We were having a leisurely morning after the long day yesterday which was interrupted by our host Karen bringing some fresh bananas from their farm!  They were pretty tasty just picked from the tree!  We also have had our 3rd pineapple courtesy of our hosts.  We’ve enjoyed it for dinner a couple of times and had it again for lunch today.  More coming for dinner tonight!

After breakfast we headed out for our first planned activity of the day–the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Gardens located just down the road from where we’re staying.  See www.htbg.com for some info.  We got there about 9 AM opening hour and stayed until 11:30.  Lots of tropical flowers and other plants to photograph.   Tried to find a geocache just outside the gardens on a public path down to the ocean without success. However, our 1st cache of three for the day was on a bridge on the Old Mamalahoa Highway which is now a scenic byway.  Reminded us of the Road to Hana with all it’s one lane bridges.

On our list was to get a smoothie at the local “best” place on Hawaii…. What’s Shakin’!   Well, Joyce had packed our lunch and the smoothie spot was just a little ways up from the gardens.  We stopped in and ordered a Bananarama (Joyce) and a Paradise Passion (Gary).  They were really flavorful with lots of island fruits.  Ate our bread, cheese and salami, fresh pineapple (see above) and ended with Nutter Butters for dessert.

Then it was on to the famous and largest waterfalls in Hawaii–the Aka’ka waterfalls.  This was in a state park that costs $5 to park.  The walk was about 0.5 mile on a sidewalk trail.  It had a lot of ups (stairs) and downs that contributed to the 34 stairs on Gary’s fitbit and 35 on Joyce’s.  There was another waterfall in the park, but it was not very photogenic because of all the overgrowth that covered it up from the viewing points.  We moved on to the Aka’ka where good photography was possible.  Gary set up his tripod in the best spot and got out the neutral density filter so he could use a slow shutter speed to make the water flow silky smooth.  Look fine on the camera’s small screen, but will have to see it on the computer to know if the photos were successful.  (That’s a project for back in Wilmington). We were successful in finding our second cache in a guardrail just outside the state park and an uphill walk to get it.  Of course, it was downhill to the car.  Half of what Gary prefers….downhill both ways!

When we finished at the waterfalls it was only 3:30 and we weren’t hungry and decided to go to the Japanese Gardens in Hilo on Banyan Street.  We’d been by it a couple of days ago and thought it looked interesting.  Besides, there were two caches there.  We only found one, out 3rd for the day, because the other had gone missing and been temporarily archived.  The gardens were very different than most other Japanese gardens we’ve visited.  Lots of bridges, pools and lanterns.  No Zen garden!  An imposing black cloud suggested that maybe we should conclude our visit and head home.  It was about 5:30 and seemed like a good time to rest up from the day’s activities on the lanai.

Home about 5:45 and Joyce assembled the dinner while Gary poured the cold white wine to enjoy on the lanai.

Another nice day in Hawaii!

Well, our drive today started from our guest house Flower Hill near the town of Pepe’ekeo about 12 miles north of Hilo.  It is a small ranch (farmette) off the beaten path (good roads)! We took Highway 19 North through the following towns/villages:

Honomu
Hakalau
Papa aloa
Laupahoehoe
Honoka’a
Waimea

In Waimea we took Highway 190 ,  We stopped hoping to get a geocache at the Parker Ranch Marine memorial, but were unsuccessful.  Then we continued on 190 to a “Y” in the road and took the left fork.  It was Saddle Road, no number!  It did connect up with Highway 200 near the military reservation Pahakaloa where the army conducts tank training.  Highway 200 is named the Daniel K. Inouye after Hawaii’s famous senator.  We turned left and continued looking for caches along the way.  There was one at a state park about 5 miles down the road.  It was a very nice state park with restrooms, picnic tables, playground equipment and cabins that could be rented.  We found the cache!  #2 for the day!

We made our way to Hilo and the Safeway to fill up the rental car before exchanging it for another at the Avis facility at the airport.  The Ford Focus had some kind of mechanical problem that caused it to shudder when starting from a dead stop.  Could be transmission or tranxaxle, but we didn’t feel comfortable keeping it for the week we were on the Big Island since we planned to travel to some lesser traveled places looking for geocaches, waterfalls and volcanos!

On the way from Hilo to the guest house, we decided to check out the webcam cache that was at the tsunami museum and included the lighthouse on Hilo Bay in the picture.  Our daughter Jolene was the first to respond (she was awake at 10 pm (4 PM HST) and had her phone handy) to access the museum’s web site and find us in the picture and make a copy to email us so we can claim the cache!  #3 for the day!

We completed our 100 mile trip around Mauna Kea volcano without ever actually seeing it.  In and out of clouds and rain most of the trip.  Had a little sunshine and a few glimpses of blue sky along the way.  Drove through ranch country.

After returning we collected the white pineapple our hosts offered and began the process of cutting it according to Aunt Janet’s instruction to go with our dinner. I think we’ll stay in again this evening.  At 6:30 PM HST it is raining again…..

It’s 11 AM and we’vejust finished our Malasada (Portuguese donuts) at the “world faamous” Tex Drive In (Honokaa, Hawaii) about 40 miles from where we’re staying.  Joyce had a guava filled one aand Gary had Bavarian creme.  Tasty!

This was a stop recommended by Toni and Greg we met in Kihei.  Greg is of Portuguese heritage.

We found one virtual cache on the way.  It was still misting occasionally, but there are hints of blue sky and once in a whike the sun peeks out.  We made a good choice for our drive this morning.

Up early this morning–5:45-ish! Very heavy rain in the Hilo area and south coast this morning.  Thanks, Hilda!  Tomorrow and the weekend looks better.

Since it looks like less rain to the north of the island, we think we’ll take a drive up that way and find a geocache or two.  Maybe look for some Portuguese donuts that were recommended by our condo neighbor in Kihei, Maui.

The Volcano National Park looks to be rainy today, too.  May take a drive there if the weather looks better this afternoon.  Else, another day!

We left Kahului airport on time at 3:25 PM this afternoon.  Arrived a little after 4 PM at Hilo airport. After picking up the Avis rental car–finally a Ford Focus as expected–we found the Safeway near the airport and did our grocery shopping.  Then started our 15 mile drive up Highway 19 to our vacation rental.  Flower Hill.  It’s a guest quarters just off the main house of the owner’s house.

We are in the middle of no where!   There’s a stream we can see and hear from our lanai and lush green rain forest vegetation.  We have wifi for Internet access,  but is isn’t a very fas connection.

We’re enjoying our first glass of wine as we watch and listen to heavy rain and the local frogs.  Courtesy of TS Hilda! We expect rain for a couple of days and then maybe some partly sunny days to finish our week here on the Big Island.

We had our last breakfast on Maui on the lanai of our condo.  Then while packing up and putting the condo in order we watched the Today Show.  Mostly we’re interested in the weather reports for the Big Island and the effects of TS Hilda.

Soon we’ll check out and begin our drive to the Kahului airport for our flight this afternoon to Hilo.  Of course, there are still a few caches on Maui to find today!

On the way from Lahaina to Kihei after lunch we stopped for another cache at an old historical site (Hekili Point) where the sugar industry began on Maui.  The cache was called Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch.  It was a virtual so we had to find information and email it to the cache owner.  It was interesting especially since there was a walkway or levee that went out from the land and put us closer to the waves!

Joyce discovered that her ancient Tevas were disintegrating while doing this cache.  We decided to return to the Birkenstock store in Kihei to get some replacements since the sales person was so helpful getting Gary fitted with new Tevas.

But on the way, we hoped that we would be able to get some hui hui chicken from the roadside vendor that we’d seen on the way to Lahaina this morning.  Yes indeed, they were still selling chicken at 3 PM.  We got some for dinner later tonight.  Then off to the Safeway to get one last bottle of wine to go with dinner and also found another local beer to try.

While enjoying the beer on the lanai, our next door neighbor (Toni)stopped by to chat and gave use some Hawaiian history.j  One thing led to another and we discovered that her husband Greg was a wealth of information on the Big Island. We got out a map and they gave us some really great suggestions for our stay on Hawaii.

As we were preparing dinner, Toni offered us some of the Portuguese soup she had prepared and some guava bread to go with it.  That and the hui hui chicken and the small pizza we had left over made a great “mixed plate” for dinner!

What a great evening!

We’re trying manage our food supplies so that we don’t have anything left over when we leave.  We have a small pizza and a few things to consume for dinner.  This was an opportunity to sample a local establishment’s cuisine.

We shared the Aloha Mixed Plate  which had chicken, beef and fish. It came with 2 scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. Also a coconut shrimp pupu.  Had a couple of beers and Joyce had a couple glasses of pinot grigio.

This after we found 2 caches near Kapalua Beach on the Coastal Trail.

One was called Lava Point and was out through an area where nesting sea birds were protected.  Hot some nice photos there, too!

It was hot today!