We loved our trip so much last year that we had to go back. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as magical as our last vacation because I got very sick. For that past month I haven't been feeling the best, but I couldn't figure out why. I noticed my appetite was gone and certain foods (especially foods high in sugars) made me nauseous, but I couldn't figure out the problem.
The week before our flight I woke up with stomach pains so bad I almost had Matt drive me to the hospital. Anyways to make a long story short, after multiple Google searches of my symptoms I finally figured out that I have gastritis and the things I was eating just magnified the problem.
Just this last week, I got my blood results back, and I tested positive for H. Pylori, which is a bacteria that gets in your stomach and causes all sorts of havoc. My doctor told me I likely have an ulcer, but the good news is that they prescribed me a couple of different antibiotics, and a pill to reduce my stomach acid so hopefully I'll be feeling better in a couple of weeks.
So enough of that -- let's focus on our trip.
Monday morning we woke up at 6:00 am to hitch a ride to the Airport. It was a miserable day being sick and on the plane. When we finally got into Kona, I instantly felt better. It was a lot of fun returning back to a place that we'd been before, and it was a lot less stressful because we knew exactly where everything was.
On Tuesday, we got settled in, and then Matt went snorkeling at Kahalu'u beach park. The Big Island really does have the best snorkeling. Unfortunately, Matt forgot his rashguard, and got super sunburned even though he was only out for an hour and a half.
He got an underwater camera, and had a lot of fun taking all sorts of pictures:
When Matt got back, I was feeling a little better and so we thought we might try a hike at Polulu Valley. The drive was great, but when we got there I felt awful, so we only got to enjoy the view. Unfortunately, we forgot our cameras -- but it's a beautiful place, if you ever go, it's definitely worth the drive.
We did take a picture of the Kamehameha statue in Hawi:
On our way back we stopped at Hapuna Beach Park, which is the best beach on the island (and probably our favorite in all of Hawaii). It's a long, wide beach with dozens of picnic tables, several restrooms and a few lifeguard stations. Not to mention, plenty of parking, and beautiful emerald water.
Matt had scheduled a special tour at the Volcano to go see a lava tube. This tour is only done once a week, and you have to get really lucky to get it scheduled. I'll let Matt describe it:
The "wild" lava tube isn't very far from the Thurston lava tube, but what makes it unique is that it wasn't discovered until about 20 years ago, and so the cave formations are all intact. It's also the only place in the world that has a unique species of bacteria that grows on the wall that has been studied for cancer research.
It's about a two mile hike from the Thurston Lava Tube. The guides were a lot of fun, and shared tons of information about the flora and fauna, as well as the cave itself.
The people that were on the tour were unique as well. There were a group of four people that were basically hippies living in a commune on the Hamakua Coast. I swear one of the guys hadn't showered in a month. There was an older couple, and people that enjoyed performing as clowns (Rachel is frightened of clowns, so maybe it's a good thing she wasn't feeling up to coming).
The hike was beautiful, and the cave was unlike anything I've ever seen -- I'd definitely recommend trying to book the tour (you have to call at 7:45 Hawaii time on Wednesday's to book for the next Wednesday's tour).
On Thursday, I still wasn't feeling well, so Matt decided to go to the Captain Cook monument by himself. Here he goes again:
After renting the kayak, I was off for the 1.1 mile kayak off to the Cook Monument. When I was about half way I noticed some dolphins jumping out of the water. I saw some people chasing them (don't chase dolphins if you see them in the wild -- it's obnoxious, and there's no way you can paddle faster than them). Lucky for me, I stopped my kayak and waited for the pod to come right up to me. I saw about 40-50 dolphins of all different sizes get as close as 5-10 feet from my kayak. Unfortunately, I had some issues with my camera and couldn't get anything. Oh well, it was a really cool experience seeing all those dolphins up close.
After the dolphins had passed, I finished the rest of the way over to the Cook Monument. I snorkeled in several different areas there. Even though I had done it before, I was still just dumbfounded by the coral formations, the variety, and number of fish. The water is so clear, you can see for at least a hundred feet ahead of you in the water. As you can tell from some of the pictures, if I wasn't taking picture of fish, you couldn't even tell I was taking them under water.
This place is not to be missed.
After I was done kayaking, I decided to check out a few properties in Kona. We'd love to have a place there, but we'd probably be better off having the flexibility in staying in different locations.
On Friday, we decided to take the day off. Rachel wasn't feeling too hot, and so we watched movies and spent the day together. Even though we are both home together a lot, there's nothing like spending good quality time with each other.
On Saturday, we went back to our favorite beach (Hapuna). Matt snorkeled the other side, and saw all sorts of different fish. It was actually one of his favorite spots -- there were tons of big school of fish (he saw dozens with hundreds or more).
Unfortunately, the water was a little deep, and because of the sandy bottom, the clarity wasn't that great -- so not many pictures turned out.
Here's a picture of a turtle:
After that, we took off for the Place of Refuge. We love driving on the big island. The scenery is just gorgeous, and the ocean views are incredible in spots.
Here's a picture of Matt with the Tikis:
We took the day off on Sunday, and were sad that we had to leave on Monday. We had some time off before the airport, so we drove up and checked out a few beaches. The beaches along the Kohala coast are second to none. We can't wait to come back when I'm feeling better to get a closer look. If you are planning a trip to Hawaii, we can't recommend the Big Island enough. Here are our reasons:
Much less touristy / crowded than the other islands.
Excellent variety of activities (Hiking / Best snorkeling / where else can you see an active volcano?).
Kona itself is quite nice (hard to describe, but there are a lot of rundown areas on other islands).
The beaches are much more spread out than the other islands, but they aren't very crowded, and are absolutely stunning. We even went on Saturday and had plenty of elbow room to ourselves.
Kona is a lot cheaper -- you can stay for a week in a condo for about $500 -- two weeks can be even cheaper at about $900, and these places are NICE, right next to the ocean.
Sorry we're so behind, but we'll follow-up with a post on Maui soon.
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