Our Trip to the Big Island of Hawaii

(Kona and Hilo)

September 14-27, 2011

This is the condo complex that we like to stay at in Kona, the Hale Kona Kai
It is located at the south end of downtown Kona.
Previously we had stayed in the corner unit on the second floor on the far left side.
This time we stayed in the corner unit of the third floor on the far right side.
The entire complex borders on tidepools with stunning marine life.

Remember Max from our past couple of trips?

A store in downtown Kona.

A school of dolphins swimming in the harbor about 10 feet in front of the dock!

And on the other side of the dock is Max!

And no trip would be complete without an ATV ride!  This time we went on a 22 mile,
3 hour tour in Kohala on the northern tip of the island that ran from the coastline,
through macadamia nut fields, to a waterfall in the rain forest at 2,500 feet.

The last time we were here, Kathleen wanted to go snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay,
near the Captain Cook Monument.  Since she wanted to go out in the morning,
and there were no boat tours available, we decided to rent a power boat in
Kona and go out by ourselves.  The trip turned out to be a complete disaster...
but I digress. 
We decided this time to book a trip on the Fairwind
that departs from Keauhou Bay, about one hour away from Kealakekua Bay.

This is the lighthouse we were looking for during our previous excursion. 
It was supposed to be visible about an hour out of Kona.  We missed it
completely, and ended up in front of the lava flows near the south tip of the island
before we realized we had gone too far. In addition, our GPS device worked as
well as Captain Jack Sparrow's compass.  It was still telling us that we were
approaching the bay!

The Captain Cook Monument.

Ahoy there!

We also decided to take a ride in the submarine Atlantis.
A boat takes you out to the submarine, and then the
submarine take you a a depth of 100 feet to view the
marine life in the coral reef.  The pictures below
are not that clear since you are under water and cannot
use a flash, but you get the idea.

Leaving the submarine and heading back to shore.  In the background is one of
four cruise ships that came into port during our stay in Kona.

Now which one do I really want?

An early evening rainbow as seen from our lanai.

An eel in the tidepools below our lanai.

Slithering across the rocks to get back into the ocean.

Sunset view from our lanai.  Still looking for the Green Flash!

We then went to the Hilo side of the island for five nights.  This is the house
we stayed in located on the Kapoho tidepools in Lower Puna (29 miles south of Hilo). 
We have the ocean as our pool!

View from the downstairs bar area.

Sunrise from our lanai.

Cement piers are all that remains of a house a couple hundred feet
south of us that was destroyed by lava flows

Historic downtown Hilo.  The buildings here were built in the late 1800s, early 1900s.

View of downtown Hilo from Coconut Island

Visit to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Farm

Looks like a scene from "I Love Lucy"

Wave hitting the cliff at MacKenzie Park

The Ahalanui Hot Pool.

Originally a cold salt water pool, eruptions in 1955 and 1960 resulted in the
water now being volcanically heated  to 91 degrees.

Kathleen enjoying the warm water.

An uninvited house guest!

Lava Tree Park.
The lava tree mold shown above occured when a lava flows
around the 'ohi'a tree in the 18th century.  The park has
approximately 80 of these tree molds.

The new Kaimu black sand beach.  The old black sand beach was covered by
50 - 75 feet of lava in 1990.  The 1990 eruption destroyed the towns of Kalapana,
Kaimu and the Royal Gardens subdivision. 

 Interesting lava formations on the cliff above the new black sands beach.

Some of the fishes that were swimming in our back yard.
These pictures were taken from above the water!

And of course, no trip is complete without some disaster.  See the rock sitting on the cliff
in the picture below?  It was tossed up there by a giant wave some time ago.  So we just had to get
a picture of it.  What we did not realize is that we had arrived during a lull in wave activity.

This shot is the final picture we both got on our trip.  The
splotches on the photo are just the beginning of the wave
that crashed down on both of us, drenching us and our
cameras!  And Kathleen doesn't know yet what is about to hit her!
Oh well, it was time to get new cameras anyway. 
Lucky this happened on the day before we were returning to the mainland.

Aloha!