Bottleheads is a wine tasting venue with small plates available. They graciously hosted a huge crowd of us from KOSC. We sampled five wines including the first “palate cleanser”. It pretty much affirmed my already known taste which is I prefer really sweet wines. I really can’t remember the wine that I loved… will have to come back and edit once I know. But anyway, it was a fun night out with the crew!
Wednesday we made our way from the volcano side of Big Island over to the Fairmont Orchid in Puako. I hadn’t seen this part of Big Island yet, so I was particularly interested. We stopped at a Hawaiian historical site called Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park and a popular coffee farm along the way to break up the drive. Meanwhile, the Colorado Avalanche were playing in the finals and we were just able to stream the games.
We had a guide talk to us about the significance of this site. If a Hawaiian got in trouble, it could some times lead to punishment by death. If that Hawaiian escaped to this site (they’d have to swim around the coast and run all the way to the coast from wherever they were), there were able to enter into a “re-entry” facility where they studied and re-learned how to live morally within the Hawaiian rules. Often times they ended up dead before they made it.
There is a story behind this big rock- there is a cubby behind and below it which is an opening where a queen supposedly hid from the king because they were in an argument. The hole barely fits a child… so it’s unclear how factual this is.
We eventually landed at the Fairmont and enjoyed sunset at their outdoor restaurant.
On Tuesday we biked what was called the old red road. From Wikipedia: “Locally it is known as the Red Road, due to its long having been paved with Hawaiian volcanic red cinder”. There were some beautiful ocean lookouts along the way.
And the jungly sections were great.
We biked along the coast for about 5.5 miles.
Our first destination was Isaac Hale Beach park with a huge black sand beach. The waves were crazy here, so it’s not great for swimming.
And there were hot springs as well.
Then we went back through. We also road through lava fields.
We ended up back at this local ice cream place that probably has the best mango ice cream I’ve ever had in my entire life.
We also managed to get to see the lava again that night. Such a delight! And the moon was huge.
This wraps up Tuesday!
This happened a while ago but it felt overwhelming to blog about everything since the trip was a week long so here I am catching up. Brian’s parents were supposed to come out for a weekend in Oahu then take his sister and I to big island for a bike trip with Backroads. They ended up getting COVID two days before they were set to leave… so Brian’s sister came out and we went on the trip together.
Night one we stayed at the King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. When we arrived on Big island, there was some festival going on and we walked a street market. We left early the next morning to head to Volcanoes national park. We started our day hiking the Kilauea Iki Trail, you can see more pictures from my first go around on this trail from this post. The Ohia Lehua’s were in bloom this time and made a fun pop of color against the dark gray lava.
We got to hear more about the lava with a volunteer tour guide.
And can’t miss the lava tube!
We stayed at the quaint Kilauea Lodge. It has only like ten or twelve rooms and is a ten minute car ride from the park. I thought I had more pictures but I don’t.
I am approximately a month behind in blogging… I’ve been in a funk but I think I am on the other side!
Brian, Jess, Raquel, and I took an adventure to Kualoa beach park to paddle to this tiny island called Mokoil’i! To tourists it’s more commonly known as Chinaman’s hat. It’s sits about a 15 min paddle board ride away from the shore. That’s Brian in this pic! Believe it or not I was on my paddle board cautiously with my phone out.
The views of Oahu from the island are simply stunning. This is only my phone camera because I didn’t want to risk it… I think I could bring it out in a waterproof bag though.
We started hiking up it and essentially got to this cliff face. I was too uncomfortable but the others carried on without me.
I sat on a little ledge. They made it to the top and got stunning 360 views… oh well. Brian said there was one stretch that pushed his comfort zone so… I am glad I stopped but it’s always a slight disappointment.
I really wanted a pic with two rando palm trees that successfully planted themselves on the island!
Originally, we were all going to paddle or kayak out there. I had heard that you should go during low tide… but I didn’t put much thought into why and I think it’s because most people try to walk the reef out (bad bad!!). It turns out it is actually not the best because it’s too low for something like a kayak. So Jess and Raquel swam out. Anyway, by the time we came back in it was deep enough to try the kayak out. Jess bought it and hadn’t used it yet! So we went for a quick test run beyond that barrier there.
It was a cool adventure- I’m not sure I’d do it again, but maybe! I am disappointed I didn’t get up to the top. 🙁
I want to start off by saying normally I’m scrambling to blog on Sundays but I am super proud of myself for blogging on Saturday!
This bay probably looks familiar, it’s Haunama Bay (The one Erin and I snorkeled a while back). There’s actually a hike that goes up and around the rim of it and down toward the right of this picture. It’s unlisted on the AllTrails app, which I find very curious, but most of it is technically on an access road that’s supposed to be off limits. We encountered a lot of other people enjoying the route and no one there to stop us so… on we went! In the next picture, you can see us walking on the access road and behind us is a great view of Koko crater and the neighborhood of Hawaii Kai. I will tell you we vastly underestimated this hike, this was the first of two steep ascents. Luckily it was cooler and we had some wind, but I did have to stop for more reasons than to take a picture or three.
Eventually we reached the “top”. You could keep going, but I think it ends up going to an out and back point, and we didn’t have a lot of time so we turned back to do a loop. Well, the next thing we know we’re walking down this near vertical pitch. Thankfully the rock was dry and super grippy aside from some loose gravel here and there. My knees were definitely feeling it by the time we finished descending! (this is looking back up from whence we came).
Then you walk along the coast and get to the right side of Haunama bay (looking outward)
What goes down must come up…It isn’t a very long time before you find yourself ascending another practically vertical pitch to get back up to the high ridge again. Here’s a girl descending what we just finished ascending. That brown patch is where we came from and where I took that above picture.
This was a sleeper hike… meaning I way underestimated the intensity. It ended up being 3.75 miles and 900ft elevation total! Idk what I was thinking, my friend sent me her route and stats and I must’ve glossed over them… I think because I thought we were just doing the rim and the loop was on the same elevation, but definitely not the case!
We did see a couple whale spouts while standing out there! I think if I did it again I’d take binoculars and dinner and sit and enjoy for a bit.
I told Brian he might need to find someone else to go with to do this hike, that’s how much I disliked it. But, I can be convinced of a lot… so who knows.
This is a really great shot of Koko Head. You can see a brown path going to the top… those are the Koko head stairs. I’m really nervous to do them because they are intense and really, really hot. My friend said that she’d go with me and we could take our time and just go as far as I’m comfortable. I will definitely try it sometime.
Hawaii views are just incredible.
I have a lot to say about this trip. My friend Jess coordinated it among a few of her girlfriends, I recommended the company. It’s Dolphin Excursions based out of Waianae. It’s an hour ride out there, so my friend Caitlyn, Brian and I carpooled out there. It was a happy circumstance Brian was home for this!
So it doesn’t take long at all before we see a whale… and it’s a beautiful coastline to see (of course).
We start by seeing a couple of adults, and we see AN ADULT BREACH. It was the coolest thing (next to lava) I’ve experienced. Man, getting all that body out of the water that high? Just incredible. Mind you, the boat is rocking, and we’re moving, and we’re a bit away… so no pictures of that. But I do get a couple humps and tail flips.
But, it’s still really hard to get these things in focus… I’m moving in the boat, the whale is moving, it’s really bright so it’s hard to see… you can see where I’m going with this (excuses for blurry pics).
Next thing we get to see is a mom and baby… and the baby breaches! Not only does the baby breach, it breaches at least 4 times!!
Now, if you have ever tried capturing a whale breaching, you’ll know that A: You have NO IDEA where they’re going to breach B: You have no idea WHEN they are going to breach and C: You yourself are not stable. I cannot tell you how unbelievably hard this is for photography.
I took a lot of pictures and all of them are blurry. Disappointed in myself is an understatement. I knew I wasn’t nailing them… and so I kept trying and trying. Usually, I try to balance taking pictures and enjoying whatever activity I’m doing. Well, I definitely did not this time. It was all about the pictures…
I wish I had spent more time embracing the moment, especially after realizing just how hard it was. I guess I was kinda thinking we’d have one more good viewing opportunity, but we didn’t…
I would love love love to go again. I also got some camera setting tips from a facebook group I’m apart of (faster shutter speed… I already had it really high, but these guys go unbelievably fast)
I’m kicking myself for not getting a “perfect” picture… I’m kicking myself for not enjoying my time fully… it was an amazing experience, but I wish I handled it differently.
Fun facts: the baby’s dorsal fin is white, and they gain 1lb every 15mins.
Regardless, we had a great day out on the water. We did see a set of spinner dolphins, but obviously less of a highlight.
I really, really really want to go again. Who’s coming with me??
Backstory- Jess and I have been picking up trash on Lanikai about once a week. One week we encountered a family there who started a conversation with us and has a whole sifter to use to sift out microplastics, so we bonded over the beach cleanup. Anyway, turns out they have a sailboat and have offered to take us out on it. (Also turns out, Pat is a retired firefighter).
The mokes have been sitting there tempting me every morning… so many people will kayak or stand up paddle board out there, but it’s a little far beyond my risk tolerance. Let me tell you… the sailboat method was the best.
The day we went there was little to no wind, and it was the most leisurely, relaxing sail I’ve ever had. It was beautiful to see Lanikai from the ocean, and we were sailing next to turtles. I didn’t know what to expect, so these are only phone photos (I didn’t risk my big camera). I actually wasn’t even sure I was going to go, because I was nervous about the whole thing, but I took a risk and Pat was really kind and assuring.
The waves actually come in around both sides of the island to crash together in front of a beach. It looks a little daunting, but the boat was so stable and we did fine. We did spend a good 5 minutes watching all the kayaking tourists tip over, and I definitively decided I will not take a kayak out there.
Then we hiked around the back side and got to what is called the queens bath. It’s about 6ft deep. We jumped in! And just beyond is a smaller pool. You have to be careful where you put your hands, there are a lot of sea urchins in all the crevices!
Apparently the thing to do is relax and watch the waves break, sometimes they’ll break over the queens bath wall.
We didn’t spend too long here, but we could’ve. We made our way back through the washing machine waves (which ended up pouring down on us because they crashed!)
Jess attempted to learn some of the sailing things but I had no interest so I just sat along for the ride. This couple is very nice. He worked in LA as a firefighter and they are renting a small place out here and property managing for a house right on the beach. It’s great when great people meet great people! Afterward we hung at the beach with more of their friends, who turned out to be Air Force. They really want a tour of a sub… so in turn we get a tour of their… plane? Ha. But they fly the really huge ones. So that’s cool! Brian had to work all day. It seems par for the course… I wish I could go more into details but I can’t. Maybe one day.
Back in 1980 something this guy from California decided to buy a bunch of land. He then thought it was too pretty to keep to himself so he turned it into a public garden. If only everyone was that benevolent! It was a short 1.4 mile loop, but after the fast paced day we had yesterday we took our time meandering.
There is a legend about how the two rocks got there… it was said a tribe was being attacked, so a couple sacrificed themselves to protect the village. The next day these two rocks appeared outside the bay and the boats wrecked on them.
I gauged four hours for this but it took maybe two… so we made an impromptu decision to drive up to Waipio Valley lookout (an hour and 15 minute drive)
We did get to “see” a whale (see that tiny white splash? ha.)
Finally we headed to the airport! We got there early enough to hop on an earlier flight back to Honolulu, which we were all very thankful for. We ended up home almost two hours earlier than planned. I was very thankful for the low key last day… my lungs were sore from the day before. Surprisingly, Monday, they had recouped a great deal and I was very impressed/happy with my recovery!
Captured a couple great shots from the air, too. Hello Diamondhead and Waikiki!
Our AirBnB reminded me of my Aunt Linda’s cabin except Hawaii style… perfect place to call home base.
Kaumana caves were recommended to Jess by a friend. We worked our way back up to Hilo and to the caves in the morning.
I was wondering what would be so special compared to Thurston Lava Tube, but it turns out it was soooo cool! There were two caves, one left and one right. That hole looks small, I might’ve had to duck to get through but it was such a long cave that it’s a lot bigger than it looks.
The inside had fascinating geological features… really smooth rock from water flow and really uneven loose rock from lava flow. Eventually the cave opens up from the top and it’s so pretty! Those things hanging down are roots.
It opened up again a little further down, and we chose to exit that way back through the park above the cave so we didn’t have to climb over loose rock again. The trail was not cleared… but having pants made it relatively easy to get back.
Next stop, rainbow falls! There is sometimes a rainbow due to the mist, but we didn’t see on that day. It’s pretty much viewable from the parking lot so thankfully not a lot of walking.
