Since we're taking the red eye back to the mainland tonight, we got almost an entire day as a bonus to our time on the Big Island. Rather than finding another spot to snorkel and having to pack wet swim stuff in our suitcases, we decided to hike out to Kīholo Bay instead. The scenic viewpoint just off Highway 19 gave us a great view of the bay...
To reach the trailhead, we turned onto an unmarked gravel road just south of the scenic viewpoint and drove makai (towards the ocean). Big shout out to the Big Island Hikes website for all of the useful info on this and other hikes!
It was hot, so I pooped out about halfway down the trail and found a shady spot to sit and watch some locals catching fish with nets.
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| What a view! |
R and boys continued on towards Wainanaliʻi Lagoon, where they saw several honu (green sea turtles). This was once a gigantic fishpond constructed by Kamehameha I in 1810, but a lava flow from Mauna Loa destroyed it in 1859.
Then it was back to the hotel to shower and finish packing (yay for late check out!) Once we had everything loaded up into the minivan, we went to Snorkel Bob's to return our rental gear and continued on to the Royal Kona Coffee Center. Even though we aren't coffee drinkers, we stopped to smush some pennies and buy gifts to take home.
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| Can't get much fresher than that! |
We were going to try Big Jake's Island BBQ for lunch, but they were closed for renovations. So we walked across the street for a repeat visit to Keoki's Ono Fish and Chips instead. While we were there, a fisherman brought in his catch to sell to the restaurant.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping, exchanging a shirt at Crazy Shirts and stopping at the Sack N Save to buy a couple of cool Foodland insulated grocery bags and more Hawaiian snacks. Then we had dinner at Big Island Pizza. Yep, same place where we ate our first meal after we arrived!
Since we were close by and needed to fill up the tank on the rental, we roamed thru Costco just to see what different kinds of merchandise they carry on the island. If we would have had a way to freeze it for the trip home, we definitely would have loaded up on Portuguese sausage. An added bonus was the cash J found in the parking lot!
Afterwards we hung out at Starbucks to charge our phones and sponge off their wi-fi, since we had a chunk of time to kill before returning the car to Hertz and checking in for our flight. I love that the "terminals" at KOA are open air pavilions and that passengers board/deplane via portable stairs - definitely a great little airport!
What a fun week we've had here on the Big Island! Aloha, a hui hou... until we meet again!
Since we were close by and needed to fill up the tank on the rental, we roamed thru Costco just to see what different kinds of merchandise they carry on the island. If we would have had a way to freeze it for the trip home, we definitely would have loaded up on Portuguese sausage. An added bonus was the cash J found in the parking lot!
Afterwards we hung out at Starbucks to charge our phones and sponge off their wi-fi, since we had a chunk of time to kill before returning the car to Hertz and checking in for our flight. I love that the "terminals" at KOA are open air pavilions and that passengers board/deplane via portable stairs - definitely a great little airport!
What a fun week we've had here on the Big Island! Aloha, a hui hou... until we meet again!
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