Kailua-Kona

After writing the previous post yesterday morning I tried to plan for things to do. Maria ended up not taking me to Volcanoes National Park. However, Lizzy, whose name is actually Lily, agreed to meet me at the hostel. At the hostel, I also met a young Swiss woman named Lea who has been traveling for 15 months, mainly in Canada and the US. The three of us shared a Lyft ride to the Kona Farmers Market in downtown.

Kona Farmers Market

The farmers market only had two stands selling food, the rest of the stands were selling souvenirs, which I didn’t care for. It was almost noon and none of us had anything to eat yet. We followed a sign for poke bowls and arrived at Pa’akai Poke and Deli. I had a delicious poke plate with spicy marlin and ahi.

Poke plate

When I was enjoying my lunch Wes texted me and asked if I wanted to see some waterfalls in the afternoon. I hate to ditch my newly found friends, but both Lily and Lea thought I should go with Wes, so I agreed.

Lily led Lea and I to the Courtyard hotel where there was an exhibit about King Kamehameha and the history of Hawaii. We all cooled down inside the hotel and browsed at the exhibit. I didn’t read everything, but the paintings showed a lot of fighting on the island between the locals and later with the Europeans. I’m not a history buff so I mainly enjoyed the paintings.

Exhibit at the Courtyard hotel

Wes picked me up at the hotel around 1:15 PM. He was excited to hang out since he’s been working and had no one to converse. He drove about an hour and 45 minutes east toward our first waterfall, Rainbow Falls near Hilo.

On the way there, I saw some goats. I heard there are also wild pigs, but I didn’t see any. The landscape was amazing. Sometimes we caught a view of the ocean and other times we saw black lava rocks on the side of the mountain. As we got closer to the eastern side of the island, the weather became foggy and rainy.

On the way to the Hilo side of the island

Rainbow Falls was a short walk from the roadside. There was a great big tree with vines hanging down from it and roots exposed. I never seen anything like it before. The waterfall was also great, but the water looked muddy.

The great tree

Wes

Rainbow Falls

Next, we turned back and visited another waterfall called Boiling Pots. It wasn’t as impressive as Rainbow Falls. I was glad that I wore my flip-flops and not my shoes due to the rain.

We decided to visit one more waterfall, ’Akaka Falls. It was about a 30 minute drive. This one is one big long waterfall and we had to hike on a paved path. The entire path was a 15 minute loop and it felt like we were walking in a tropical jungle, which I guess we were, with the rain and all.

'Akaka Falls

On the way back to Kona, we stopped by Tex Drive-In in Honokaa where they claimed to have the best malasadas, which are Portuguese donuts. Lily had recommended the place to me so I had to try it. I ordered the Bavarian Creme filling donut and an Hawaiian burger, which is just a regular burger with pineapple. Surprisingly, Wes paid for my meal so I paid for the sodas.

Wes and I chatted a lot in the car. I enjoyed listening to his stock picking strategy and how he was able to get at least 50% returns per year by doing stop-loss swing trading. We shared some things politically, but I’m more liberal than he is. I was glad that the politics didn’t get heated, as it could be with some people.

The rainbow on the way back

Wes dropped me off at the hostel and we bid farewell. It was great day hanging out with Wes!

I saw Lea sitting by the table and chatted with a her for a bit. It was five minutes before the 7:05 sunset so we decided to go across the street to a small beach to watch the sun setting. It was my first time watching the sunset in Hawaii and I’m glad I caught it during my last night in Kona.

Kona sunset

After a shower, I went to bed around 8:30. This morning, the buses are running again and I will check out of My Hawaii Hostel and take the trolley into downtown and catch another bus to Hilo around noon.

Lea

My Hawaii Hostel