Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Hawaii, Part 3: Day 3 on the Big Island
October 5th began with a full-on eye infection. Both eyes were red and itchy, and the left one was practically swollen shut. I put a cold compress on the eyes, which helped a bit. The nasty headache I'd had for the past three days was beginning to dissipate, so I was happy about that.
The weather outside was gorgeous, perfect for a tour of Anaehoomalu Bay in a glassbottom boat. Dan doesn't swim, so I figured this would be the best way for him to see some of the ocean life while staying dry. Our tour started about 10am.
I was surprised how much coral there was in the bay. It was actually pretty interesting, especially the stuff that looked like brains. There were all kinds of fish, particularly yellow tangs and butterfly fish, and those iridescent ones whose name I never learned. We also saw several young turtles, about one-third the size of the ones at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. When they were underwater, various fish would feed on the algae growing on their backs. It was a very nice glimpse into the undersea world of the Kona coast.
We didn't have anything planned for that afternoon but didn't want to go too far out of our way, so we went back to Kailua-Kona for lunch and another look around. On the way there, we noticed signs warning of athletes on the road training for the Ironman Triathlon. We saw several people, men and women, either on bikes or running. When we got to the city and drove along the coast, we could also see the swimmers.
We picked a nice restaurant for lunch called Jameson's-By-the-Sea. We were seated on the patio right at the water's edge with an awesome view of the coastline and a nearby beach. They were quite accommodating to my dietary needs; I had a very tasty grilled ahi with plain white rice and veggies (they were careful not to use soy sauce in the preparation). I could have stayed there all afternoon, watching and listening to the waves.
I wanted to get a glimpse of St. Peter's Church, otherwise known as the "Little Blue Church", so we drove a bit further south down the coast. We found it, an adorable tiny building right by the water, but didn't go inside as there was a wedding going on. I took a few photos from a respectable distance and moved on.
We turned back toward the shopping district and found a place to park. Naturally, Dan wanted to browse the shops and I wanted to take pictures, so we agreed on a time to meet and went our separate ways. I visited a few nearby churches. One of them, Mokuaikaua, was the oldest in Hawaii. The outside walls were made of coral and lava, and the pews inside were carved koa...quite beautiful. I also took a peek at Hulihee Palace, which had once served as a summer home for royalty (now a museum), and went out to one of the piers for a bit to watch the tri-athletes swimming and the cruise ships in the distance. I still had some time left before I was due to meet back with Dan, so I looked in a few of the shops on the boardwalk. There was an awesome, huge art gallery that I particularly enjoyed....I'd probably have bought something if I'd had enough money. I don't even want to think about how much it would have cost to ship something back to the mainland.
Once back to the Kermit-mobile, we decided we were done sightseeing in Kona and headed back north toward Waikoloa to visit a few areas of interest on the way. We stopped at a very nice boat harbor to look around. There was an area off in the distance that had once been famous for being a nude beach, but from what we could tell through the zoom lens of the camera, everyone there that day was clothed.
There was a beach further north that I wanted to see, and we turned where the guide book said to turn, but the road running toward the ocean was a mess, full of massive potholes and heavily damaged. I'm thinking that when the guidebook was written (in 1995), it was probably accessible, but that the road was not maintained during the interval. Dan humored me, though, and pulled over we saw some other vehicles parked because the road was pretty much impassible past that point to anything other than a 4WD vehicle, and we didn't want risk damaging the rental Jeep. I thought we could walk from there to the beach, but after we got past some twists and turns in the road, it became obvious that it would be no casual hike to make it there. The walk was interesting at least....we got a good look at some plant life just beginning to sprout from the black lava fields, and we had an excellent view of a storm coming in on the mountain. As we neared the Kermit-mobile, a red Mustang, obviously a rental, bounced past us from the area we thought was impassible. It was going way too fast for safety, and Dan and I predicted mechanical problems ahead. And sure enough, as we drove carefully back to the highway, there was the Mustang pulled over and the driver examining something leaking underneath.
That detour wore me out, so except for a brief stop at a well-marked scenic overlook, we went straight back to the condo to rest. I did visit the pool briefly that evening and zonked on the couch soon after.
The weather outside was gorgeous, perfect for a tour of Anaehoomalu Bay in a glassbottom boat. Dan doesn't swim, so I figured this would be the best way for him to see some of the ocean life while staying dry. Our tour started about 10am.
I was surprised how much coral there was in the bay. It was actually pretty interesting, especially the stuff that looked like brains. There were all kinds of fish, particularly yellow tangs and butterfly fish, and those iridescent ones whose name I never learned. We also saw several young turtles, about one-third the size of the ones at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. When they were underwater, various fish would feed on the algae growing on their backs. It was a very nice glimpse into the undersea world of the Kona coast.
We didn't have anything planned for that afternoon but didn't want to go too far out of our way, so we went back to Kailua-Kona for lunch and another look around. On the way there, we noticed signs warning of athletes on the road training for the Ironman Triathlon. We saw several people, men and women, either on bikes or running. When we got to the city and drove along the coast, we could also see the swimmers.
We picked a nice restaurant for lunch called Jameson's-By-the-Sea. We were seated on the patio right at the water's edge with an awesome view of the coastline and a nearby beach. They were quite accommodating to my dietary needs; I had a very tasty grilled ahi with plain white rice and veggies (they were careful not to use soy sauce in the preparation). I could have stayed there all afternoon, watching and listening to the waves.
I wanted to get a glimpse of St. Peter's Church, otherwise known as the "Little Blue Church", so we drove a bit further south down the coast. We found it, an adorable tiny building right by the water, but didn't go inside as there was a wedding going on. I took a few photos from a respectable distance and moved on.
We turned back toward the shopping district and found a place to park. Naturally, Dan wanted to browse the shops and I wanted to take pictures, so we agreed on a time to meet and went our separate ways. I visited a few nearby churches. One of them, Mokuaikaua, was the oldest in Hawaii. The outside walls were made of coral and lava, and the pews inside were carved koa...quite beautiful. I also took a peek at Hulihee Palace, which had once served as a summer home for royalty (now a museum), and went out to one of the piers for a bit to watch the tri-athletes swimming and the cruise ships in the distance. I still had some time left before I was due to meet back with Dan, so I looked in a few of the shops on the boardwalk. There was an awesome, huge art gallery that I particularly enjoyed....I'd probably have bought something if I'd had enough money. I don't even want to think about how much it would have cost to ship something back to the mainland.
Once back to the Kermit-mobile, we decided we were done sightseeing in Kona and headed back north toward Waikoloa to visit a few areas of interest on the way. We stopped at a very nice boat harbor to look around. There was an area off in the distance that had once been famous for being a nude beach, but from what we could tell through the zoom lens of the camera, everyone there that day was clothed.
There was a beach further north that I wanted to see, and we turned where the guide book said to turn, but the road running toward the ocean was a mess, full of massive potholes and heavily damaged. I'm thinking that when the guidebook was written (in 1995), it was probably accessible, but that the road was not maintained during the interval. Dan humored me, though, and pulled over we saw some other vehicles parked because the road was pretty much impassible past that point to anything other than a 4WD vehicle, and we didn't want risk damaging the rental Jeep. I thought we could walk from there to the beach, but after we got past some twists and turns in the road, it became obvious that it would be no casual hike to make it there. The walk was interesting at least....we got a good look at some plant life just beginning to sprout from the black lava fields, and we had an excellent view of a storm coming in on the mountain. As we neared the Kermit-mobile, a red Mustang, obviously a rental, bounced past us from the area we thought was impassible. It was going way too fast for safety, and Dan and I predicted mechanical problems ahead. And sure enough, as we drove carefully back to the highway, there was the Mustang pulled over and the driver examining something leaking underneath.
That detour wore me out, so except for a brief stop at a well-marked scenic overlook, we went straight back to the condo to rest. I did visit the pool briefly that evening and zonked on the couch soon after.
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