Hawaii 2014
Day 7 - August 29
Out for a pleasant bike ride.
Live action (video)
Ric at Holoholokai Beach.
Holoholokai Beach.
Mauna Lani Beach Club.
Kathy snorkeling at the Mauna Lani Beach Club.
Mauna Kea Observatory, taken from Waikoloa at about 6pm. The sunsets from there (over 12,000 foot elevation) are supposed to be spectacular. However, it is hardly ever clear. Not long after this, the clouds covered the peak.
Rainbow in Waikoloa.
Day 7 - Sunset.
Day 7 - Sunset.
Sunset and crescent moon.
Day 7 - August 29
Well, as The Cyrkle said in their mid-60’s song, “It’s a Turn Down Day.” Mid-morning we took a short bike ride (about 6 ½ miles round trip) to Holoholokai Beach, on the other side of the Mauna Lani Resort complex. There is a nice walking trail here - we might try that on another day.
After lunch, we headed over to the Beach Club for a snorkle and a lot of reading. For dinner, we ate again at Merriman’s Mediterranean Cafe, this time keeping it light - Caprese Salads for both of us.
And back to the condo for another amazing sunset!
Day 8 - August 30
Waimea Farmers’ Market.
Waimea Farmers’ Market.
Waimea Farmer’s Market. Meet John Von App. He lives about an hour south of Kona on an avocado farm. He also crafts some amazing woodwork.
The cutting board we bought from John. Some of the woods on this board: Maple (mainland US), Purple Heart (Brazil), Ohia, Lychee, Mango and Avocado (all from Hawaii).
Hiking past Mahai'ula Beach on our way to Makalawena Beach.
Abandoned houses at Mahai'ula Beach.
Abandoned well at Mahai'ula Beach.
Ric and his cousin Debbie on the lava trail to Makalawena Beach. It’s about a 30-40 minute walk from car to beach, passing Mahai'ula Beach along the way. The trees far in the distance are our destination.
The end of the trail to Makalawena Beach.
Makalawena Beach. Gorgeous.
Makalawena Beach.
Kathy and Ric’s cousin Debbie at Makalawena Beach.
Makalawena Beach.
This sign tells us that an area of Makalawena Beach is off limits.
The fresh water lagoon that is off limits (don’t worry - Ric zoomed in). The Makalawena Beach “caretaker” told us there are 76 species of birds that inhabit this lagoon at certain times of the year.
The trail back to the car.
Our Jeep Wrangler. It’s been put to the test!
Day 8 - Sunset at the condo.
Day 8 - August 30
We were told by a few sources that the best farmers’ market on the island was in Waimea (about 30 minutes away) on Saturdays. We found the market in the middle of town - small, but very nice. We bought a cinnamon roll and strawberry turnover for breakfast, some coffee beans and jellys, corn on the cob for dinner, and a nice cutting board.
But we found out that this is not THE Waimea Farmer’s Market - that’s another 2 miles down the road. So we drove to that one - it wasn’t nearly as nice as the first one!
In the afternoon, a highlight of our trip: Ric’s cousin Debbie came to visit. She is a school teacher in Hilo. With her as our guide, we decided to take the chance and visit Makalawena Beach - the beach we thought we had visited 8 years ago and had looked so inaccessible to us.
We came in from Mahai'ula Beach on the south side. A 4-mile trip down a very bad road. Barely passable by 2-wheel drive cars. Our Jeep Wrangler handled it fine, but the Corollas in front of us went very slowly down and up this road.
From Mahai'ula Beach, it is about a 30-40 walk along a lava trail. But was it worth it! Makalawena Beach is the most beautiful beach we have seen, as we hope the pictures show.
Spent about 3 hours at the beach, exploring and swimming. One thing we did discover as we explored - this was NOT the beach we had visited 8 years ago!
We found the caretaker of this beach, and described the black sand beach we had visited before - he and Debbie told us we were describing Kiholo Bay, just up the road. So we have another beach to visit before we go!
We returned to the condo just in time to see the sunset. Debbie, Kathy and Ric had a very American dinner of fried chicken, corn on the cob and salad.
Altogether a delightful day!