Big Island Big Trip - March 2010

Tue. Mar 2 flew from Portland to Maui to Kona on the Big Island. Took our rental car for supplies at Wal-Mart & Safeway, then found our condo Kona Bali Kai , not far from where we stayed years ago with the kids. We had dinner at Big Hawaiian Grill, and settled in.

Wed., Mar 3we played golf north on the Kohala coast. Windy would be an understatement. But at the beautiful

# 3 par 3 Carla hit into trees on right. Rex hit above green, chipped to 8 feet and missed putt for a 4. One of most photographed holes in the world. It was so windy on #9 at top of hill heading down, Rex couldn’t keep ball on tee – Looked like a Charlie Chaplin movie. Wish I'd had the camera.

Afterward we drove north along Kohala coast and around n point of island, stopped at Hawi for ice cream (sorbet coconut & lilikoi ) & drove to the overlook of Pololu Valley (end of road). We hiked part way down, so we could see the dead whale but didn’t go down to smell it at the beach. We could see waterfalls down cliffs in the distance, & almost to Waipio valley.

Drove down inland along the Kohala mountain road to Waimea, and went down looking for food along route to Kailua Kona using tom-tom and arrived at our “destination” (a Philippine restaurant) in the middle of nowhere – so we continued to Kailua along vast reaches of prickly pear, and went to dinner at Tante’s – and had good Hawaiian food luau and special plate. (We were pretty hungry by then) It was an open air restaurant along waterfront in town.

Thursday Mar 4- We golfed at Mauna Lani South Course. #7 along the ocean is a beautiful par 3, and Rex got a par over the forced carry. At tee box – wonderful whale watching – breaches, blows, flukes hitting, and even could hear their vocalizations above water (calves?). So many we couldn’t count, and pretty close, 100-150 yards, and dozens in the general area. (also on 15, but not as many).

The course was built on a’a and it came into play as the rough – it was very rough with stark contrasts, and flatter than Mauna Kea.

After golf we went to historical site National park Pu’ukohola Heiau and did a quick tour and got a good map. Went to Mauna Kea beach and went snorkeling on their pretty beach along north end rocks – great fish and Rex found a manta ray – swimming back and forth below us about 10-15 feet – about 8 feet across. Really spectacular.

Went to Costco after and bought shrimp dipping tray for dinner and great (big) mango sponge cake we ate all week for breakfast and dessert.

Friday, Mar 5 – snorkel at Kealakekua Bay (near Captain Cook Monument (but we didn’t have a sea kayak to get there – should have rented one on highway with soft carrier for rental car. (Thought there would be one at beach…) so we snorkeled there and then off the dock – where the coral was the best Rex had ever seen, and we saw large schools of Yellow tangs and other bright fish. It was fairly protected and not over-used.

Home for leftover lunch, Rex practiced golf at Kona CC and then went to Avatar movie (2d only there – we’ll look for it at Imax in 3d). Went to dinner at Tante’s – but really slow and bad this time – don’t get soup or Phillipino there.

Sat. Mar. 6, to the Volcano. The drive was safer after Rex finally found a mango tree with ripe mangos on the ground underneath, so he could focus on the windy road.

I bought apple-bananas while Rex got gas and we brunched at a golf course near there the volcano.

At the Park: Kilauea visitors center, Jaggar museum, Lava Tube in rain forest; Kilauea Iki hike where there was a 1959 eruption. We walked down into the crater and across the bottom, where the ground is still warm and there are steam vents where rain water seeps down and evaporates. (Please note that this was not a display… the rain was authentic.)

Drove down the Chain of craters road to the end – and there were some really interesting lava flows. There is a significant drop in elevation where the land probably slumped down into the sea a long time ago. We walked into where there are petroglyphs carved into the lava – many of them were for umbilical cords from new babies for protection. We went to the end of the road – literally, due to a lava flow over the asphalt, nearly burying the previous end of the road sign from an earlier eruption.

We decided the flow was too far off from there to get a good view (3 miles), so we drove back to the museum at the kilauea crater, where there was a deep, smaller active caldera. Earlier we could see the plumes of gases (sulfur dioxide) and at night the gas was lit up in an orange glow. Our little snapshot camera couldn’t get a good view of it, so you just have to trust us on this one. (there was a Japanese tourist with a good camera, and his viewfinder showed it nicely…).

Couldn’t find any dinner, so we were pretty much on snack foods and hungry. Bring a big lunch next time. Cooked spaghetti at home. (and ate cake)

Sun, March 7

Nanea golf course. a very private & exclusive & relatively remote course. Heard about it from John Flanagan, and said Beano the caddie at Bandon Dunes had a relative that worked there as a caddie, as he had. We asked for a contact at Mauna Kea, and the director of golf was expecting a call from us. We went there and had “BlueJay” as a caddie (he’s in Bandon summers, there winters.) He was great reading the very weird grain on the greens, and a pleasant fellow. He told us the club costs $250,000 to join, and $2000/month. It’s 7 years old, designed by David Kidd, and has 150 members, with a max set at 200. It takes a nomination and 2 separate interviews to join, so it’s pretty homogeneous. It was the brainchild of two men – Charles Schwab & Roberts. And it’s classy; the club house is relatively small, but a large part of it are the sumptuous locker rooms with showers that extend outside to a rock walled area. There’s a golf shop and a small restaurant and bar. The look is subtle. You can’t see the course from the road, and there are no signs, just a gate some distance from the road, with a call box, followed by a long road to the course. We pulled up to drop bags, and were met by the Director of golf, followed by a caddie who parked out car and took our bags around back. They were so friendly and gracious. No houses anywhere around – just lava fields and sweeping vistas of the Kona coast.

A fun time, but more for the overall experience than just the golf (fairly links style – a la Kidd), and its surrounded by a’a..

Later we went to the farmer’s market, bought papayas and had lunch at the condo. Lots of fresh fruit! We were ready to snorkel, but it rained, so we napped and watched the sunset through the rain on the ocean.

We went to see mantas at Sheraton, but couldn’t find any, so rented a movie (Indiana Jones) to watch at condo.

Mon. Waikaloa golf with two Japanese women (a mother and daughter?) who didn’t really speak English (although the starter said they did), so it was lots of smile and nod. They played pretty quickly, about like us. Windy again (surprise??)

We went back to Kailua Kona to snorkel at a rather crowded but nice reef area Keauhou Bay– they usually have turtles, but we didn’t see any in the water (saw some from outside on rocks a couple of days earlier) Lots of bright fish, and too easy access (so crowded).

We had asnag in packing due to lost golf luggage (stolen when we moved rooms); so we had to go shopping, and bought the movie Stargate at Wal-mart we started that night and finished on the plane home the next day.

We had a wonderful last night dinner at Bubba Gumps, with beautiful sunset right along the water, and really good, fresh fish.

Tue we breakfasted on cake & fruit, and then headed home with a 3 hour layover in Maui (not too great a place for layover – Honolulu is nicer since it has outside patios with flowers, but we did have a view of Haleakala volano.)

We watched our movie on the plane and arrived to 39 degrees at PDX.

Best & Worst:

Best snorkeling: seeing the manta ray at Muana Kea or the great coal & fish at Kealakua

Best food – 1. Bubba Gumps 2. Tante’s Hawaiian – Worst Tante’s Philipino

Best golf – Tie: Mauna Kea & Nanea

Best sightseeing/hike: volcano – all day

Best (and only) dessert: Mango sponge cake – but best with fresh mango slices for breakfast on Sunday

Most relief: when Rex found mango tree with fruit on the ground so he could drive to the volcano safely

Day by Day in Oahu

Saturday July 19 we arrived around 3 pm, after getting up really early. We picked up the car – there was a huge crowd but we got lucky at the Alamo kiosk (next time check-in online). We stopped in Mililani for supplies at Wal-mart, new flippers for Rex, and ate fresh grilled fish plate lunch at Zippy’s (we were starved – not much to eat on the plane since they don’t serve real meals anymore, and only had snacks). We drove up to Waialua on the North Shore (just west of Haleiwa) – and settled in our little 1 bedroom apartment in time for a walk on the beach and the sunset. We were real party animals, we stayed up until 8:30 (11:30 Pacific Daylight Time!)

At least we were up early on Sunday and walked on beach at low tide. We saw a small eel and fish and crabs in tide pools.

A little later we went to church, where everyone was very friendly. We got a call from our girls in Paris, so skipped Sunday school to talk to them (keeping up the theme of avoiding the block). It was great to talk to the girls, they called for my birthday. We changed clothes and drove west as far as we could go on North shore. We saw a glider get going and watched polo practice a while. We drove into Haleiwa and bought fresh BBQ kitchen & rice. Later we went snorkeling off our beach (a couple of short blocks away, at a little park with playground and grassy areas. There was great coral, but not very many fish. It’s nicely protected by a reef where the small waves break.

Monday morning Chris had arranged for us to golf at 10 am at Turtle Bay (Palmer Course). On the way we checked out a new housing development that Bianca didn’t want built. (It was just an empty subdivision back then).

We had a bit of a rain delay, huddled in the cart under a tree, but it passed. After a few holes, Rennon (retired military) & Wanda (retired school teacher, his wife who didn’t golf) caught up with us and we played in together. Very nice people, who live in Awia.

Back at the shop we asked Carrie about snorkeling, and she recommended turtle cove, and told us how to find it – across from the horse stables. We picked up some food and chocolate haupia pie at Ted’s, We found the spot and it was really fun to see several big green turtles just sleeping on the beach, or coming in and out of the water. They were roped off for protection, and there was a docent of some kind there. Then we went in snorkeling with the turtles and fish. Nice time.



Rex had called to make arrangements for us to golf at industry rates on Tue at Ko’olau on the windward side. It has the hardest slope rating of any course in the US, and he has wanted to golf there for a long time. The first 9 holes were really beautiful and dry, the next 9 not so much (dry – still beautiful). But it was an amazing opportunity to be in a gorgeous rain forest. I played horribly and didn’t really finish all the holes, but it was still beautiful. Afterwards we retreated from the rain by going over to Mililani and watching a movie (Journey to he Center of the earth – don’t bother unless you do it in 3D) and another great dinner at Zippy’s, followed by more pie from Ted’s.

Wed. we golfed at Ko-olini Resort west of Honolulu. It is the driest part of the island, so rain didn’t come into play. We were paired with Barney & Sue, who turned out to be 86 & 89 ½. A little embarrassing, but they out-drove us at times. Very nice people, Japanese descent, born in Hawaii, also from Aiwa. The course was in great condition, very wide fairways, fancy waterfalls, and lots of nice condos. Lovely resort, but I preferred the other course experiences.


Afterwards we drove all the way west on the south shore, to Yokohama bay. But there were lots of squatters, in tents with long term residential look, but it was scary looking, and we heard it’s a high crime area, and it’s not surprising. We stoped at the Dole Planation on the way back north, then back in Haleiwa we had a great dinner at the Grass Skirt Grill.

Thursday Rex’s podiatry seminar started. So Rex dressed warmly for the cool indoors and had to do the work thing, while I went sight seeing… I dropped Rex off at the convention center and went downtown to Iolani palace, took a guided tour and got the history and flavor of Hawaii’s last king and queen, then went to see the old Christian mission home, old church, state capital and other civic buildings, the state art gallery, etc.


I bought gas (some of which must have been siphoned off one night, since some of it mysteriously disappeared and I didn’t drive that far. (gas costs about the same as in Oregon, and less than in California - $4.36). So i shopped a little, stopped at a waterfront park, then went back to Ala Moana, but to the park, not the shopping center, and read under a tree watching the yacht harbor until Rex got done. Since we already by Waikiki, went to the aquarium and walked down to Waikiki to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and treats, and back along beach at sunset. Rex bought me a pulmaria lei from a kid on the beach.

Friday I dropped off Rex, shopped at Hilo Hatti’s, went to the giant and very international food court at the mall for dim sum lunch then took it back to the park and read a book. At 3 Rex walked over and we drove over the Likelike hwy and up the windward side to Shark’s Cove and snorkeled. I’m pretty sure I saw fish I have never seen before, and lots of kinds. It was great, which is god for our last snorkel trip. Went back to apartment for dinner, with fresh fruit.


Sat. I dropped Rex off and did a long swap meet excursion. I wore out at the swap meet, but scored a couple of good things. Saturday at Ala Moana beach was really crowded compared to Friday. Tons of locals, parties, BBQ, etc. etc. I took some pictures just to show the crowds.



Rex walked over after his meeting and we went to Leilehua golf course (it’s military and we got the twilight rate of $32 (for 2) and played 14 holes before it was way too dark. The trees were magnificent – definitely worth the cost. On the way home we saw Buddhists honoring ancestors by buying little lamps with their names in and light them, allowing their spirits to soar (If I got that right). At home we ate leftover BBQ chicken and rice (and spaghetti).

Sunday packed and sat in sun to read books for a while, finished the last of the chocolate Haupia pie and mangos, then went to Zippy’s for breakfast and off to the airport. We had tons of luggage, but success with nothing over 50 lb. and we still got 2 free bags since we bought our tickets in January.

A Real Vacation

At long last we have taken a real vacation - not that we haven't gone anywhere for the past 3 years, but this lasted more than a week and we had to fly and it was a long trip. Of course it was still business for Rex - he had to attend a seminar Thursday through Sunday, but we arrived the previous Saturday, so had Saturday pm through Wednesday with essentially no work to do (except for one little detail, I had to do payroll and some bookkeeping, and answer phone calls and emails, but not the usual 60-80 hrs per week.) An no one to plan around or for, just whatever we felt like. My birthday fell on the first Sunday (July 20), so Rex said it was my birthday week and he's done all the dishes and pretty much waited on me and catered to my every whim. Fun.

So the Podiatry conference is on Oahu, at the Honolulu Convention Center, and includes risk management training that reduces malpractice insurance, which made it an economical choice. Our idea a few years ago was to celebrate our 30th anniversary with a trip to Scotland, but that had to be postponed. This is warmer anyway, and we're having a great and relaxing time.

We decided to ignore the Waikiki scene as much as possible, and found a one bedroom apartment on the mellower and slower North Shore, in Waialua, so it's easy to get to and from Honolulu when we need to (about 45 minutes to most places). It's in a quiet residential neighborhood, a couple of short blocks from the ocean, at a county park with a playground, a reef protected beach, warm water, and great sunsets.