed my big adventure to her!
The following day we spent the morning visiting a clinic and getting more some meds because her allergies were really bothering her. Once we did all that, we decided it would be best to just spend the afternoon relaxing rather than trying to do a big beach adventure that day. It was our only full day in Kona, and our pool was so pretty and nice, so we relaxed. That's what vacation is all about sometimes! We had a nice little brunch and then vegged for the afternoon.
 We saw an amazing rainbow this day, as well.
Beautiful rainbow
Later that evening, we went to a place called Huggo's on the Rocks, where we caught an amazing sunset, while having cocktails, dinner, and a man playing Hawaiian music, with a woman dancing. It was a lovely way to spend our last night in Kona.
Sunset at Huggo's on the Rocks

The next morning began our big adventure day to see the volcano and travel to Hilo. We drove to Volcano National Park-it was interesting how barren the landscape became as we drove in that direction! While we saw some cool scenery in the park, I wasn't too impressed...I wanted to see some lava! But really you just saw big holes from the distance with steam coming out and some crazy landscape.

Volcano National Park
We stopped at a black sand beach along the way, which was funky looking. We also walked through the Thurston Lava Tube, which was a tube formed from where volcano used to flow in the past. That was funky looking!
Black sand beach
Thurston Lava Tube

We only spent an hour or two in the park and were on to Hilo!When we arrived in Hilo, we checked into our little guesthouse room, which was really cute. We really only had the afternoon in Hilo, and just wanted to hang out and experience the town. It was raining a lot on and off, (it is the wet side of the island!), so sightseeing in the rain wasn't huge on our list. We ended up just hanging out at a bar for a while, drinking some beers, and chatting with a multitude of people. The bartender was from there and grew up there, a guy who was a transplant from Arizona, another a transplant from a town in Mass 15 mins from where I grew up and Mom lives, and a woman visiting. It was a nice way to enjoy Hilo, just hanging out with some nice people. We finished the night with dinner, and returned to our room to rest for our next flight in the morning.

We really enjoyed seeing the Big Island, and were happy to see Hilo, where our family friend Fred lived for many years and has told us about for many years! As you can see by reading, it was a lot to do in three nights, but Mom and I both agreed we were happy we came to the Big Island.

Next.....to Maui!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

The island of Oahu, April and May 2014


Aloha! Having recently returned from an epic trip in Hawaii with my Mom, it's time for another travel entry! The trip took place towards the end of April and the beginning of May. We spent 12 nights/12 days in Hawaii. We spent four nights in Oahu, three nights on the Big Island, and five nights in Maui. I'll stick to the island of Oahu in this entry.

I love Hawaii. We went five years ago and had an amazing trip filled with great memories. My Mom was selling our house, and vowed when it was sold that we'd take a trip to Hawaii-and that we did! We arrived around 5:30pm, which is a nice time to arrive since you can get to your hotel, get a little freshened up, and head out for some drinks and dinner. Our first stop? Obviously Duke's for some mai tais!
First Mai Tais of the trip!


We knew we'd finally arrived when we started sipping our mai tais! After a 5.5 hr flight and a 6.5 hour flight, it was so nice to be back on land for close to two weeks.

Our first day we started off with some delicious breakfast at the Hula Grill-some yummy eggs benedict and some amazing banana macadamia nut pancakes. YUM!! Check these out: 
Banana Mac Nut Pancakes
Anyway, we spent the day relaxing on Waikiki Beach--a hub of activity, surfing lessons, Stand Up Paddle (SUP) boarding lessons, swimming, lounging...a fun, gorgeous beach which has beach, tall buildings, and a mountain all in one setting. One of my favorite beaches in the world for sure!
Waikiki Beach
So anyway, we spent the day lounging around-perfect plan for your first day in Hawaii-and that night we went to "Art After Dark" at the Honolulu Museum of Art. They have this every last Friday of each month with music, performers, artists, drinks, food, a dj....we had a blast and ended up dancing for the last half hour or so!
Mom and I at Art After Dark
We finished the night at Duke's bar once again.

Our second day our main activity was a hike to Manoa Falls. We ended up taking some city buses to get there, which worked out well, but definitely would have been a lot easier with a car (we didn't rent one on Oahu). Anyways, the hike was only .75 mile each way, but was treacherous due to previous rainy weather, so the rocks were slippery and muddy. Mom survived with her walking stick and she kept a positive attitude the whole time! In the end, we both had some laughs and were happy we accomplished this wacky hike. We celebrated that night with a nice steakhouse dinner :)
Manoa Falls


We made it!

Hanuama Bay
Our final day we went on an adventure to Hanuama Bay to snorkel and lounge. It's known to be very pretty and have great and easy snorkeling, since the coral reef is so close to the shore. We had a wonderful morning here. We took the city bus, which was easy and convenient, and spent the first half of the day here. I snorkeled and saw lots of cool fish, especially some funky neon-colored guys. Just laying out, reading, and relaxing was also quite nice!  After we had had enough of the sun for the day, we headed back to Waikiki Beach and had a drink at the Mai Tai Bar, which was right on the beach, so we watched the passersby and all the action on the beach. There was also a Zumba-thon going on, which we may or may not have joined after our drink! :)

We had a casual dinner that night at Jimmy Buffett's, and then of course, where else did we go? Duke's to finish off our last night in Waikiki, Oahu.

What can I say? A few days of beach, lounging, restaurants, mai tais, with some hiking and dancing thrown in....a great start to an amazing trip!

Next, onto the Big Island!