Hawaii, Nov-Dec, 2015

Flying into Seattle on our way to Kona-Kailua, Hawaii.  The sunlight on Mt. Baker and the North Cascade Mts. was spectacular!!

Our rental car - Walt drives and the rest of us take turns being the navigator in the front seat with him.

No photos of our condo yet as I haven't downloaded Shon's camera and everyone else is in bed already so I am not doing that tonight. We have a lovely two bedroom, two bathroom condo with full kitchen and a large lanai (deck) overlooking the pool, hot tub and barbeque area.  It is a quiet complex across the street from the beach.  

Day 2 of our time here in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.  The Big Island is called Hawaii and is, surprise, the biggest island in the state of Hawaii.  Currently, we are staying on the west side of the island.  It is the drier side and is the home of most of the resorts on the island.  The middle of the island contains two very large volcanoes, Mauna Kei and Mauna Loa.  Mauna Loa is the home of active volcanic activity and we will visit it later this week.  The whole island grew out of volcanic activity and you can see lava rock everywhere.  Today we drove north through miles of black lava rock from various eruptions, some barren areas dating back to 1859 and still nothing growing!

We are staying in a condo in Kona-Kailua and the ocean is right across the street so we can watch people surfing and boogie boarding in the surf there.  We don't know if we will try that beach due to its surf but enjoyed an ocean swim today further north at Hapuna Beach State Park - beautiful white sand.  I snorkelled at the far end and saw some beautiful coloured fish near the rocks there.

Our furthest destination today was the Waipi'o Valley overlook with gorgeous views down to the ocean and a valley that used to be the home of 1000 native Hawaiians who farmed taro there.  In 1946, a tsunami washed into the valley and destroyed the town and farms.  Now only a few hundred live and farm there.

En route to Waipi'o Valley, we drove through Hawaii's cowboy (paniolo) country and its town of Waimea.  Cows were given to the Hawaiian king in the 1800s but he didn't know what to do with them so they ran loose and reproduced.  To control them, Mexican cowboys were brought over to live and teach the Hawaiians how to run a ranch.

Yesterday, we drove south of Kona, stopping at various beaches, antique stores, farmers market, and a painted church (walls covered in murals).  We had lunch sitting on the deck of a cafe overlooking the ocean and surrounded by beautiful trees and flowering bushes.  The scent of flowers is so lovely here!