Freedom Tour day 4

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Apologies for not blogging yesteday, but we were exhausted after a long day. To start we headed up island towards the NorthShore. We drove the H3 highway which took us through the middle of the island. This highway is surrounded by a rainforest, tall trees and a one kilometer tunnel through a mountain. I felt as if I was on the site of Jurrasic Park, which they filmed on the Big Island. This was a beautiful drive that I would recommend to anyone, it is slow, 45 mph and up and down hills, but well worth the time. Once we got back on the 63 we went to Teds Bakery which is in Sunset Beach. The pineapple upside down macademia nut cake was enough to make me forget where we were going. Brian had a a chocolate eclaire that must have weighed a 1/4 of a pound. Kathy had a blueberry turnover that had fresh blueberries and flaky pastry. If you are driving make sure you stop here, it was worth every penny.
When we gto to the North Shore we stopped in Halewia, a touristy area with lots of shopping, both authentic Hawaiian and not. Good for an hour or two, lots of places to eat.
From there were went back to Shark's Cove where we snorkled for an hour or so. This is a great place to see tropical fish, coral or sit back and enjoy the sun.
Once we got back to the city, we had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and then hit the hay.
Today we returned the rental car and took the free trolley to Hilo Hattie's, "the Store of Hawaii". Bought gifts, tried on clothes and had a coffee and macadamia nuts for a snack. While there a trio of dancers entertained us with traditional dancing. When you get to the store you will be given a pooka shell lei, which is the ticket to get back on the trolley back to Waikiki.
For our last activity we chose to buy a ticket on the Maitai, a catamaran. We paid 28 dollars each for 90 minutes of probably one of the best things I have done in a long time. We were fortunate there was only 14 people on board so it was not crowded. We sailed out past Diamond Head, had a maitai to drink and saw flying fish. I was hoping to see dolphins and sea turtles, but not this time. I would highly recommend taking an excursion like this.
For dinner we went to Chuck's Cellar, an old school steak house. This is a place you can get a steak, baked potato and salad bar, including soup for 28.00 dollars. Well worth the money. The service was excellent, the jazz band was not to loud and the food was excellent.
So tomorrow we head out and back to the real world. I am sure there are things that I have missed and when I finally get my pictures uploaded (forgot to pack the cord) I will add information about a great vacation spot that I would recommend to anyone. It can be expensive here but if you budget and plan you should be ok. When we ate outside of Waikiki things were cheaper, but that is part of the holiday.
So for now Aloha andtime to start planning our next vacation. Mahalo and good night.

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