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| Strong winds from behind the beach blowing the tops off of the cresting waves at Hapuna Beach |
Friday morning we drove to Hapuna Beach for some sunshine. The red warning flags were up on the beach, warning about high surf but you really didn't need signs to see that the waves were hitting the beach hard. There were a few nutty people out on boogy boards but we chose to do no more than dip our toes in the water. We learned that this was probably wise when the life guards had to haul a guy off the beach and into an ambulance, on a back board with his neck braced.
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| View of Hapuna from the Ala Kahakai Trail |
The wind was sand blasting people on the beach, but we managed to secure a spot next to a lava cliff which guarded us perfectly from the wind. I left the girls to their leisurely pursuits and went for a hike from Hapuna Beach, down a 1 mile section of the Ala Kahakai Trail to Mauna Kea Beach. Ala Kahakai trail translates to shoreline trail and that is just what this rocky, treacherous in places, little trail was. This trail also look me next to some incredibly expensive looking pieces of privately owned real estate.
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| Our sheltered spot on the beach |
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| Life's a Beach! |
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| Infinity pools look interesting. The water flows over the edge of the pool and when you sit in the pool facing the ocean, it is supposed to look like the pool goes on forever. |
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| Mauna Kea Beach from the south end |
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| Surfer at Mauna Kea |
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| One of the holes at Mauna Kea, as I walked by on the Ala Kahakai Trail |
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| Hapuna |
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| A honeybee came to visit me at Hapuna Beach |
In the afternoon, Allison went back to her homework while Ann and I took care of some household chores. We went out to the Pau restaurant for supper. Pau is a wonderful, inexpensive little eatery with fantastic pizza and salads.
Today, we went to Kona to do a little shopping. We made sure to stop at Costco just to buy gas. They have the least expensive gas on the Island at $3.99/gal. After that we went to Macy's. While we were there, something happened that made me question if calling this the Big Island is a misnomer. While walking through the store, I met Gus Rouse, the owner of the Kona Queen Company, who I mentioned in a previous post. It made me think that this island really isn't so big. We chatted for a while. He offered me one of his work trucks and a couple of kayaks if we ever want to go and check out Kealakekua Bay. I'm sure we'll take him up on it sometime.
Later, we went to K-Mart and bought a Christmas Tree. You simply gotta have a tree at Christmas and so we spent the evening setting up and decorating the tree.
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| Setting up the Christmas Tree |
Wow! That surfing looks like a blast. That was such beautiful view you had on that hike too. Ca't wait to see it with my own eyes.
ReplyDeleteAnd funny you me Gus Rouse! I say we definately take him up on the offer for kayaks. It's been a year and a half since i was last in one, and would be awesome to climb back in one again.
Those guys were actually paddle surfing. They each had a long pole with paddle on one end and they stood on thee boards and paddled out. In the photo, you can actually see the guy dragging this paddle behind him and maybe using it as a rudder?
ReplyDeleteRoseanne Barr. That is funny. Now you have to watch her show on TLC or OWN "Roseanne's nuts" as she has a nut farm. Next time, introduce yourself and she might invite you over and you can be on the show too!
ReplyDeleteWhy does it always seem that mom and dad are out exploring and Ally is left at home doing homework?
Looks like it is going to be a very fun and memorable Christmas.