Big Island Vacation

The start of my vacation was truly an interesting experience. We originally planned on going to the Big Island on the 13th, the day that my sister and brother-in-law arrived to Honolulu. However, Hurricane Flossie (a category 4 hurricane) was expected to hit the southern portion of Big Island on the 14th. It was pretty exciting yet worrisome to see that Flossie was all over the news with updates every minute. Not knowing what to do, HappyObilvion and I called my friend who called his friend on the Big Island to ask about the situation. His friend said Walmart and Costco were ransacked. She couldn't even get gas because the line was a mile long. I also called my friend who has lived in Hawaii for a long time. She suggested to stay in Oahu because of the unpredictable nature of the hurricane which may wipe out the entire island. Plus, we wouldn't be able to go anywhere with the heavy rain anyway. So, we decided to stay. With only a couple hours of time, we had to make important decisions and reschedule everything. First, we decided to go to the Big Island after the storm, which was the 15th. I called the vacation home owner and requested a refund for two days of rent. Then I arranged with the airline company to change the flight. HappyOblivion was busy getting a rental car for Oahu and the Big Island. After dinner, I called many hotels and finally reserved a room for my sister and brother-in-law. Even though it was a crazy night, I am glad I took control of the situation because I learned so much! My friends (Sue and Dale) were a great help! Mahalo!

We arrived Big Island on the night of the 15th. It was so dark it took us a long time to find the vacation home. The home was very nice even though the pool was a bit dinky. The floor of the shower in the master bedroom was made of rocks, supposedly used for foot massage. It was painful for me!

The next day, our first stop was Mauna Kea. I have been to the Big Island twice and still have not made it up to Mauna Kea (Grrr! That drives me crazy). We took a 4-wheel drive up there because the roads were not paved for the most part. It was a very bumpy and scary ride. We were above the clouds during the ride and we could see a fluffy sheet of cotton balls below as. If they were pink like cotton candy, I would eat them. Near the top, the heavy fog and clouds limited our view to only a hundred feet in front of us. I thought we would drive off the cliff! Finally, we arrived at the Keck Observatory, the largest telecope in the world! I don't know much of telecopes and planets, but these cute domes were neatly situated on the mountain like snow cones. One was very shiny too. On our way back home, we visited Manua Loa Macadema Nut Factory (my dad's favorite) and Akaka Falls which was pretty nice considering the amount the rain the hurricane brought.

On the second day, we started off with Punaluu Bakeshop. Everyone loved the bakeshop because of the soft yummy bread. My sister bought 6 loaves home and I bought two. I can still smell the wonderful freshly baked bread :) The next stop was Punaluu Black Sand Beach Park. Luckily, we saw at least 5 sea turtles swimming and basking in the sun! Then we drove for another 2 hours or so to get to Volcano National Park. We saw the usual stuff - lava rocks, steam vents, caldera. There was no active lava flow because of the recent movements that shifted the lava to flow east instead of into the ocean. Oh, I forgot how much I loved the brownie looking lava rocks!

On the last day, we decided to tour the resort area and do a self-guided tour of the coffee farms in Kailua-Kona. I woke up early so I went for a half-hour run around the resort. When I came back, HappyOblivion wanted me to run with him because he felt bloated from all the eating and sleeping :D I took him to the Mauna Lani Hotel to run along the beach. Then he decided to keep on going to who knows where! I followed him until he stopped and asked, "Where the heck are we?" I looked at him and said, "WHAT!!!!!!" I was so scared because I have no sense of direction and I always rely on him to get me home. If he has no idea where we were, then we were LOST! All around us were lava rocks. I was so scared and on the verge of crying. After half an hour, we finally found our way back to the vacation home. In the end, we took a one hour run and I was exhausted because I ran half an hour before that. We quikly took a shower and packed our stuff. Our first stop (which was 11AM already) was Mauna Lani Hotel. We went to see the baby sea turtles and the juvenile ones that will be release into the ocean on next independence day. Then we went to Ueshima Coffee Company and Kona Coffee Joe to do a self-guided tour. I have never seen a coffee tree in my life, not even a picture of one! How rediculous is that! Our last stop was the Mountain Thunder Coffee Farm which I learned has a pet feral pig. Yup, we drove almost 20 minutes just to satisfy my desire to see a feral pig :D It was worth the drive because we saw geese too!

I had a great time on the Big Island especially with my family. Too bad Frankie, Paul, Ellyse and Elliot were not able to join us. We missed you guys everyday! I want to thank you Vincent and HappyOblivion for driving us around the BIG FAT FAT FAT island. I know it was hard work and drained most of your energy. Mahalo!