Hawaii

I fully intend to catch up on most recipes since I last wrote (I’ve been busy with my career and am getting close to achieving an important goal, so it’s all good!). In the meantime, I decided to write a blog post about my recent trip to Hawaii, as both a place to keep the information for future reference and in the hopes that it could help shape someone else’s vacation.

I took the Engineer and the boys on a trip to Hawaii earlier this summer, and we had a great time! We split our time between Big Island and Oahu, with roughly five days on each island, and here’s how it went. (If you want a quick guide on the main islands, try this or that, and for more information on Big Island in French, this is great!)

We arrived in Kona at midday, picked up our rental car and made our way to our first stop, the Vanillerie, which is very close to the airport. I really wanted to see vanilla beans in various growth stages! We were lucky to get a quick tour, and Candee gave us tons of information about the plant itself and everything that goes into preparing vanilla for consumption. Did you know that the flower of the vanilla plant only blooms for 4 hours, and must be pollinated by hand if it is to produce a bean? We also got to see the inside of the humidor where the beans are matured, and it smelled just heavenly. We made some purchases at the gift shop, then went to a boba cafe for sustenance, a grocery store for the same, and spent the night at the Sea Village.

The next day, we started with a quick swim at Magic Sands Beach Park, then drove to the other side of the island, taking the northern route. Kona is relatively dry, but things get much greener and more humid as you make your way to the other side of the island! We stopped for lunch at Ippy’s Hawaiian BBQ in Waimea, where we got to try lots of local foods and everything was delicious!

We went to Waipi’o Valley Lookout, which is absolutely worth the drive. The scenery was breathtaking! We also got to learn about King Kamehameha, which would come in handy later in the trip. We then made our way south to Hilo, where we stayed at Arnott’s Lodge. Our room was very spacious, which was great, and we had the loveliest chorus of birds and frogs to go to sleep every night. In Hilo, we did most of our shopping at KTA (we ate our fill of poke and drank a lot of POG!), though I can also recommend Hilo Burger Joint and Tetsumen. We also went to the Hilo Farmers Market to buy tropical fruits we couldn’t try elsewhere.

Day 3 had us doing an activity I was *really* looking forward to – visiting a chocolate farm! We went to Lavaloha, where I had prebooked a tour. We were lucky to have good weather – tours go on rain or shine, and since Hilo is the rainiest city in the U.S., make sure you bring some kind of poncho just in case (though they do lend out umbrellas). We got to see cacao trees on the farm, we tasted fresh cacao beans with the pulp, and we had a chocolate tasting with five of their bars. (Full disclosure: I booked the tour in April, then in May their kitchen burned down, and we visited in June, when they were using other kitchens part-time to make their chocolate.) This was one of my favorite parts of the trip! The location itself was absolutely gorgeous, too, and remote enough that we saw wild pigs and mongooses on the way. We then spent the afternoon at Carlsmith Beach Park; we had to step down into a small lagoon to have access to the ocean, but once there, the water was clear and so comfortable for swimming! The Engineer lost his wedding ring, and the Little Prince managed to find it, so he wins the day. We then took a quick look at Onekahakaha Beach Park as well.

        

The next day was our visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and I will tell you right now, go there EARLY! We got there around 8am and first went to see the Nuhuku lava tube – we had the place almost to ourselves. We then made our way to the active site, stopping at scenic points along the way (don’t miss the steam vents!). We got to see an active lava eruption, which was fantastic, though of course conditions vary. Note also that it was a warm and sunny day, but we could have used a windbreaker up there. When we left, a bit after 10am, there was a line of cars waiting to get in! If you can go early or late, try to do that; otherwise, be patient with everyone, and understand that you may have to park and then hike to the point you want to see if there are no available spots close by.

We had lunch in Hilo, which has a really nice area with shops and restaurants. In the afternoon, we went to Richardson Ocean Park, which has a nice black sand beach. (There is actually some green sand in there too if you look closely!) Entering the water was easier than at Carlsmith, but there are still some rock formations to watch out for.

On our last day on the island, we drove back to Kona and stopped at Mauna Kea on the way. We did not attempt to make it past the visitors’ center (going higher is not recommended for children 12 and under, and we did not have the right type of vehicle), but it was a great experience nonetheless. We were higher than the clouds! And the scenery on the way up and down was beautiful. We had lunch in Kona, on the patio of Aloha Vibes, which was right on the ocean.

There’s so much more to see and do on Hawaii Island! We could have hiked to Akaka Falls, but I had seen them already and the rest of my crew wasn’t interested. I would have liked to go see the green sand at Mahana Beach on the southern tip of the island, but again, I was the only one interested, and it would have taken up hours, so we didn’t do it. It all depends on what your interests and limitations are.

After a short flight to Honolulu, we checked in to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Now, I stayed there once in 1994 (my parents paid) and once in 2007 (the Engineer’s university paid), and even though this place is much more expensive than what I normally book, we just decided to treat ourselves and be right on Waikiki Beach. And… I’m not saying I regret it, but the place had changed tremendously in the 19 years since I had been there – it’s like a small city now, and so crowded! The elevators certainly couldn’t keep up, so it was a blessing in disguise that we were only on the 4th floor. It was a nice hotel, but just wasn’t the experience I thought I was booking. That being said, Waikiki Beach is definitely the prototype of the sandy beach we wanted!

We spent a few days vegging there, because I think that an important part of beach vacations is to have days when your biggest decision is whether to swim in the pool or in the ocean. There are stores and restaurants nearby if you don’t want to be captive on the on-site places. And on our last day, since our plane was leaving in the evening, we rented a car and were much more active.

We started by going to Koko Crater Botanical Garden, which was free. My original plan had been to go to Little Plumeria Farm, but it was closed that day, and this allowed me to visit a grove of plumeria – one of my favorite flowers! It did not disappoint, and it’s a very short walkable loop directly at the entrance of the gardens. It had more kinds of plumeria than I had ever seen, and I realized that they even have different scents. It was amazing!

Then, we obliged the Fox, whose one request on this trip had been to go see the tallest statue in Hawaii, which is the one of King Kamehameha in Honolulu. We then drove north-west to Haleiwa, a scenic town that was much busier than I had anticipated. We had a delicious lunch at No7 Poke n’ Roll. I had a great poke bowl, and then it turned out they had lactose-free matcha swirl soft serve ice cream, so that was my dessert covered! It did mean that I no longer had room for a Haleiwa bowl further down the road, but that’s the way it goes. Before we left, we stopped at Laniakea Beach, where the Fox and I saw a sea turtle!

Finally, we started making our way back and stopped at the Dole Plantation – the Engineer called it Pineapple Buc-ee’s, and he’s not wrong! The gardens were beautiful and worth the admission price; the kids had fun in the maze (apparently the world’s largest); the souvenir shop as wild; Dole Whip is life. I hope to go again someday!