Today we were going to take it a little easier – not! We headed to one of our favorite spots on Hawaii, Kekaha Kei Beach. Unfortunately, it has been discovered by the world. When we explored it years ago, we had the place to ourselves. This year we and about a hundred of our closest friends (or lots of strangers) had it to ourselves. Oh well, it is still wild and beautiful. After a quick hike to the beach through a very cool primeval woods,

we walked down to “The Queen’s Bath” – a lava tube in the woods that opens to the surface and winds back underground about a hundred feet.

Tom climbed down into it and waded through the numbingly cold water to explore.

I, on the other hand, did not. I climbed about half way down until I hit the water and decided – Not Happening!!! So I stayed above and took pictures.

Next we hiked farther down the beach to the Bali House. It is an awesome house built by the guy who use to do the TV ads for Paul Mitchell hair care products.  He had the house built first in Bali because labor was cheaper. Once it was complete, he had it disassembled and brought here to be reassembled. However, the humidity is much lower here and the wood planks shrank. It cost him more to take care of the problems than it would have to build it here in the first place.

Non-the-less, it is

an unbelievably amazing house.

Moving right along we continued our hike down the beach – just a note: hiking on the beach in soft sand is like hiking through glue – exhausting! Be that as it may, we trudged on to Turtle Island – a favorite sunning place for sea turtles. On the way we came across a King Fisher  taking in the scenery – very cool! It’s hard to tell, but he is about twice the size of a large sea gull.

 

We made it to Turtle Island and  swam across to check it out. Sure enough, there they were snoozing in the sun. We remained the requisite 20 feet away, but still managed to get a good shot

.

After a brisk swim in the bay, it was time to head back. It was a long hike back, but we had Mai Tais waiting at the house which encouraged us on.

Mai Tias and a beautiful sunset – another perfect end to another great day.

Today Tom and I decided that we were up to a rather aggressive hike in an area known as Pu’u Wa’awa’a, or known by the locals as the Jello Mold. Anyway, the trail wanders through a ranch

(note the wildlife – or not so wild – we encountered)

and ascends 2000 feet to the top of a volcanic cone mountain with breathtaking views from the top.  It took us two hours to climb to the top – a pretty hard 3 ½ miles.

Once we reached the top we were starved and the lunch we packed was consumed while sitting on logs and overlooking the valley – very peaceful with the only sounds were birds singing in the background.

After about an hour of recuperating from the hike up, we started on the trip back down which is a lot faster without the frequent breaks to slow the panting and the pounding heart rate, but is a lot harder on the joints. The trip back only took 1.25 hours but we were realllly ready to rest again by the end. The sights on the way and back were not too exciting, but the views from the top were beautiful! Best of all we could say we accomplished a 7mile mountain hike.  Not bad for old people.

From Pu’u Wa’awa’a we drove to the small town of Hawi at the northern most tip of the island. It was there that while in search of a place called Tropical Dreams and what the guidebook describes as “the best ice cream on the island” that we discovered that Tom had forgotten his wallet and that I didn’t bring mine – very heavy sigh.

And so we headed back toward home. On the way we swung by a couple of beaches to check out the snorkeling possibilities. We saw some lovely areas and good possibilities. The last place we stopped was a tiny beach with what looked like a boat ramp. Looks can be very deceiving and the “boat ramp” that Tom started to drive down a few feet ended up being soft sand. Long story short, our car was soon buried in sand to the frame with no way to get ourselves out and we had no credit card to pay for a tow – panic!!!!. Luckily we had the rental contract in the car and called the rental company. They arranged for a tow truck to come but said that it would take about an hour and a half. The problem there was that the car was near the water and the tide was coming in.  We watched anxiously as it crept closer and closer to the car.

As we nervously watched, word got out in the neighborhood that some stupid tourists had gotten stuck in the sand and they all came to check it out. We repeatedly responded to the questions, “Stuck in the sand?”, “Called a tow truck?” and “Have AAA?” while we waited.  One lovely couple and their friend – Sue, Rob, and Joan – stopped by and commiserated for a bit and then left. They returned about 15 minutes later with beer which we gladly accepted. While sipping beer, and chatting they pointed out the sea turtle that was bobbing about near-by and the whales that were spouting in the distance –  very cool.  As we drank, watched and chatted, and the ocean lapped at our tires.

The tow truck finally arrived. Within 15 minutes he had us out, his form signed and was gone. We bid farewell to our new found friends and headed home. The tow charge was added to our car rental bill and was only $49. We decided that it wasn’t a lot of money to pay for another adventure, whale and turtle watching, and beer. So we called it money well spent and headed home exhausted and happy.

Aloha!

Here we are in beautiful Hawaii. We arrived yesterday afternoon and are staying on the Kona side of The Big Island – Hawaii. Our place is great. Here are a few pictures of the  VRBO (Vaacation Rental By Owner)  we are renting:

the kitchen,   This is in our back yard.the livingroom, and the screened deck.

The deck faces west and has an ocean view  so sunsets are great!

We continue to walk a lot (trying to walk off all the good food that Tom fixes) so here are some shots I took on our walks.