Notes from "The Big Island"

To get some sun and away from our rainy Pacific Northwest winter, we visited the big island of Hawaii for a week.  The newest of the Hawaiian Islands, this island is noted for its volcanic shoreline; not big white sandy beaches.  The Kona side where we stayed is a very dry desert.  Hilo, on the other side, is in a lush tropical rain forest. You find lava floes like this everywhere.  Vera and this lava flow are surrounded by a desert, and yet those clouds you see behind her are a common occurrence and provide year round moisture to lush coffee plantations just a few miles away.

Every morning at breakfast we were treated to a dolphin show.  The "Swim with the Dolphin" tours converged right outside our open air dining area to drop their customers off for a few minutes with these wild animals.  It isn't clear who was having more fun, the dolphins or the people.  One morning there were close to 50 dolphins, almost as many as there were swimmers.  Kona is home to the Iron Man Marathon, and we also saw lots of crazies practicing for this grueling event.  Often you would see the dolphins tagging along.  Unfortunately you cannot see much from the photo, but trust me, there are dolphins and swimmers out there.

Don't get me wrong, the Big Island does have some beautiful beaches, including black sand beaches.  The white beaches come from the coral, but these beaches come from wave action on the lava floes.

A green sea turtle basking in the sun at this same beach.  

Follow the rules!  The fine for breaking them can be as high as $25,000 and 1 year in prison.

A waterfall, surrounded by lush vegetation, on the Hilo side.

Did I mention it is lush on the Hilo side.  The second pictures was taken in a grove of huge Banyan trees.

We stumbled upon Mauka Meadows coffee plantation, which turned out to be much more than just a coffee plantation.  The coffee beans were just a part of a beautiful arboretum, with a tasting area complete with an infinity pool.

The highlight for Dave was night snorkeling with the manta rays.  Supposedly, this is one of the few places in the world where you can do it.  Vera shot the picture under low light, and from a distance, on the boat that took us out.  You cannot see the mantas here, but in the water they perform intricate acrobatic (or is it aquatic) maneuvers, sometime within inches of your face.  These are big plankton eating fish, shaped more like a bird, and with 7-10 feet wing spans.  See the following link for what it looked like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7SHbXurbYo

A highlight for Vera was checking out the local quilting.  She visited 5 quilt/fabric stores, plus a gallery displaying some of the best local art quilts.  Hawaii has a very active quilting community.

What happens in Kona doesn't necessarily stay in Kona.  Don't worry, it is Henna, so it disappears in a few weeks (we hope).