For the last few years our friends Brock and Britt Booher have invited us to join them on an adults only vacation to some exotic location (like Costa Rica, Cozumel & Hawaii). For one reason or another we were never able to go. This year we decided to take them up on the offer, so late in 2008 we went to their house with a bunch of other couples to hear the plan for a trip to Waikiki. Over the next couple of weeks all of the other couples ended up backing out and it was down to just the two couples. After some discussion we decided to move forward and boy are we glad we did!
Turns out that Britt has family that still live in Hawaii (where she grew up) and we ended up dumping the idea of the all-inclusive resort and ended up staying at family locations near Laie on Oahu and in Hilo on the Big Island. Little did we know that we would end up staying in a location that belongs on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and all we had to pay was the cleaning fee since we were staying with family!! Seriously...check out the website http://www.reedsisland.com/ and our pictures taken on site...
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One of the truly amazing things about this home is that it is literally within walking distance of downtown Hilo! Yet if you fell asleep in the car from the airport and woke up at the property, you would think that you were isolated somewhere in the middle of the jungle!
On our flight over, we got bumped in Phoenix and didn't get in to Oahu until 10pm. We did get 2 free tickets out of it, so it wasn't a complete loss. The next day we literally drove all around the island, checking out the North Shore, Dole Plantation, Pali Lookout, Kayaking at Kailua Beach, Snorkeling with turtles at Waimanalo Beach, eating a famous plate lunch at L & L's Hawaiian BBQ, checking out the blow hole near Sandy Beach, driving around Diamond Head and finishing the night off at the international marketplace in Waikiki. It was a long, but very fun day.
The next day we flew to the Big Island and spent the day looking at the Volcanoes National Park. We drove around the crater, walked through a lava tube and finished the evening watching the lava flow into the ocean (from a ways away, but it was still impressive!)
The following day we drove north from Hilo to Waipio Valley to ride horses. Along the way we saw beautiful beaches and waterfalls, stopped at a hole in the wall for Malasadas (like donuts), saw some interesting people and products in an organic, "all natural" shop. The horseback ride was absolutely beautiful as we wandered around a very isolated and lush Waipio Valley for the afternoon. We got back to Hilo in time to have dinner with the owners of the house we were staying in. All in all a great day, but the best was yet to come!!
The last day there we decided to spend the morning wandering around Hilo trying to buy some goodies to take home. One of the neat places we stopped at was the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut farm. They have something like 250,000 trees on site and they allow you to take a tour of the processing plant and taste samples at the company store. Next we stopped at Hilo Hatties for the obligitory Hawaiian shirt. The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming in the river next to the rental home and climbing up 4 levels of waterfalls. It was absolutely incredible! The water was a little chilly, but that was quickly forgotten about because of the sheer beauty of the location. We could have spent all three days climbing along this river and come home thrilled with the trip. Before catching the red-eye back to Phoenix, we enjoyed our first and only restaurant meal of the trip.
It is hard to put into words how much fun we had on this short, but eventful trip to Hawaii. We had a wonderful time with our friends, met new friends and saw some of the most impressive and beautiful sights this world has to offer!
Looks like you had an awesome trip, I'm jealous! The blog looks great, too!
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