We had a relatively lazy New Year’s Eve today. It seems as if we’ve been going non-stop thus far so it was a nice change of pace to lounge around all morning. No early-morning boat rides or submarines, no late night lu’aus to attend.
Note to readers: You should not blaze any trails in a Trailblazer. We took a bumpy ride on a 4WD-only road to get to Makalawena Beach. The reward for our ride of terror was well worth the effort. The beach was relatively uncrowded and absolutely gorgeous.
Today is our 10th anniversary. Marla and I were married December 29th, 1996 during a blizzard in Seattle. It seems only fitting, then, that we would celebrate in sunny Hawaii with a submarine ride and a lu’au, don’t you think?
I woke us up at the crack of dawn today for our whale watching tour. Sound familiar? That’s because we did the same thing yesterday morning. This attempt, though, we arrived at the right time, the right place and the right day.
I woke us up at the crack of dawn today for our whale watching tour only to discover once we arrived that the tour wasn’t until tomorrow. We ended up driving to Hapuna Beach and had a wonderful time playing in the sand.
Volcanoes have been a life-long fascination of mine so you can imagine that I was excited to visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We arrived with just enough time for a few minutes in the Visitor Center and a short hike before hunting for flowing lava.
Looking out the back windows of the house you can see what looks like a fantastic surfing spot just to the south of Kealakekua Bay. There are three long breaks a few hundred yards off shore and I’ve watched a dozen folks surfing through the binoculars in the mornings.
Happy Holidays from Hawaii!
We spend the morning touring coffee farms and The Painted Church. The afternoon is spent frolicking at Ke’ei beach and ends with spectacular sunset. Who could ask for more?
Today we visited Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, also called “Place of Refuge.” This was a very sacred site for Hawaiians in ages past. In addition to learning a little Hawaiian history here we were also treated to our first turtle-spotting.