Second Day: Leaving Volcano Nat'l Park, on to Hilo and around the Big Island Jan 11th

We left Volcano National Park after a amazing day of discovery.  We headed on to Hilo. On the east side of the Big Island including Hilo, the climate is more tropical with lush vegetation and a greater chance of warm showers thru the day or night.  Deanie reserved rooms at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel on the ocean bay.  We had a nice dinner in the dining room and turned in early.

We watched cruise ships enter the harbor from our balcony the next morning.  Deanie and Ellen strolled the grounds on Tuesday morning to enjoy a Japanese garden that was established to honor people of Hawaii.  Cats of all shapes, colors and sizes wandered the area around the hotel. 

Cat Palm

 

Japanese Garden Walk

View from our Hotel balcony

Ken's House of Pancakes

We ate a hearty breakfast at Ken's House of Pancakes.  Crab cake benedict was Ellen's choice!  We drenched our pancake side orders in Guava, Mango or Coconut syrup!  Kona coffee was delicious.
We visited a Farmer's Market and bought more papaya, bananas, sweet Hawaiian onions and Ramboutin- a strange prickly red fruit that holds a grape-like fruit inside. 


The "boys" decided to work on their arthritis symptoms by visiting a local "snake oil" specialist- his oil application seemed to help- somewhat.....although both Doug and Eddie decided that massaging the oil into their hands and fingers was probably the key to soothing their aching hands.  Despite the arthritis, the game of golf must go on! 

Farmer's Market flowers

The Doctor is In!

Gourmet Pizza tops the Day!

We visited a beautiful overlook north of Hilo as we began to round the north side of the island on our return to Kona.  We almost caught a "zip-line" excursion through the tropical areas north of Hilo, but our timing was off.  (You  know- "Medicine Man" rainforest lines you clip onto for a ride of your life!) Maybe another time....  We did get to see a whale flipping around in the ocean at Waipio Overlook.  (January is a good whale watching month!)  We decided to reserve a boat ride in the next few days to get up close and personal to these huge Goliaths!

We stopped in Waimea to repeat the fantastic dining experience that  Deanie and Eddie had on their first trip through this part of the Big Island.  A GREAT gourmet pizza- with enough to take home for snacks!
We also visited the Parker Ranch area- a spread founded early in the 19th century and whose family founded the town of Waimea over the next five generations.  Rodeos are scheduled throughout the year, but it was pretty quiet during our visit.  The country was beautiful here- jutting, green hillsides indicative of early volcanic upheavals centuries ago.  The clouds disappeared and the sun remained with us for our journey home on the west side of the Big Island.

On our last leg of the loop around the Big Island, we wandered into a few of the exclusive north island resorts and golf courses- rooms starting at $395 to over $1200 a nite.  The golf courses were over $200 in green fees!  Needless to say, the boys did not make a tee time for these courses!

Tired of driving and looking foward to our Kona rental home, we returned to Kona in the late afternoon on Tuesday.   We did some wash and relaxed on the lanai.  The boys plan on one more day of golf Wednesday and the girls will decide on their activity as the day begins- keeping our options open!