While I was in the planning process for our trip, I used the Fromme's Hawaii 2015 as a reference for activities. I wanted to make sure we had a variety of things to do so we'd have contingency plans if the weather was bad. When we were on the plane to Kona, I realized the book was on my desk. Ugh! On the plus side, I remembered a few of the places I wanted to visit.
Not far from the birth place of King Kamehameha was the original Italian statue of the King. In 1880, the ship carrying the statue to Honolulu sank. Everyone believed the statue was lost forever and a replacement was commissioned.
Erected in downtown Honolulu, the replica is one of the most photographed landmarks on Oahu and is frequently shown on the show Hawaii Five-O.
Against all odds, the original statue was recovered in 1912. The restored statue is now located in Kapaau. From the Waipio Valley Overlook, it took us just over an hour to get to there.
Along the way, the scenery was radically different than the lava fields!
If we had discovered this area of the island earlier in our trip, we might have tried to skydive here! The fields were beautiful, lush & green.
When we were leaving Kapaau, I texted Price to see how the fishing trip went. He replied back, "No fish." Seriously? After a few messages, I found out that NO ONE caught fish. The 4 hour Bite Me charter was a bust. Or was Price just pulling my leg?
On the way back to the condo, we stopped at the Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company. Even though they were done with production for the day, there were lots of free samples and a variety of flavors. Matt and I sampled a few of them, but one of the employees was super sick so Matt went outside and I looked for things to buy.
While I was inside, Matt did some research on swimming with dolphins. Neither one of us wanted to swim with dolphins in a pool. It seems a little cruel to put a big fish in a little pool. When I came out, he told me that Sea Quest with the real deal. We'd be able to swim with dolphins in their natural habitat just off the coast of the island. Awesome!
It was 1:40 when we left the nut factory and headed back to the condo. I added the nut factory to the list of places my parents should visit - it was only 20 minutes away!
On the way back to the condo, we stopped so I could get a couple of lava rocks for my friend Jennifer. She had very generously invited my parents to stay at her house on their way to the Dulles airport and she even got up super early in the morning and dropped them off so they wouldn't have to take a cab.
As a friend, Jennifer goes above and beyond and she is one of my treasures in life. I am thankful that I met her. I very ceremoniously selected rocks for her and Matt took my picture when I found the ones I wanted to take home.
We did some more research on the cost to swim with the dolphins - it was $127 a person for a five hour dolphin encounter. On the plus side, they would provide snacks, drinks and lunch.
