A shopping day.....

 We wanted to shop today, but it was very hot with no breezes and walking around the busy streets was not as much fun as we had hoped.  We did locate the local markets though and will go back for some fresh veggies next weekend.  Paul and I did find the Reef store and each bought a new pair of flipflops.  They are soooo comfortable!  I put mine on right away and smiled through the sweat dripping off my face:)  We called it a day and went for some lunch and ice tea.  


Paul's burger was on grilled homemade bread with local made salad....

 I had the calamari steak burger on a homemade bun, the potato salad was also homemade.  The tender piece of calamari was huge and I ended up eating 1/2 of it with a fork and knife. Paul helped finish up the yummy burger!

 The view was wonderful eating outside and a breeze come up which helped with the cool down....


After lunch we drove around looking for Costco, not an easy task looking for things on this island without good directions and a REALLY good map.  Paul finally stopped and got some directions from a policeman who was directing traffic for a road construction crew.  He had us drive about 6 miles up the mountain, turn left, then drive 6 miles down the mountain(on another road) and found it in the "industrial" area.
Costco was actually about a mile from where we had started looking for it, but because we were in a construction zone, the policeman had directed us in the direction we were headed.....(another island adventure for sure!!)

Heading home going up our street...street humps...:0

Pulling into the driveway you go past the owners home(his driveway is on the other side of the gardens.

Home again in our little jungle....

Monday, our third day of car traveling.....

 Today was going to be "a check out the beaches down the Kona coastline day".. What we didn't expect was the wind, which blows with much force down the "saddle", an area between two volcanic mountains.  This area has some of the best pristine beaches on the island.  However, you need to be prepared with beach chairs, sunscreen and the ability to swim well...there are places for shade, and laying on a towel on the sand can be a  "blasted adventure"!!  
 

We instead headed to Alii Drive, which takes you through old town Kona which is almost an exact replica of what Lahina, Maui used to be.  Instead, both sides of the streets are lined with shops, outdoor eating and such. It's a narrow adventure drive with the rocky ocean to one side.  There are many hotels and vacation rentals in this area, thus lots of people walking.  We stopped at a park just at the end of the area and enjoyed our poki, veggies & crackers.

 The pictures to the right are a pano of this park place, very peaceful...


















Turtles are swimming here so we'll go back, with shoes, and hike over the rocks for a better view of them another day.

After lunch we continued south driving on Hwy 11.   We decided to take a right down a road that might just get us back out to the ocean - and it did - most of the road was narrow, winding and no shoulders in places,(drive to Hana?) but there were many places of coffee orchards and we organic farms.  There is a place at the end of this road where you can rent kayaks and paddle around the cove-cash only!

Pretty place and busy with lots of adventurists:)

Every place on this island is rocky and mountainous. 

Yep, you have to drive back up that hill to get home!!

We did stop at this Old Kona Coffee Mill and sample the coffee's and mac nuts.  Prices were a bit high, but they offered lots of local fair.  On the way back up the mountain we stopped at a side stand and bought some organic spinach and papaya's.  Then ended up picking up the "farmer boys" and taking them to the top of the hill where they were looking for more work on the island.  We continued on and got as far as the town of Captain Cook.  There are many small coffee and organic farms along the way and everyone either has a small store or stand off the road.  We did stop at another place and bought a dozen apple banana's and pineapple from a couple very nice ladies.  We have already over a dozen apple banana's-the BEST banana in the entire world(at least ours:)

We drove back to our cabin in the jungle, through the "up country" and the old winding highway, not wanting to get on the main highway and climb the hill to get home.  You are either going straight up, or straight down here and once we get home, we don't leave again.  It's not a location for young people that want to be out at night, but perfect for us "oldsters" that enjoy the quiet and birds and "wildlife".  This guy is one of the more friendlier outside residents and wanted to get up close and personal with Paul.  We discovered about eight of them in the plants yesterday afternoon and they entertained us until dinner time.  What a life!

A display of the mac nuts, banana's, papaya's, and avocado's we have to eat everyday...oh man, oh man!!

New adventures tomorrow........

Views from our lanai

The evening sun.

The evening sun through my favorite trees.

Views from the lanai.

Around to the car....

Part of the driveway and view of the neighbors herb garden.

Turning around heading back the other way....

The length of the lanai...

The view from the BBQ - Mac tree and avocado trees...

View from the lanai BBQ looking down to Harry's house-this entire place is cedar! The hot water is solar heated.

Day two after Hawi continued.....

This is the valley at the "end of the road".

Looking from left to right I tried to capture the incredible view!

Still going right.....

Further right(there is a trail that takes you down about 400 feet to the ocean-we weren't prepared for the hike down this time!

Coming to the ocean now....

Here is the ocean and cove for water activities.

There are people down there in the waves.

This snail had several people captivated while I was taking pictures.  Paul put down some money to give you an idea how big he was!

See you later Pololu Valley...we are off to find a place to have lunch.

Onc of our lunch beggers-(he got a carrot scrap)

The view from our picnic table:)

Heading back to Kona-this is "up country"

We are up about 3,000 feet and heading out of the Parker Ranch area.

More up country views.

Loved this cloud!

The "VOG" is always there dimming the views...

Uh oh, leaving some waste water at the top, better go for now:0

Our trip to Hawi

We are on the second day at the end of the road!

Truly,  the end of the road!!

Oh my gosh, where to now?

Very unusual lifestyle on Kona

Found a "guava man" just outside our bedroom window.

Guava Man was getting impatient waiting for the fruits to ripen:)

We bought a dozen eggs from across the street.  You put your $5.00 in the box and took a dozen eggs!  Pretty incredible really, notice there is a blue, green and pink egg?  Paul had them for breakfast this morning-Egg's Ranchero's yum.