Hawaii - Day 4

Since we are leaving for Kona on the Big Island today, we didn't have a lot of time to do much, but we had to do something, so we hiked Diamondhead. It was worth it. They said it was about a 1.5 - 2 hour hike, but M and I were pretty confident we could better than the average. Although it wasn't easy, we made it up and back in about 45 minutes. Our timing was perfect. As soon as we got to the bottom and sat down to eat our shaved ice, the tour buses started rolling in. There would have been NO way we could have done that hike that quick with that many people. The trails are narrow and the steps, and there are a lot of them, are even narrower. We got back to the hotel and checked out by noon to catch our 1:30 flight.

While we were waiting for our plane, I overheard the guy across from us say, "Lafayette". Oddly enough, that was the only thing I heard, so I had to interrupt him to see if he was a neighbor. Come to find out, he and his friend were from Iowa state and he currently works and lives in Lafayette. They too were flying to the Big Island, but to the other side to stay with some friends. They had no idea what they were planning on doing while they were there, so M gave them a few ideas. What a small world to be able to travel thousands of miles to meet someone that lives about an hour away from you.

The Big Island is so much different than O'ahu. It's not nearly as commercialized and there's not a lot of greenery, at least not in Kona, the volcanic side of the Island. It was absolutely breathtaking, relaxing, and didn't seem to be too commercialized.

Our hotel lobby area

By the time we landed, we were hungry, again. Once we settled into our hotel, we ate at Bubba Gump's. Yes, it was a Forrest Gump montage but it was absolutely delicious and the view of the beach was beautiful.

the beach

Sea urchins (I think). There were tons of them ine shallow waters.

The City of Refuge where natives went to be cleansed from their evil ways hundreds of years ago.