I talked about Hawaii Island Retreat a little bit, but let me tell you more about it. It is an amazing little Eco-friendly boutique spa retreat on the north shore of the Big Island. Beautiful building, beautiful grounds, amazing views, and they believe in sustainable living. They grow most of their own food, and what isn't grown on the grounds, is purchased locally (though I did see a few Costco boxes lying around...).
View from below the hotel, looking down at the ocean.
This is a picture of a place where King Kamehameha is believed to have held council meetings.
This is was a really pretty picture that I didn't frame correctly.Their are two full rows of trees that lead down to the big rock. Off to the left there is a three leveled terrace that is where dancers are believed to have performed for the King and his court.
This little one was one of the many goats that are kept on property to provide milk for the amazing goat cheese and other dairy product. She was a fan of having her chin rubbed and not between her ears like the other goats.
A view over the meadow where the cows live, looking out at the ocean.
The shoreline below the cliff from the picture above.
While on the Big Island we saw two waterfalls. The first was Akaka Falls, a place recommended to us by our chef/guide at the retreat named Mo. Mo gave us really good advice. Most of the time...
Some of the plants on the way to the falls.
A wildlife specimen headed towards the falls. Oh...wait...
Akaka Falls
More plant life along the trail away from the falls.
Rainbow Falls
Crazy staircase and railings headed to the falls.
Cool tree/trees near the falls.
More wildlife at the falls. Oh...wait...
Looking down from the top of the falls. (Yes, I took that picture!)
Crazy guy at the top of the falls.
The next day was a snorkeling and volcano day. The snorkeling was a disaster, and the one really bad piece of advice we got from Mo. It took us forever to get to the place where we were supposed to snorkel from. Then, I found that our gear was broken, but we were told we could snorkel a short way out to see dolphins, so we decided to plow through. That was a bad idea. Malia got caught up in the rocks, and I lost my dad's ring all in a matter of minutes.
A very nice man looked for the ring for like 20 minutes with no luck. He took my number and said he'd call me. He actually did call me in August to say he was sorry, but he hadn't found it yet and was headed back to Oregon, but that he had friends that would keep an eye out for it. Crazy nice guy.
After that disaster, we stopped at the Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park to see what we could see.
Fabulous photography job by yours truly.
Beautiful black sand beach.
These guys were all over the place. I zoomed in to get a good picture of him. Other people were less able to read the signs apparently, because they got all up in their shells.
As you can tell from my hair in this picture, it was SUPER windy.
After we left here we went to the volcano. Sadly when we got there it was raining, so we didn't get to do much exploring or picture taking. This is the one picture I took.
Kind of cool, but it was not as cool as I'd hoped it would be.
By the time we were headed to see the lava flow, it was pouring rain and it just wasn't worth it for the long drive to stay in the car. We had had enough of a crappy day that we turned the car around and headed back to the north shore of the island. You'd be surprised how low long it can take to drive around the Big Island.
This was the day we stopped in Waimea. I think if I was to live anywhere in Hawaii, it would be here. It is called "Cowboy Country" for a reason. Rolling hills, fields of green grass. You'd never know you were on an island, until you looked into the distance and could see the ocean.
I think that's why I liked it so much. Truly the best of many worlds. Living in Nevada for so long, I get antsy when I am away from mountains. Not sure why that is, but it's true. I still have Waimea marked as a favorite on my Weather Channel app on my phone, even though I will probably never get back there.
The next day was our kick around the North Shore Day. Had an early morning couple's massage appointment that turned into two individual appointments due to the rain. It was a weird experience. The young lady who gave me my massage was very good (I guess. I don't really have anyone else to compare her to since I'd never had a professional massage before.).
After that we went into the nearest town, Haw'i and walked around the shops and ate lunch. Across the street we saw The King, so we had to get our pictures taken with him. In all we saw 3 of the 4 statues of King Kamehameha. The only reason we didn't see the 4th one is because it is in Washington, DC.
"Thank you, thank you very much!" Oh...wait...wrong King.
Pineapple plants on the grounds at the retreat.
More pineapple plants.
After kicking around the town we went back to the hotel and lounged by the pool. It was a great day.
Our private pool for the week. It was really relaxing.
Tomorrow, I'll pick up with our trip on Oahu.
I've been holding it together food-wise this week. Not over eating, adding back in more veggies, no junk food, etc, and it is showing. Sunday had me clocked in at over 237. Today, I was reading just over 231. I know it's mostly water, but still it's good to see that scale dip down again. I'm really looking forward to getting back to the low 220s, because I want to start wearing more of the shirts I got while in Hawaii! I came home with a new wardrobe! I'll add those shirts in on another days blog.
I'll wrap it up with the food diary for today. It looks oddly similar to the last few days.
Breakfast: 2 eggs, over easy, fried in bacon grease
2 slices of Canadian Bacon
20 oz of Coffee with Mint and Chocolate Liquid Stevia Sweetener
AM Snack: 1 stick of Solstice Sugar Free Gum
Lunch: 2 Tiki Masala Drumsticks
Big Ol' Salad w//Blood Orange and Black Currant Balsamic Vinaigrette
PM Snack: 2 stick of Solstice Sugar Free Gum
Dinner: Philly Stuffed Bell Peppers
Water: About 60 oz
Sleep: about 8 hours of sleep
Exercise: Normal walking around
Until we meet again, be good to yourself!
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