http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Hawaii , Big Island , Kailua Kona en-us Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:02:33 BST Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:02:33 BST Dear Family and FriendsAh....Hawaii....other than the significant temperature difference we feel a bit as if we have come full circle. We started in Iceland driving through lava fields and we end in Hawaii driving through lava fields When we first started to plan this trip 4 years ago Ken knew he wanted to include Iceland for its rugged beauty and Kate knew she wanted to end with Hawaii a http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-317006.html We had been going and going the first 2 full days so we decided to take it easy on our last full day in the Big Island. The hotel had its own tiny private beach our first destination in the morning. After a liberal application of sunscreen ...could the sun in Hawaii be that much worse than El Paso we found an area which had some shade and set up camp. Fortunately there were not a lot of http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-301634.html Reflecting on this wonderful trip so far it certainly seems that the 4 days here on the Big Island of Hawaii are flying by Though Henry has been to Hawaii on many occasions he has not been to this island. It's my very first trip to any Hawaiian island so we have wanted to see and do it allWe finally arrived at our hotel the Fairmont Orchid on the west Kohala coast just north of Kona at 8 http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-300638.html Last day on HI. I did not really have big plans just sort of chillin out my last day here. I have been here 4 days and had not been swimming yet. I went to a reconstructed ancient hawaiian site that was on the ocean. Pretty neat to learn about their ancient culture. I walked just down the beach and went snorkelling. It is amazing how brightly colored the fish are. The water was very clear a http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-277116.html Thursday was my 35th birthday. I spent it on the island of HI. That is not a bad way to celebrate another year. I spent the morning walking around the town of Kona. Every Oct triathletes from around the world come to Kona to compete in the Kona Ironman. The ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim 112 mile bike ride and then a 26.2 mile run. The race starts and finishes oceanfront in Kona. It http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-277114.html VOG what is that It is volcanic fog. More about that in a bit. What a difference a day makes. I actually feel almost human today. Sleep is a great thing. After breakfast this morning decided to hthe road. I loaded up the Dodge Caliber and headed off to see Volcano National Park. It is only 8590 miles away but what a drive. Reminds me of some of the highway 194 near Valle Crucis except http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-276394.html Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii. Day one was an adventure to say the least. An extremely long day of travel. Left Charlotte at about 8 am eastern time. I arrived in kona about 2 hawaiil time. Got my rental car and found my bed and breakfast that i am staying in. The Rainbow Plantation is very ecclectic. Not to bad except the peacocks were pretty loud this morning. Went to bed and died http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-276389.html Today we were up and out of the house by 845 to head over to Chris' house. Once we completed the 3 minute drive over there we listened to humpback whales greatest hits the recordings of singing humpback whales that we recorded on the Hilo side. We listened to the different verses and themes of the songs. After that we took the pictures that we took last week on the Hilo side and compared them w http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-251819.html Today we were all up and about by 745 a.m. and we didn't even need to be up by 900 a.m We left for the shore station around 10 and spend about 2 hours there. At the shore station we did the same thing that we did on Tuesday. We used the theodolite and took the postions of all the vessels and pods of whales in the area. On Tuesday there was a lot of whales and only a couple of vessels. But today http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-251541.html Bright and early at 6 a.m. we got up and got ready for our long day. Yin and Chris came over this morning at 645 a.m. for some breakfast. The breakfast was from Chadd Paishon. He's a very kind man who does great wonders. At about 830 we met up with Chadd and Richard Kaniho before we headed up to Mauna Kea. The drive up the mountain was about 45 minutes more or less. When we arrived to the Puu http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-251251.html Today we was an exciting day filled with a lot of work. We woke up at about 700 and got ready for the day. We left at about 830 a.m. and went and met up with Yin and Chris at the Kawaihae Pier. We went down to the pier to work on the canoe Makali'i which means small eye with Chadd Paishon a captain and navigator. In 1976 Chadd and a bunch of others built a canoe Hokulea and sailed to Tahiti un http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-250930.html As usual we got up to an early start. The girls and Heather departed the doors at 720 a.m. Jan Straley left the house at about 7 o'clock with Chris and Yen to ride on the boat. They took a cruise around the ocean taking photo's of whales flukes. The rest of us drove to Weimea where the Hawaii Preparatory Academy School is to visit with Gary Jarvill. It is about a 20 minute drive from the house. A http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-250560.html Today we had an early start as usual. Got ready and out of the doors at 830 a.m. This morning it rained for the first time which is funny because it's the dry side of the big island. We drove to the National Park Service called Pu'ukohola Heiau to see and hear about the black tip reef sharks. We saw about 7 overall. After hearing Kat's and Lehua presentations of the sharks we walked along the b http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-250197.html Today was a mellow day. We woke up around 800 am and started cleaning and packing. We had to tie luggage to the top of the the van and it was like tetris putting the luggage and gear in the van. At 1230 we finally left the house to have lunch. We got some sushi and went to the park to eat it. It was a nice park with a waterfall and some surfers. Afterwards we started the hour and a half drive t http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-249832.html Why do all good things come to an end I am spending my last sunday evening in Kona where i have been since the beginning of the year...something i find phenomenal is our ability as human beings to adapt to new enviroments I clearly remember and smell the experience of seeing the Island for the first time when i arrived on the 29th Dec 2007. Everything was so new fresh stimulating. I had a se http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-245058.html I think my intuitive abilities are really becoming sharper...I strongly felt some closure towards the blog that i have been writing everyday...i simply felt i should write a conclusive edition and then when i checked in to see the previous ones i saw a message that the creator is shutting down the application....So a funny thing happened...i decided to create a new one It's really a weird sense http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-243760.html It was day one of our pilgrimage and we were all very ecstatic. My four friends Jermaine Preston Sytson Kai and I planned a pilgrimage around the world in twenty one days visiting places where we always wanted to go to and doing activities that we have never done before. The plan was easy since I was a pilot we didn't need to pay airfare so all I had to do is fly our pr http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-228586.html Today is the day that my adventure begins. Must get ready so I start packing my clothes and all the necessities. My shirts my pants my jackets my shoes and donrsquot forget about the undergarments for itrsquoll be extremely weird if I didnrsquot. Got to bring my phone my toothbrush my passport my wallet and a good book to read. Yeah right A book you must be crazy. I must be losin http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-228577.html I have packed up everything important and piled it in every open corner of my mothers house... sorry mom. I have to part with my many fish chinchilla Senior Cheechy Monkey and of course Katie Dawg. Now I'm in Hawaii staying at my fathers house working and preparing for the big trip... http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-214858.html Over labor day weekend Veronica and I stayed at her friend's beach condo in the small town of Punalu'u near the North Shore of Oahu. We were walking distance from Kaya's our favorite shrimp plate place. We ate there daily...yum. Unfortunately Veronica had minor surgery on Saturday and was instructed not to go in the ocean for 3 weeks. She managed to stay out of the water over the weekend http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-202559.html Well we made it to our destination in Kona without any incidents. Hurricane Flossie ended up being more hype than a reality thank goodness. We were very tired though from such a long day of travel. We made it to our resort at about 700 pm which was about 1000 pm our time. Much past our bedtime. Ian fell asleep in the shopping cart at Safeway and slept through to morning. Very long day. http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-192946.html Ok so here we go. We are getting ready to head to the airport all the time hoping that we will make it to our destination. At this time 845 am there is a Category 3 hurricane Flossie headed toward the Big Island. It is suppose to be directly south of the island at 200 pm and we are suppose to land at 610 pm. We will see what the airlines decide to do about it.Other than that we are ex http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-192409.html This is Friday June 1 http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-166383.html Today we ported at Kona which is the other side of the island we were on yesterday. It was actually the warmest day of the islands we have been to yet. Got up normal time and had our usual buffet lunch. Got off the ship and finally had a look at the shops here. Went to Wal Mart which is like a big Kmart and Coles combined. Then went to Hilo Hattie which is like where you buy all the authentic Haw http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-118913.html Continued with 506sa and Lisa a visitor via Couch Surfing clockwise along the coast until highway 270 ends at some very big valleys. Couch SurfingJatkoin matkaa mytpiv rantaa pitkin kunnes pikatie 270 loppui laaksoon 506san ja Lisan kanssa Lisa on vierailja Couch Surfingin kautta. Couch Surfing verkkosivut http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-118037.html I arrived to Kona and hooked up with 506sa a former colleuge from the Firm and her boyfriend James. I tried some Kava a local intoxicant drink and local Hawaiian food. Also the size of the vehicles on the Big Island are beyound belief.Saavuin Konaan ja tapapasin vanhan tykaverin 506san ja hnen poikaystvn Jamesin. Kokelin Kaavaa paikallinen lievsti huumaavaa juoma ja paikallista Ha http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-118028.html Hi everyone nothing new to report. Everyone is happy and healthy we are having fun going to a different beach everyday. Today we were at the beach by the marina. The kids had a great time playing in the trees and beach combing they found four sea turtles sunning themselves and resting. We watched a big military plane do touch and go's at the airport from our ventage point so that was entertainin http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-116868.html Not alot to report we've gone on a zodiak boat tour to see the caves in the lava and see some of the lava tubes. On the trip we saw about five humpback whales and ran into a pod of probably hundreds of spotted dolphins. That was really neat to see. The were hanging out near the dep sea Marlin boats. The visibility in the water is spectacular depths to 100 feet down. We snorkeled at the Captain C http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-114361.html Merry Christmas Everyone We hope everyone is well we are great. Today we went to a locals beach it was pretty nice but it is about 85 degrees everyday so by afternoon we are home relaxing. I bought a bottle of Trader Vic Mai Tai mix....one of those and the kids don't bug me anymore.....here are a few photos of the kids by our Hawaiian chrstmas tree. Thinking of you all and wish you were here http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-113429.html