Blogs from Kailua-Kona, Big Island, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 9

Hello everyone and Happy New Year. It's lovely to hear from you all at home. I feel such a long way away! Well I've had an interesting few days - caught a bad bug on plane to Big Island - went on a tour up Mauna Kea (higher than Everest) and ended up with acute bronchitis - nearly hospitalised! Hostel I stayed at was very good but there were only two of us there and I was in bed for most of the time. Had to collect hire car and drive (for the very first time on 'wrong' side of road) last friday in a strange town looking for the Urgent Care Clinic that I wasn't sure existed! And I was feeling really ill (Get the picture?). Spent 3 hours there and then had to go ... read more

I have traveled to many airports, but so far the Kona International Airport is my favorite. The plane ride from San Francisco to Kona was five hours long, I was tired and I sat with a stranger, though I did get an empty seat in between us and I was right in front of the large middle isle television screen. I watched Two and a Half Men and Valentines Day, which was not as bad as expected, and I listened to music on my mp3 player. Though I also didn't eat anything because food cost money on the plane and I was bummed that I couldn't see outside the window when we landed. However, all of the uncomfortableness of the plane ride evaporated when I stepped out of the plane. I got to walk down the ... read more

We went to a Luau at the Royal Kona resort. It was so much fun! They unearthed a pig that was cooking in an earth oven all day, and it was so tender that it just fell apart. It is called Kahlua pork (spelling could be wrong here). Besides that, there was so much food, and it was all wonderful. We tasted poi, the starchy staple of the Hawaiian people (tasted very bland, and had the consistency of baby food, but was OK mixed with other stuff). Lomi lomi salmon, which is raw and delicious, chicken in coconut and spinich sauce, beef, another cooked fish that was also delicious......I can't remember the rest. What a feast! And the entertainment was very well done. Dances representing many of the Polynesian islands were performed by both men and ... read more

Our flight out of Puerto Vallarta was delayed, and then even once we got to LA and taxied to the gate, they didn't open the doors for us to get out for almost half an hour. Once we found the shuttle to the hotel and arrived, and along with the one hour time change, it was late and we were tired. Still, we had to sort through our luggage, take out what we had bought in Mexico for gifts etc, and gather up our Hawaii stuff like snorkle equipment, and re-pack. It was a late night, and we had a very early flight, so we were up by 5 am. But, once we got on the plane, all was great. American Airlines was very comfortable. Steve loves to take pictures out the plane window, so I ... read more

Today is actually our second day on the “big island”, but we are on the other side of the island. We are in Kona today. This is much more of a tourist location than Hilo, despite what our guide said yesterday. We had to use the lifeboats to get to shore since the water is to shallow for the ship to dock (they anchor and then ferry people back and forth to shore). Conversely Hilo has a deep port and everything that is shipped to this island is first offloaded in Hilo and then driven across the island. That is why gasoline is $3.40 in Hilo and $3.66 here in Kona (glad we are not buying gasoline in either place). We had the buffet breakfast this morning to make sure we were in plenty of time ... read more