Tuesday we spent snorkeling at the Mauna Lani Beach Club. We hit upon another perfect day. The water was crystal clear, and we had such a great time seeing all the fish! We passed by another turtle, but this time he was really deep! We followed him as far as we dared, then turned back to the more shallow parts! Kaycee and Maile got braver and braver the longer we were out and started diving deeper and deeper!
Chasing the turtle--he's hard to see because he was so deep!
Tuesday night Gary and I got to go out for a date again. We ate at Splashers Grill and the cool thing was that the International Billfish competition was going on. Fishing crews from all over the world spend a week deep sea fishing in Kona, and at 4:30 pm they all come to the Kona harbor to show what they caught. There is a huge fish hook/scale there and they unload their catch to be weighed and measured. From Splashers Grill we were right across from the harbor and watched all the boats come in. The first boat unloaded a GIANT fish! We think it was a marlin! It was really fun to watch while we ate!
Wednesday we did our last big driving day. We drove to the Kaumana Cave, and explored it again. Then we visited the Boiling Pots waterfalls, and Rainbow Falls. After lunch we toured the Mauna Loa Factory where they make the delicious macadamia nut treats! After the factory, we went to the Kaphoho tide pools. The snorkeling there is really fantastic. We swam over a few eels, but the most amazing thing there is the coral. All different kinds, shapes and sizes, and colors. It was very cool! After that we went to the Ahalauni Hot springs. This was built in the 50's as a fishpond. However, an eruption caused the pool to become heated by underground lava flows. It's now a very fun place to swim, if you enjoy water temperature around 90 degrees! We went from Ahalauni to find another hot spring, but this one is a natural one. It's on the edge of Issac Hale Beach. It's very small, but very very warm! We ended up going back to Ahalauni, and swam for quite a while. It was a really great day! I have loved doing these exploring adventures this trip. All our kids were so great and always up for the long long days. There is SO much to see and do on the Big Island!
Boiling Pots Waterfall
Rainbow Falls
The kids could climb in this tree all day!
The top of Rainbow Falls
Kapoho Tide Pools
The road to the hot springs was so beautiful!
Ahalanui Hot Springs
Hot springs "spa" by Issac Hale Beach
Tide Pools:
Thursday we took it easy and spent a very fun relaxing day at Beach 69. We love this beach because there are shade trees that grow all the way to the water. We set up camp with our hammock, and chairs and then we can swim, jump, play, and when we need a break from the sun, we can take a rest in the shade! The water here is always very clear, warm and lots of fun!
Friday we split up. Matt was fighting a sore throat, so Kaycee, Gary and Matt relaxed at our condo and went swimming and practiced the ukulele. Lauren, Kaitlyn, Sydney and I hiked Wiapio again. This is one of the steepest hikes EVER! It's beyond beautiful though. We picked a rainy day, and it was very slippery walking down. (Ok, I slipped and fell!) On the way up we discovered several car wrecks down at the bottom. It was really strange looking around them and wondering how long they had been there and how they crashed to the bottom! We also got swarmed with mosquitoes. They must love the rain!
Saturday we spent the day in town. Our plan was to do a little shopping while Lauren and Kaityln got henna tattoos, then we would hit a beach on the way home. Well, our plans changed a little. Kaitlyn started to feel dizzy and sick, so we took her to the urgent care. She was fine, just having a reaction from all the bug bites from the day before. So we ended up relaxing at our pool and hot tub that evening!
Sunday we did our last hike at Pololu. Earlier in the summer we found lots of strawberry guava to snack on along the trail, but today the passion fruit was ripe and ready to pick! We picked at least 20 of them! It was a great day to be outside and enjoy the beauty of Hawaii!!
Wednesday we packed up and cleaned up and headed out. A hurricane warning was being issued for the following day. Two hurricanes were headed to the Island, the first one in several years! We were leaving just in the nick of time! We headed to the airport, a little worried that it might be busy. It was empty! Our entire check in process took less than an hour! We had a LONG flight home, leaving Kona at 7 pm and flying to Honolulu, then leaving Honolulu at 9 pm and arriving in LAX at 5:30 am. 5:30 am felt like 2:30 am to us! We had a 4 hour layover in LAX, and finally arrived in San Diego at 10:30 in the morning. We were at our house around noon. Lauren's friends were all waiting for her and took her straight to the mall! Ha Ha!
And, that is it! Our summer in Hawaii is over. What an incredible summer it was! Spending two months with our family was a dream. We had so many adventures and had so much fun! We are so lucky to be able to have had this vacation!
