Hawaii, our first real day

Hawaii, finally getting around to blogging about it. I don't know why this was so hard, but it's taken me forever. And most of this will be boring to you, because you weren't there and can't really feel and smell the magic of Hawaii. I will make these posts mostly just photos, so hopefully you enjoy!

After traveling all day Thursday (and I mean all day, I was ready to drop by the time we landed in Maui, and we still had to endure a 2 hour layover before flying over to the big island) so our first real day was Friday. We spent a couple hours on the beach, but it was a little chilly and windy so we decided to go exploring. It turned out to be the best thing to do on a day like this, because it rained on and off all day long.

This is a temple that was built to fulfill a prophecy of unity between the Hawaiian islands. We weren't able to go up to it, because they experienced an earthquake in 2006 (I think) and it is now too unstable for visitors to climb on. Corey is displaying his chagrin at this fact.


King Kamehameha was the man that unified the islands, so he's all over the island. I had a warped desire to check out the depth of detail in this statue (ie, what's under the loincloth?)


Corey is fascinated by trees, and this was truly an amazing tree.

Pololu Lookout. This was a beautiful spot, but very treacherous to go see. I declined the hike down because it was raining, and the path was slick mud by that time. Too bad the pictures don't do this sight justice, it was incredible!

See what I mean about treacherous?

Another look

Corey loves big trees, but I love strange, exotic plants. I couldn't get over these trees with exposed roots (I'm assuming). They looked like they could just walk away at any moment.

Cool looking cemetery, did I mention the big island is covered in volcanic rock? That's what these headstones are all made of, and it was a striking sight.

Keokea park, just another good place to watch the ocean.

Keokea park

Hawaii, day 3

Day three, another busy day. We went out on a catamaran snorkel tour to the Captain Cook monument (the spot he was killed by islanders, I guess that merits a monument, don't you think?). Again, it was a cool, rainy day and we had the chance to back out of our reservations but opted to go for it. Best decision! The boat wasn't very crowded, no major sunburning, and great snorkeling. We booked this trip for during whale-watching season, so you get a few little tidbit pics that don't look like much unless you know what I was trying to get.

Here's the best tail picture I have of a whale we spotted on our little excursion.


Captain Cook monument, awesome snorkeling. We even saw an octopus, and watched it slither across the coral for some time.

On our way back, we saw some spinner dolphins, but didn't get much on film. I was one of the few up on the top deck and got an incredible show of a mama humpback with her calf about 20 yards away from our boat. One of our crew told me that is only her second time seeing a whale that close, and she's lived there for 3 years.

Pulling into the marina, again I was about the only one on top, and spotted a sea turtle.

These bushes lined the highway and just about everywhere else, and Corey just loved the vibrant colors. I don't know what they are called, but they're a much better sight than dirty snowbanks alongside our roads back home.

After docking and changing, we went shopping in Kona. Kona is the tourist spot, so parking is at a premium and walking all over town a must. After a couple hours of this, I was dying! I just needed somewhere to sit down, and was grateful just to find a public bathroom so I could sit! (pretty gross, but I'm pregnant so I can always use a bathroom)

Corey scoped out a little ice cream parlor, and I never turn down ice cream and a place to rest so I was pretty pleased. Please remember that I'd been swimming and boating, then walking around in the rain so this is a pretty rough picture :)

Our view while enjoying our little treat.

Posing with the marlin while loaded down with souvenirs.

On our way back, we stopped for some lighted pictures of the temple.

We got home around 8 and crashed!!! Too much fun for heavy-laden me.

Hawaii, day 2

Here's the first of our 'couple' photos we took... of ourselves. We started the day by going to the temple. A good thing, because I don't really see us making it down to Chicago once the baby comes... not for a long time.



Kona Temple



After we got out of the temple, Corey saw a message from my brother-in-law (he called me too, but I didn't have my phone with me). His grandfather, Rex, lives in Kona for 4 months each year, and was still there while we were on vacation. He is an avid fisherman (deep sea), and was willing to take us out fishing if we were interested. Cool!!! But a little weird, because I am not related, and only met him a couple times at family parties for my sister's family so it was a little awkward calling him. But we got over that. Everything in Hawaii is expensive, and fishing would've been way out of our price range, so we wouldn't have even concidered it. Rex then invited us to his condo to discuss plans (uh, yeah, I kind of remember saying 3 words to you about 7 years ago). Once we got there, they made us feel very much at home. We visited for awhile, then he invited us to lunch at the marina so we would know where to meet on Monday. We had a great time, and were really looking forward to going out with him. Rex said he fishes 3-4 days each week. And this is deep sea fishing, hardcore. Just the day before, he caught 2 sharks and a marlin (the man is well into his eighties!), and it can take hours to pull in a fish. Hee, hee, hee! We were excited! We left them after lunch, and went exploring some more.

Corey's so artistic with the camera.

And in front of the camera

Love these guys!

So strange, sandy beaches alongside lavarock fields.

Some other building built from volcanic rock (I can't really remember)

Corey really wanted to see the green sand beaches at the southern point of the island. I started reading about it in the guidebook, and put an end to that idea. "After a 14 mile 4wd ride, you will reach the overlook that doesn't do the site justice. This beach, however, is very treacherous. Please watch the beach for 10-15 minutes before proceeding to make sure the water isn't breaking over the entire beach as there are dangerous riptides and unexpected currents that must be avoided. If the beach looks safe, start your climb down. There is no path, just 3-4 foot drops from boulder to boulder. And remember, down is easier than up, so make sure you aren't getting yourself somewhere you can't handle. Plan on 2 1/2 -3 hours for this excursion." Corey's response to my reading this aloud was, "I didn't think it sounded that bad when I first read it." I think he really didn't get my physical limitations, not that I would have attempted anything like this even if I wasn't expecting. I did let him start us on the road to see if the lookout might be worth it, but after about 1/2 mile, even Corey knew it wouldn't be worth my discomfort at bumping all over the place.

This is the start of that road.

Hawaii, day 5

This was my day! Corey got up early and went golfing (1st time this trip), and I slept in and spent the morning by the pool. Corey got back around noon, and we went to the beach and snorkeled swam for a couple more hours. Corey was trying to collect a seashell for Addie while snorkeling, and a sea turtle swam right up in front of him... scared him to death! He was so excited, and I was jealous because you just don't get that kind of sighting very often. Later, we went walking, and just down the beach from our hotel is some kind of turtle beach where the turtles love to sun themselves. Common enough for this sign to be put up.

And, lo and behold, there he was! I got so close to him, but didn't want to startle him so we kept walking. Isn't he cool?!

Then, on our way back, he was still there and we spotted two more a little ways off. This was too cool, I just couldn't get over the fact that we were hanging out with sea turtles!

Hawaii, day 4

This was our boating/fishing day. It was beautiful, not too hot, but sunny and dry. We were a little concerned about the time, because Rex said he leaves at 8:00 and comes back in at 4:00. Long day to be spending with a near stranger, and I was worried about getting seasick but my doc said I was fine to take some Dramamine so that was fine. Corey said I may have to pull the pregnancy card, but I felt horrible about that.


Aren't I pretty, with my swollen face and wind torn hair?



Corey in the fishing chair, waiting for the big pull. That never came. Bummer, but we had a great time. The first time I looked at the clock, it was 1:00! We napped on the upper deck (can you tell I have no idea when it comes to boating terms), talked with the deckhand, visited with Rex, and just relaxed all day long! When it comes to vacations, Corey and I have very different ideas of what we should be doing. Corey wants to be going and seeing the whole time, and I want to relax and not worry about planning anything, so we have to compromise a lot. This day was the best of both our worlds! And it helped me to recoup from the previous days of go, go, go.



Rex and Phyllis Crosland with us in front of his boat (she doesn't ever go, has terrible seasickness). What wonderful people!

Appropriate name for an expensive boat in an expensive town (just down the dock from Rex's)

Hawaii, day 6

We were so sunburned!!! That day in the sun really did us in. I'm writing this on March 31st, and I'm just finishing with the peeling! We decided to check out some sights on the other side of the island, so we loaded up in the car again. One of the places we wanted to see was Waipio Valley (Valley of the Kings). Again, a pretty major 4wd only road to get down there, but the lookout was more promising than the green sands beach fiasco.

Just a taste of the island life, wouldn't it be strange to have a goat tied up at the front of your driveway?


Too bad for us, it looked beautiful down there but we didn't feel like dropping $100 to be driven down and back.



We're getting pretty good at the self taken pictures of ourselves.

Waipio Valley, so beautiful!

Another view, note the black sand beaches? Would've been cool to walk them, oh well.

We stopped at a botanical garden and there was a pretty waterfall we had to check out. Most of the following pictures are from this garden or the next. We found that the second garden was about 700 times better then the first one we stopped at, too bad we'd already spent the money for the first one. We'd have driven right past it had we known.

Animal, mineral, or vegetable? That's why I love exotic plants, they are so very foreign to what we are familiar with.

A tree with beautiful flowers growing out of it instead of branches, strange.

This reminded me of something you'd see on the ocean floor.

This tree had long needles about 6 feet up, then just stopped. I guess if it's lower trunk is defended, nothings getting up any further to harm it. Creepy.

Just trying for a little nibble...

Another tree with flowers growing out of it.

This trunk was about 8 feet long, and looked like a dragon, pretty cool we thought.

I planted hibiscus last fall, but somehow I doubt they'll look like this one.

Our first trip to Maui (4 years ago) taught us that this is a painted eucalyptus tree. Literally looks like someone painted random colors up and down the trunk.

I took this picture for Addie. If I lived in Hawaii, I'd paint my house purple too!

Beehive ginger plants. The little flowers growing out of them really look like bees coming in and out of the hive.

Chocolate Ginger plant, just a couple of the different ginger types we say.

Blue Hibiscus, isn't it beautiful?

More waterfalls

These flowers look like tiny flamingo heads

Scary guardian of the garden.

At the base of the garden, a beautiful place to watch the ocean.

Pretty rugged, waves crashing like crazy.

We wanted to see Hilo, the other major town on the island, so we pressed on. There are some hotels that were all the rage in the 30's, but now a bit rundown. But, their claim to fame is their banyan trees. There are all these trees that were planted or sponsored or something by a bunch of famous people, one of them Babe Ruth so Corey needed to see this. Walking through the park to get to Banyan Drive, as it was called, we saw this tree. I couldn't get all of the tree, and still keep Corey in focus, so you can imagine how immense this tree really is!

Here's Babe Ruth's tree.

I was pretty wiped out from all the driving and walking around without somehow to put my feet up, so I opted for not walking Banyan Drive with Corey. I waited at a park bench until I saw him swinging back around. I started walking to meet him, and glanced down at the name on this tree. I actually had to sing the Prophet song in my head to verify what I thought, because it was just so out of context for me! Pretty cool, huh?

Back at our hotel, realising that we didn't have any pictures of the grounds, or even a sunset, I got busy. We had 3 pools and 3 hot tubs to enjoy, and they were between the hotel and the beach, so we had plenty of water fun at our fingertips.

Finally, a Hawaiian sunset captured for us to enjoy on those cold winter nights when the sun sets at 3 in the afternoon, and we're too buried in our homes to even acknowledge it's passing.