Big Island Adventures

When Patty and Hal got their mission call to serve in the Kona Hawaii temple, we knew that we needed to plan a visit to Hawaii. We were able to get some frequent flyer airfare and Hal had arranged with his upstairs neighbor that we could use his condo, so we were set. 

We arrived late on Saturday night, rented our car and drove up to Patty and Hal's condo in Holualoa south of Kona.

We woke up early on Sunday (jet lag) and went to Patty and Hal's ward in Kealakekua.

Patty fixed us a nice Sunday dinner after church and on Sunday afternoon,

we got in the car and drove to Hilo.

Patty and Hal had been asked to speak to a ward in Hilo on the blessings of the temple.

 

We got there about 30 minutes early so while Patty and Hal got set up,

Tom and I went on a walk and saw this beautiful banyan tree.

Patty and Hal both gave such wonderful talks.

After the fireside, we had dinner.

The members of the Hilo ward brought potluck dinner.

It was wonderful with so many new Japanese tastes.

On Monday, the temple is closed so Patty and Hal spent the day with us.

We went to Hapuna beach and swam and played in the waves.

It was a gorgeous Hawaiian day.

We spent a few hours at the beach and then got changed

and drove to

Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site which is where King Kamehameha's warriors built some temple mounds.

 

By then we were starving so we found a hamburger place for lunch in Kawaihae.

Patty, Hal and Tom all had hamburgers but I had fish tacoes

and they were yummy!

We treated ourselves to a Hawaiian shave ice afterwards.

Hal loves the Hamakua macadamia nut factory because they give unlimited free samples.

So we checked it out.

He was right, there were lots of free samples!

We went to dinner that night at a taco place we had eaten at 4 years ago with Devin and Sarah.

We shared a "grinder" plate and smoothie.

That night we drove to the Sheraton hotel where you can watch

the manta rays feed on plankton.

It was amazing.

These are the tour boats that bring people out to swim with the manta rays.

They shine their lights in the ocean and it attracts plankton which attract the manta rays.

When the tour boats left to pick up more customers,

the manta rays swam towards the light the Sheraton was shining into the ocean and came close to where we were watching.

It was hard to get a good picture but we tried.

It was amazing.

They are as big as cars.

It was such a fun day spent with Patty and Hal.

On Tuesday, Tom and I drove south to the Papakolea Green Sand beach.

It's hard to get to because the road is terrible.

You either have to pay someone $20 to shuttle you in and out or hike in.

We opted for the shuttle which was an adventure in and of itself,

but it was worth it.

Wow, who knew there was green sand?

Isn't it beautiful?!

Here we are in the back of the truck shuttle.

It was a wild ride.

Every time Tom tried to take a picture of the condition of the roads,

the truck would bounce, so he never could get a good picture.

A Hawaiian family runs the truck shuttle business

and our chauffeur was a 16 year old girl but she drove those roads like a boss.

Then we drove to the furthest point south in the United states

Then it was on to Punalu'u black sand beach.

Another gorgeous beach.

This one had lots of sea turtles.

Not my best selfie

On the opposite side of the beach is this beautiful lily pond.

It was the perfect setting for our picnic.

We had stopped at Punalu'u bakery for a piece of coconut cream pie.

Yum!

A panoramic shot of the cove

My great grandfather Isaac Fox, served his mission in the Sandwich Islands.

Patty has been trying to recreate from his journals all the places he visited on the big Island.

He worked in a sugar factory on the west side of the island.

We found this abandoned sugar mill in Pahala and wondered if it might be where Isaac worked.

Hawaiian hibiscus

Another picnic spot so Tom could finish his coconut cream pie.

We ate dinner that night with Patty and Hal at Keei in Holualoa 

 

 Tom had pork chops

 and I had Ono fish

 

Patty had these zucchini stuffed rolls.

Wednesday was a beach day.

Tom's favorite thing in life is finding semi secluded beaches. 

He's always on the hunt.

We went to Kekaha Kai Beach.

Gorgeous!

We had the perfect spot for our picnic and we gave it a 9.7~

We also explored Makalewana beach, Mahai'ula beach and Kua bay.

That night we had fish and chips for dinner.

Patty and Hal found a fabulous place with delicious fish and chips.

Keiko's Ono Fish and Chips.

Tom and I shared this plate.

Patty and Hal have to get up at 5 am every morning and be at the temple by

6:30 so they were ready to head home after dinner.

Tom and I dropped them off at the condo and drove to downtown Kona

where we walked around and shared another Hawaiian shave ice.

Thursday morning we headed to the temple to do some temple work.

It was so fun to be in the temple with Patty and Hal.

It was a small session and Hal officiated.

Afterwards we were able to do some family sealings.

It was wonderful.

It is a very small but sweet and beautiful temple.

Temple orchids

Tom and Hal went golfing at the Mauna Kea golf course when they got done with their temple service,

and Patty and I went to lunch at a Thai restaurant and then went sister shopping.

It was so fun!

The guys didn't get done golfing until around 7:30 pm so we decided to just eat dinner in the condo and Patty made a delicious Chef's salad for our dinner that night.

Friday was our snorkel day.

We drove to Kahalu'u and got there around 8 am hoping to beat the crowds

We saw so many fish and turtles.

The snorkeling was fabulous!

When the people started showing up,

we left and drove to Honaunau beach by the City of Refuge.

The snorkeling was fabulous there as well.

We ate our picnic lunch on the beach.

We checked out the City of Refuge while we were there.

Those yellow things are Tang fish eating on some coral.

We stopped at the painted church and took some pictures.

On our way back to Kona, we stopped at the Coffee Shack for a piece of the best macadamia nut pie on the island.

While we were there they were filming a movie so that was interesting to watch.

For dinner that night we went to Sun Dried Specialties.

We had eaten there 4 years ago with Devin and Sarah.

This terriyaki salmon with potato salad and rice 

was delicious!!!

Saturday morning we got up early and drove towards Hilo through Waimea.

We stopped at this Waipi'o Valley look out.

Wow, talk about beautiful!

The coastline is so beautiful with the black lava rocks and crashing surf.

A tsunami wiped out an elementary school here in 1946 killing 17 people.

This is a memorial to the victims.

We saw so many pretty water falls.

We made it to Hilo and had lunch at Ken's House of Pancakes

and explored the Japanese park

and wandered through the Hilo Farmer's Market

and checked out Rainbow falls.

4 years ago when we were there, this was just a trickle.

It was nice to see it in all it's glory.

Up on top!

Patty and Hal weren't hungry that night so Tom and I went to the Rebel Kitchen for dinner.

Tom had a barbecued pork sandwich and I had a Thai beef salad.

It was all delicious.

We visited with Patty and Hal after dinner and then got packed and cleaned up for our journey home on Sunday.

On our way to the airport, we stopped at Airport Beach.

We should have gone to church with these folks.

We got our car turned in and then found a spot to eat our picnic before we got on the plane and flew back home.

We had such a fun week in Hawaii with Patty and Hal and thankfully the volcano didn't even bother us.  There was always "vog" (fog mixed with volcanic gas) on the mountainside

around where Patty and Hal live, but it didn't bother us.

Thanks Patty and Hal for such a wonderful week.

We can't wait until we get to go back! 

Aloha Oe!