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!\u00a0 They were pretty tasty just picked from the tree!\u00a0 We also have had our 3rd pineapple courtesy of our hosts.\u00a0 We’ve enjoyed it for dinner a couple of times and had it again for lunch today.\u00a0 More coming for dinner tonight!<\/p>\n
After breakfast we headed out for our first planned activity of the day–the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical\u00a0Gardens located just down the road from where we’re staying.\u00a0 See www.htbg.com for some info.\u00a0 We got there about 9 AM opening hour and stayed until 11:30.\u00a0 Lots of tropical flowers and other plants to photograph.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Reminded us of the Road to Hana with all it’s one lane bridges.<\/p>\n
On our list was to get a smoothie at the local “best” place on Hawaii….\u00a0What’s Shakin’!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Well, Joyce had packed our lunch and the smoothie spot was just a little ways up from the gardens.\u00a0 We stopped in and ordered a Bananarama (Joyce) and a Paradise Passion (Gary).\u00a0 They were really flavorful with lots of island fruits.\u00a0 Ate our bread, cheese and salami, fresh pineapple (see above) and ended with Nutter Butters for dessert.<\/p>\n
Then it was on to the famous and largest waterfalls in Hawaii–the Aka’ka waterfalls.\u00a0 This was in a state park that costs $5 to park.\u00a0 The walk was about 0.5 mile on a sidewalk trail.\u00a0 It had a lot of ups (stairs) and downs that contributed to the 34 stairs on Gary’s fitbit and 35 on Joyce’s.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We moved on to the Aka’ka where good photography was possible.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Look fine on the camera’s small screen, but will have to see it on the computer to know if the photos were successful.\u00a0 (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.\u00a0 Of course, it was downhill to the car.\u00a0 Half of what Gary prefers….downhill both ways!<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 We’d been by it a couple of days ago and thought it looked interesting.\u00a0 Besides, there were two caches there.\u00a0 We only found one, out 3rd for the day,\u00a0because the other had gone missing and been temporarily archived.\u00a0 The gardens were very different than most other Japanese gardens we’ve visited.\u00a0 Lots of bridges, pools and lanterns.\u00a0 No Zen garden!\u00a0 An imposing black cloud suggested that maybe we should conclude our visit and head home.\u00a0 It was about 5:30 and seemed like a good time to rest up from the day’s activities on the lanai.<\/p>\n
Home about 5:45 and Joyce assembled the dinner while Gary poured the cold white wine to enjoy on the lanai.<\/p>\n
Another nice day in Hawaii!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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!\u00a0 They were pretty tasty just picked from the tree!\u00a0 We also have had our 3rd pineapple courtesy of our hosts.\u00a0 We’ve enjoyed it for dinner a couple of times and … Continue reading Sunday (Aug 16) Garden and Falls Day<\/span>