Big Island: Last Day of Adventure

Last day on the islands. It’s a bitter sweet feeling. I know I will be back here--I mean, after all my best friends are moving here in June. But I wish I had more time here myself.

Laura and I had to squeeze some things in today. First, there is breakfast of course. We hit the little cafe, Island Lava Java on Ali’i drive with the great views of the ocean. A guy is also there playing his ukelele for our entertainment. It is a great way to start the day.

the view at breakfast

Then, Laura wants the tattoo, so we must go take care of that. Luckily, the artist at Native Flesh is in and he has not tossed the original drawing. Laura says it didn’t hurt as bad as I made it out to. I say pain is relative.

Next, I want to visit the local brewery, Kona Brewing Company. I wish we had more time to eat and take a tour, but alas there is not much time to get in everything we want to do plus drive all the way back around the island to Hilo. We stop in and buy a few things at the gift shop, have a beer in the restaurant and hang out with the geckos, then it’s back on the road for us.

The road back around through the northern part of Kona is desolate---just a giant lava field. I have been told that when you are flying into Kona, it looks like you are flying into mars. I can now see why. On the left, you can see the ocean and the beaches. On the right--lava--for miles and miles and mile. Tiny white rocks spell out messages by people that came before us. Messages of love and grief and aloha. I almost want to stop and leave my own message. Maybe next time.

We wind around the island and drive through Waimea, a beautiful part of the island and head down the coast towards Honoka’a. You can see the color of the sea change as we leave the leeward side of the island. The road is curvy, but the views are spectacular.

As we approached Honomu and the Akaka Falls area, we realized that we were very close to my friends new house so we took a detour through the area to check out the new neighborhood and my future visiting place. I must say that I look forward to coming back here!

We ended the day at Ken’s House of Pancakes for dinner and a short time on the black sand beach in Hilo. I am going to miss the serenity and “easiness” of these islands. I hope to be back soon.