Canât travel to Hawaii & not do a Sunset Luau. Every tourist does it â every tourist should. AND itâs Sisâ BIG birthday (ok, technically sheâs got 2 more days).
Watched them dig out toniteâs LUAU PIG, wrapped in banana leaves, cooked traditionally under 2 feet of sand. FANTASTIC experience â missed on my first luau.
Buffet style feast, Polynesian dancing & FIRE. (PLUS an open bar. Ash might have out-drank her admission fee, good to be 27 đ  LOVE LOVE this kid!)  SUPER FUN nite!
Happy 5-0 Sis. Cleaned up pretty good after the hike.  Hope your kids spoon-feed you something amazing on your next 50th (âcause I wonât be there, little Sis â€)
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- wrapped in banana leaves, traditionally cooked under 2 feet of sand
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- FAMILY Luau â€
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- Happy Birthday Sis!
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- Hawaiian Hula
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- Maori Haka
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- Sunset Paradise
Sunset Luau đș
Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 â 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Â Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.
Two ways to Captain Cook Monument â by foot or by sea. No road will take you there, no view from afar.
Hitched a ride with Sis & hubby in their SUV rental.  Drove south past Kona, took the Mamalahoa Bypass ’til it dead-ended on State Highway 11. 2 miles from Kealakekua, one mile from Captain Cook â Kaâawaloa Trail tucked away on the right.
2 mile/2000ft scramble thru tropical fern, Palm & tall grasses. Not lush like the Islandâs Hilo shore, but plenty of variety from Colorado winter. Flowers, nuts & fruit gave way to volcanic rock.  Kealakekua Bay still a mile away, sharp descent to the salt water inlet. Pic-snapped Cook’s elusive Monument, then shed some clothes.  Hiking pants & shirt on a nearby log.  Swimming in January!
BEST SNORKELING on the Big Island. Yesterday was fun â this site, truly a hidden gem. Schools of yellow tang visible to the eye, hanging near shore. Everything amplified. Bigger fish, larger numbers. WOW!
2 mile/2000ft hike return. Â UP,UP, UPÂ â 2000ft UP. Â Hit it hard, paced strong. Â ALL IN this day â killed it!
Farm-to-table lunch, luau dinner tonite. Â Livin’ B-I-G, absolutely no regrets đ
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- Ka’awaloa Trail
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- 2 miles/2000ft down
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- tall tropical grasses
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- stunning volcanic coastline
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- British explorer & cartographer commanded three Pacific voyages
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- best snorkeling on the Island
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- another Big Island Day đș
Kealakekua Bay
Saturday: road warrior. Sunday: ocean explorer.
Ok ok not so much exploring, as adventuring under the sea â SNORKEL Day. Christmas present from Ash & Tom đ
Sunday a.m. start, 30-minute drive to Kona, party of 6 reservation. Only my 2nd time snorkeling â both times in Hawaii. Lucky in life. Boarded a small catamaran from the pier. Laid-back island adventure, entirely on Hawaiian time now đș
Air temp: low 70âs. Water temp: the same.  Sunshine.  Pretty much perfect.
Things to Note: Pawai Bay has an excellent variety of tropical reef fish and dramatic terrain, with ledges, caves, shallow shelves and steep drop-offs; and all coral encrusted lava formations. Depths vary from 3-4 feet on the shallow ledges to blue water where the bottom disappears at 100 feet. Average is about 18 feet.
Our crew, Anglo & Hawaiian, bantered back-n-forth but both had a great knowledge of the reef.
Lotta talk ’bout âTonysâ â local term for tiger sharks (as in Frosted Flakesâ mascot: Tony the Tiger). More sharks off the Big Island than others in the Hawaiian chain. Who knew? Luckily, no fins this day.
Triggerfish, Yellow tang, Parrotfish, Bannerfish, Hawaiian Sergeant Fish, Cauliflower Coral â but NO sharks (or eels or barracudaâŠor anything else with teeth â LOL>). 3 hours, 2 reefs, FRESH PINEAPPLE snack break. FAAANNNTASTIC!
Late lunch at Kona Brewing Company. Taste highlight: Sweet Potato Pie. 2nd purple vegetable Iâd eaten this trip (Sis ordered Poi  the night before).  HUGE fan of purple Okinawan sweet potato (not so much for pasty Poi).
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- Kona, Hawaii âŒ
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- Hawaiian time đș
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- Wonder Twins snorkeling adventure
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- Pawai Bay
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- DOLPHINS!
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- Sweet Potato SPLURGE
Solo evening plans.
Local trail, petroglyphs, Hawaiian ocean sunset.  Otherwise known as: âlost at night on a lava fieldâ.  2-mile jog morphed into a 6-mile night hike â with only an iPhone for light. Dropped a pin on my Google map, jumped a rock fence off the 7th green on a ritzy golf course, bushwhacked quarter-mile to a residential road.  Phone-a-friend rescue, Foodland-rendezvoused in nearby Puako (thanks Stephen).
Hiking Captain Cook in the a.m. â 2 miles/2000ft down, 2 miles/2000ft UP.  Just another Big Island Day đș
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- Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve
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- rough lava-rock trek
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- lights OUT
