Day 4: Loop around the Big Island.

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We started off the day at the Hilo Farmers Market. The colors of all the fruit in there is overwhelming.
We hopped into the car and headed north and it was stunning.
We went inland a bit and found ourself on a very pretty narrow road.
We came to a vanilla vineyard where we got a lesson on how hard it is to produce vanilla beans.
We always appreciate a well behaved children sign.
Vanilla stalk they currently don’t force to produce. I didn’t know they were part of the orchid family.
We then headed back to the Hawaii Belt Road

Disclaimer: I purchased a knock off GoPro camera for the underwater pics and used it for most of the drive north and then west. I didn’t realize the settings were wonky and so most of the pictures were unusable. Hilo is in a rainforest but up north is very much a desert.

We drive the speed limit when traveling to take in the sites and we know that can annoy people who are familiar with these roads. We’re used to tailgaters and frequently pull over to let people pass. This car was bad and as soon as he sped off, he was pulled over. LOL.
Goats!🐐🐐🐐
Stopped for lunch at a tiki restaurant in Kawaihae and had our first Mai Tai.
Dive helmet anyone?
Coconut shrimp 🦐 sandwiches!
Hula skirts.
We have both fallen in love with this tree and we’re finally close enough to grab a picture.
There are three additional National Park sites on the Big Island. This one is a temple for Kamehameha I in 1791 and played a role and him uniting the Kingdom of Hawaii.
This stone heiau was built in one year by a chain of thousands of people passing each rock to the site.
This site included historic fish ponds, fish traps and petroglyphs but the trail was not user friendly for mom’s feet.
This third stop was amazing. It’s Royal Grpunds and Pu’uhonua (Place of Refuge) from around 1600.
It was so beautiful and tranquil.
This heiau once held the bones of 23 chiefs. Wooden statues are of Hawaiian gods.
Mom with the wooden statue.
I can’t help but take pictures of basalt. Sorry, not sorry.
The wall for the Royal Grounds
More of the wall. Not pictured is a family of five that stood at this site the entire time we were here. As we got closer, I noticed they were all standing around while one young woman posed for pictures. Was this an Instagram “influencer” or whatever in the wild? We don’t really care but we had to ask them to take a break from the photo shoot for a hot second.
Homes for canoes! I want one for my kayak!
Canoe!
Interesting fruit and a bee.
We made our way back to Hilo and had dinner with tsunami markers.
Ended the day with officially becoming friends with Pumpkin, the hotel cat! 🎃🎃🎃
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Published by Sheila Kyleen Boutte

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One thought on “Day 4: Loop around the Big Island.”

  1. Love the Royal Poinciana trees….we see them in the Caribbean as well, such striking red flowers! Love the ‘Pumpkin’ kitty…..I had one for 20 years!

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