Lili'uokalani gardens were designed to honor Hawaii's first Japanese immigrants. It's a 30 acre park filled with ponds, bridges and pagodas. It's a great place to stroll around. Some of trees were of massive proportions. Banyan drive has more than 50 huge trees that were planted 60 to 70 years ago by visiting celebrities. Each tree has been named after the person who planted it. Some familiar names are Amelia Earhart, King George V, Babe Ruth, Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Nixon. … [Read more...]
Whale Watching and Dolphins
We paid for a whale watching trip with Captain Dan McSweeny. They do whale watching tours from late December to March. The whales migrate to the warm waters of Hawaii in winter to mate and calve. This particular company offers an early morning and an afternoon excursion. We opted for the early morning trip since this tends to have the calmest waters. Jack can get quite sea sick so we wanted to avoid that as much as possible. He tried Bonanmine for the first time instead of Gravol or Dramamine. It worked really well and doesn't seem to make you as sleepy. The Sperm whale, False Killer … [Read more...]
Hawaiian Luau
Having never been to Hawaii before we decided we must experience a lu'au while we are here. We heard that the one at the Kona Village resort was one of the better ones. Unfortunately it has the most expensive price tag of the luau's, but none of them are cheap by any means. Overall we thought the food and entertainment were excellent. They have two different types of luau's to attend. One is an evening dedicated to just Hawaiian dancing and the one that we chose covers all the Polynesian types of dancing. They showed different examples from Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa and … [Read more...]
Helicopter Over the Volcano
The only way to see active lava at our time of travel was from the air. The flow that had been coming from the volcanic area and leading to the sea is no longer going in that direction. We booked an afternoon helicopter tour that left from Hilo. It makes for a long day driving about 41/2 to 5 hours return trip to Hilo, but it cuts the cost of the helicopter price. If you leave by helicopter from Kona to see the volcano it will cost $400 or more per person. We took off from Hilo airport and headed in the direction of the volcanic area. We flew over areas of macadamia and orchid farms. We … [Read more...]
Mauna Kea Summit
We booked a trip with Mauna Kea Summit Adventures. To get to Mauna Kea you have to travel on Saddle road. I believe there is only one rental car company on the entire island that will allow you to travel on this road with your vehicle. It can be quite dangerous to drive on if you are not used to it. The trip almost got cancelled for today. As of 11am this morning the summit road was closed to all traffic due to bad weather conditions. It reopened just in time to continue the tour as planned. We were picked up in the early afternoon from Kona and started our drive to the mountain. … [Read more...]
Hamakua Coast, Akaka Falls And Botanical Gardens
The area along the west side of the island is called the Hamakua coast. It is very lush and jungle like. Make sure to bring sure to bring mosquito repellent if you are going to be walking around anywhere like Akaka Falls, they attacked my legs while we were here. To get to the falls you walk along path through tropical surrounding and get to see a lot of interesting plants. Another small historic town called Honomu. It is on the way to Akaka Falls. A shop had some kind of crystal so large they cart it out front with a wheeled cart. Walking around the town was like stepping back … [Read more...]
Hapuna Beach and Puako Petroglyphs
Puako Petroglyphs The Puako petroglyphs are located about 45 minutes north of Kona. To get to them you take a walking trail through a forest of scary looking trees. They are gnarled and twisted in every direction. A fire must have gone through the area at some point and has left everything charred. The petroglyphs were fascinating to look at. Most of them were of human figures or animals. They are estimated to be about 600 years old. Hapuna Beach Next stop was Hapuna Beach. It's your typical tropical beach with long stretches of white sand and palm trees. A resort called the … [Read more...]
Pololu Valley and Waipi’o Valley Lookouts
On the way to the lookouts we stopped in a small town called Hawi. It's a quaint little place with old buildings full of shops and cafes. We also got photos of these strange trees that look like they have sausages hanging from them. From Polulu you drive on highway 250 to the town of Waimea. The highway goes up to an elevation over 3500 feet. It offers spectacular views. This area of the island is ranch and cowboy country. We passed by green meadows full of cattle, horses and sheep. On the way up north we got to see a view of Mauna Kea. As we were driving in between the two lookouts … [Read more...]
Markets, Restaurants and Shopping
Grocery Stores and Markets for Self Catering We picked up this huge piece of fresh tuna at one of the markets for $15! We would pay that much at home for two small tuna steaks. We seared it up on the BBQ with nothing but a little black pepper, it was delicious. We just loved trying all kinds of different fruits, some of them were very strange looking. Nothing cools you off better than a fruit smooth blended with ice! There are tons of places to buy groceries in Kona. KTA, Safeway and Costco just to name a few. In the same complex as Safeway there's a large health food store with an … [Read more...]
Stuff To See In and Around Kona
Temple Of King Kamehameha This Heiau is a replica of the original temple that stood in this area. It is located at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel near the pier. This is where King Kamehameha spent his final years from 1812 to 1819. It was a 4 acre homestead with several houses and religious sites. Downtown Kona The next set of pictures are of the main road going through Kona called Ali'i Drive. During the beginning of our stay there was a storm, as you can see the surf is washing right over the seawall downtown. The town is a nice area to hang out. You can go for a … [Read more...]
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