Never have I had the pleasure of visiting any of the Hawaiian islands, until recently! We explored the Big Island of Hawaii. We were invited by friends to share a condo with them while they visited their daughter, who'd been living there for 3 years. It was an offer we could not refuse, and I am so glad we didn't!
My hubby and I arrived around noon, and our friends weren't due in until 9:00 that night, so we took another friend's advice and headed toward Kona from the Kona airport. He insisted we go to the Harbor House Bar and Restaurant and have a cold Steinlager beer and an order of Poke. Well, we thought, why not? When in Rome, you know? By far it was the coldest beer we had the entire time, and the Poke was actually very good!
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| Poke at the Harbor House Restaurant |
Poke is cubed, raw, Ahi tuna served on a bed of cabbage with green onions and splashed with some sort of Teriyaki/Soy sauce. To begin with, I can hardly do some types of sushi, so raw tuna did not sound appealing, but it had absolutely no fish taste to it at all. The texture was nice and it kind of had a buttery, mild taste to it. Along with that ice cold "Steiny" we drank, it was great! So glad we had that tip from our friend to give it a try. Thanks, Rene!As we headed north to where we were staying, we were surprised at first by how desert-like it appeared, with all the lava rock covering so much of the area. Not at all like we had pictured Hawaii! But after a while, the unique beauty of it all grew on us.
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| A Plumeria tree, growing out of the lava rock. |
It almost felt like we were where it all began! You know, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." As the volcano's erupt and flow, the lava hardens, and eventually forms new land by spilling into the ocean. Eventually, life springs back from the lava, in the forms of grasses and other vegetation. Pretty amazing stuff.
We ventured up to the 9000 ft. level of Mauna Kea, a currently inactive volcano. They have an observatory up there (and at the top too, which is 14,000-ft.) with high-powered telescopes for viewing the night sky and constellations. I've never been so close to heaven before! Breathtaking! I really had no idea how cool that all was, nor did my hubby. The technician up there was naming stars and nebula's the scopes were dialed in on, but honestly, I think we had a glimpse of God's face.
(Sorry, I have no photos of my own that could possibly do the heavens justice -- to get a good idea, just do a search for heavens & constellations -- Orion was one of the constellations we zero'd in on!)
From one world to the next, we found ourselves swimming with the ocean creatures a couple of days later. Just snorkeling on the surface, but having your face in the water with a good mask and the ability to cruise along and see such beauty beneath the sea, (while breathing!) was so cool. My hubby got to experience a "Honu world," they told him. Honu is the Hawaiian word for sea turtle, apparently, lol. I didn't get to see a Honu while snorkeling, but I did get to see a "squadron" of squid, just kind of hovering over a reef area, protective like. I was told they are not seen very often. I think snorkeling ranks right up there at the top of my "favorites" list! We had the benefit of having our own personal tour guides, with our friends' daughter and her boyfriend knowing all the best places to visit. The cove they chose to take us to for snorkeling was so beautiful. Mahalo, Sara and Will, AND to our friends Terri and Tim for the invite!
Of course, we also hiked to some waterfalls and through lava tubes (scary and NOT for me!) and saw some incredibly beautiful areas of the island. Lush, green, brilliantly colored flowers and foliage that I had always imagined Hawaii would be like and it did not disappoint! The Plumeria and Hibiscus flowers were amazing. We shopped, drank exotic drinks, and saw some amazing sunsets.
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| The most delicious pina colada.... |
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| Our last sunset before flying home.... |
Will we go back? Absolutely! However, we may just find ourselves visiting some of the other islands as well! I have always wanted to see the magnificent waves on the North Shore of Oahu, the garden isle of Kauai, and OMG, we actually have family on Maui that we really must go visit! And soon, lol!
I'm so glad I left our suitcases handy... Aloha!
