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Posts Tagged ‘Hawaii’

Last Hurrah: Hawaiian Adventures

Hello there… as promised, a peek at the rest of our adventure in Hawaii. At the moment, I’m having the complete opposite of an adventure — sitting by my lonesome here in Panera while Ella is at LaCrosse. Mr. BOP’s in Buffalo. So it’s nice to revisit these more exciting days. Yes, it makes me want to go back! {If you missed the other two posts on Hawaii, they are here and here}.

Adventure #1: We booked a tour of the Big Island with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters; a quality operation with friendly, safety-oriented staff. Highly recommend!

The most amazing thing about the Big Island of Hawaii is the diversity in its landscape. We started out flying over an expansive area of lava flow from the Kilauea volcano. And yes, we saw lava! Not huge amounts, but it was still exciting. Taken through the helicopter window:

The most striking part of seeing the island by helicopter is realizing how diverse the land is — as the eastern and western sides receive vastly different amounts of rain. Interesting fact: the Big Island includes 11 of the world’s 13 climate zones. We watched the land change from dry, black lava rock to lush, green rainforest. This was taken as we travelled up the coast near the small city of Hilo:

 We then continued up into the valleys of the Kohala Mountains… foliage and water was everywhere.

The two hour tour was something we’ll never forget {and I only had to resort to anti-nausea deep breathing now and then}. I can’t think of a better way to take in the diversity and beauty of this special place.

Adventure #2: Kohala Zipline. So much fun — and I can’t begin to express how kind and supportive the staff was. Here’s Anthony getting my gear all set {Mr. BOP; ever the wise-guy}. We enjoyed talking with Anthony about the happy new life that he and his wife are carving out in Hawaii — after selling their draft horses and leaving their farm in Indiana. I love hearing stories like that.

Once we were suited up, part of the adventure was conquering a small mountain in an old Swiss army truck…
And we were up in the canopy. Note to self: lens cap!
A majestic and fun-filled course, through the Hawaiian forest…
Our afternoon of zip lining was a great success — just enough challenge, with a unique perspective.
Whether big or small, exotic or simple — gotta love a good adventure! Now, back to the Wednesday routine…

Surfing Hawaii {And the Inside of Our Fridge?}

We’re back — arriving late last night from Hawaii! It was a fantastic trip {see more of Hawaii and the Four Seasons in this previous post}, and I want to share our adventures on the Big Island. Mr. BOP was a man on a mission; with an itinerary that included zip lining, a helicopter tour, surfing lessons, and swimming at night with manta rays. Big plans. And, I see now that I can’t reasonably fit them into one post. So today I’ll go with surfing and hope to get the rest in one last Hawaii post very soon.

** Also on the docket this week: the Top 12 Favorite Books of my Book Club, as voted on our 9th anniversary! **

But first, surfing. Upon the recommendation of the concierge, Mr. BOP and the kids signed up with Hawaiian Lifeguard Surf Instructors in Kona, Hawaii. The “lifeguard” in the title had a nice ring to it. I’m not-so-much of a water adventure person, so I signed on as family photographer. And they were off!

Ready…

Contemplating…

And surfing! The instructors were not only patient and friendly, but they enabled everyone in the group to get up and surf successfully — with many spills along the way. I was perched with zoom lens nearby. It was thrilling to see progress over the course of two hours.

{Above: our instructor shows us some moves.}

Hudson, Ella, and Mr. BOP all reported that surfing is very tiring {total upper body workout} but “awesome!” They don’t call a swim shirt a “rash guard” for nothing though; Ella’s thighs and forearms were pretty raw…

And then there were three —  very tired, but satisfied — surfers…

{Cue the Baywatch music}.

Onward, to the next adventure!

Oh, but first I have to show you our fridge — as Hudson set up a vacation preservation system for us earlier today. The leis are being carefully monitored with a regular spritzing system. The “Aloha Spirit” is still with us!

Aloha From Hawaii

Where to begin? I’m in our room, all by my lonesome at the Four Seasons Hualaiai on the Big Island of Hawaii — making dinner out of Pinot Noir, macadamia nuts and banana chips. It’s dark outside, and ocean waves and the live sounds of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” are wafting through the open screen doors {the unofficial Hawaiian anthem, with thanks to the late Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole}. I’m having a moment.

I meant to post earlier this week, and ideally more than once — but that would have involved ignoring the family and all. But, right now, Mr. BOP and the kids are out in the deep dark ocean swimming with manta rays. Um, no thank you! Not my thing. So now’s my chance to blog before we depart tomorrow. The Pinot and macadamias and I will choose a nice selection of photos to share. We’ll start with some pretty around-the-resort pics right now, and we’ll save the thrill-seeking shots {surfing, helicopter, and zip line} for a post tomorrow or the next day. There’s too much to cover in one swoop.

So you may have seen this one on my Facebook page. On our first walk down the beach, Ella found this piece of coral – and we loved it. And it loved us back.

And, nearby there was a giant green sea turtle napping happily on the lava rock. I’m not sure if he loved us back, or not. It was hard to tell.

I should explain… we’ve been here at the Four Seasons for Mr. BOP’s annual company trip — vacationing with a large group of fantastic people {adults and kids} whom we’ve gotten to know over the years. The company selects some incredible locations as a “thank you” to people who work hard, and we are more than happy to come along for the luxury ride once a year. But being the Vermont girl that I am, I have to make sure you know that this isn’t our usual modus operandi. Our kids are only allowed to come to a place like this because they still act like going camping is the best thing ever!

And speaking of luxury, a few tidbits about the Four Seasons: First, the people here all have the “Aloha spirit.” It’s part of the screening process. They are friendly as can be, and passing through the lobby is one big “Aloha”-fest. When we arrived last week after our 17 hours of travel, we were greeted with chilled face towels, fresh flower leis and drinks containing even more flowers. These kind of special touches just keep on coming. It’s been so so nice. Here I am, enjoying my first-ever mai tai. I drank half and switched to wine, lest I overdo. But it was good.

Outside of our room is the entrance to the resort boutique. I snapped this shot of Ella, before we went inside to browse — which led us to a display of beaded bracelets stacked on the checkout counter. They looked fun and beachy; like you might want to group a few together. Ella was hoping to buy some with her own money until she saw that they were each priced between $400 and $900. The clerk mentioned that there were small bits of diamonds involved, apparently.

The view from our room:

And this is one of my favorite things… mammoth onions rings and a club sandwich delivered on the beach. Yes, I ate them all.

And flowers, flowers everywhere. Ella has taken an interest in up-close photography this week. She took these flower photos…

And I’ll wrap up with a few curiosities which are completely random, but fun. First, a dessert at one of the company dinners — ice cream, custom blended upon large blocks of dry ice. We could choose our “mix-ins” and cream was poured on top of the ice and stirred until it became ice cream. A fantastic dessert novelty!

Last night, we saw a fantastic display of Hawaiian culture at a show for our group. In addition to hula and story-telling through dance, we saw this awesomeness:

And today in Kona, we noticed this sweet ride {a Mercedes} in the parking lot.

Mr. BOP and the kids have returned successfully from their manta ray adventure…. big smiles and tired people. Hope you enjoyed this random assortment of our brief encounter with the good life. Hawaii is such a special place and we’ve loved being here!