Here We Go Again – Dela Frijoles

B-Rod and I are currently on the big island of Hawaii. When we were in Australia, we considered heading back home early and stopping in here on our way to visit family and go on a dive we had seen when we were here last, but didn’t do as we weren’t certified. Things didn’t work out, but in conversation with my uncle, he invited us to come by in March to housesit for their last week away on their vacation. Our response? HELL’S YEAH!! So . . . . here we are. I’ve found that we haven’t really brought out the camera as much as we usually do on trips. Not because things aren’t beautiful and amazing because they really are. The big island is one of our favourite places. But, I think the first time around it was about capturing the beauty whereas this second time around it’s more about experiencing and being in the beauty. We also tried to come in with the mindset that we were going to use this time to just “faff about” . . . treat it as just living here (in preparation for someday when we do actually live here or somewhere like here) Unfortunately, the mind can’t be tricked that easily, and we find we still get into that mindset that we have to go out and do as much as we can (usually all in one day!) We’ve been doing a lot of the same things that we did that last time we were here, but they are the things that we loved.

This is the only island in Hawaii we have been to. Eventually, we’ll probably go to more, but the big island definitely feels like our place. We landed in Kona, but we are actually staying in Captain Cook

On the way to Hawaii from Vancouver, we took a tip from RobO & DawnO’s travel book and selected an aisle & window seat . . . . plenty of room for us. This was also a bit of a treat because we could actually do that. One of the few times that we reserved a ticket instead of going standby because we had to be there at a specific time. So, we got to choose our seats AND we got to sit together!

We are super excited to housesit, not only because it is in Hawaii, but because my uncle & aunt’s house is pretty awesome (I’m going to be lazy and direct you to the previous post if you want to know more about it), but . . . this is where I sit and have tea in the morning, and . . .

this is where we faff about a lot of our time

A couple of things we were excited to return to were the Captain Cook Monument trail and “turtle” beach
Along the Captain Cook Monument trail:
Here is the start . . . . B looked a little bit different at the end 🙂

3 units of some measurement . . . we never did quite figure out what! Someone tried to convince us they were kilometre markers, as the tiny patch of land containing the Cook Monument itself is British soil. Nope, Brits use miles, and nope, 1.8 miles do not equal the 8 markers we came upon.

Some slack-jaw never made it beyond 3.

Steeper than it looks! Not quite this steep, but if you do the math, it’s 1400′ vertical, and 1.8 miles laterally. That’s a 14% grade. Therefore, burning 1282 kJ every 17 nano minutes, . . . . B was pooped!

When we were here last time, Rocky was on a yoga streak, so she stopped to do some yoga pose along the way. This time She’s part of a handstand challenge. It ended up (unintentionally) being pretty much the same spot as last time!

We didn’t take any pics at the bottom, but if you’re really curious, check the post from last time. It’s still the best snorkelling we have ever experienced, but since getting our dive certificates, snorkelling (though still fun) isn’t quite as exciting.

“Turtle” Beach – it was really windy, so sadly no swimming happened, but still tons of turtle sightings and though it was busier than last time, it was still fairly quiet. Probably helps that the road is not well marked.

One thing that is cool about the big island, is how varied the scenery can get within a short amount of time. We’re staying pretty close to Kona and Captain Cook this time, so we’re not seeing the lush valleys with waterfalls, but we do get to see from the moonscape like scenes of the lava rock filled landscape . . . . .

. . . . to the prairie like scenes that make us feel like we’re driving at home . . . .

. . . . to the glimpses of the ocean . . . .

. . . to being at the beach!

Finally, our trips are never complete without an emphasis on the food!

How pumped do you think Rocky was to see fresh MANGOS!!

Rocky’s new goal is to eventually try every single one on this list 🙂

Breakfast of champions!!

The last time we were here, my aunt took us to a place called “Lemongrass” We remember this place being AMAZING. It was still good, but I think we had built it up a bit too much. Or, it’s because of the American problem of skewing sizes. These were lunch size portions, and we were way too stuffed for our liking at the end. There really is too much of a good thing!

My cousin pointed us in the direction of a place where we could get real wasabi with our sushi. Again . . . . glad we experienced it, but we actually prefer the paste more.

Poke . . . this is something we were dying to have and it met our expectations and more. So easy to make too. If we had fish like they have here (where it quite literally melts in your mouth), it would be a common meal at our household.

Halo Halo . . . the one thing my peeps do right with food is this mish mash of stuff that ends up being an awesome treat

Here’s to faffing about some more of our time here