Hawaii - Big Island - Day 1

Excited for our trip to the Big Island, we had a packed schedule starting from day one to get the most of our trip. Jon had done extensive research to plan the trip as it was his first time and my second time. I always had fond memories of Big Island and always wanted to go back to see if it was different experience than my younger self.

Our trips usually start without a hitch but this trip started with an extremely delayed flight. We had a morning flight but the flight was already delayed to arrive to our gate by an hour which isn't too bad but then we ended up sitting on the plane for another 1 hour waiting for the supplies. Unfortunately, we did not grab lunch prior to the flight as we didn't think we would be sitting on the plane for over an hour and so we were very hungry the entire flight, savoring the free snacks that were passed out.

It was probably almost 3pm by the time we got to the Big Island and a blast of warm humid breeze greeted as we deplaned directly onto the tarmac. The Kona Airport only has open air terminals and no gates so it's a cool experience going down the stairs from the plane like you see with Air Force One.

The list of things we had planned for the first day was cut down to just two: food and a beach. We grabbed plate lunches at Pine Tree Cafe which ended up being super heavy with so much carbs and meat that we did not need a full dinner later.

Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park

As the sun began to fall behind the clouds towards the horizon, we ventured to Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park to check out the beach and coast. We parked at a nearby boat dock parking lot and walked into the park from a side entrance as the main entrance closes at 4:30 pm. The path itself walks on top of volcanic rocks which made for a bumpy walk but plenty of people walk these paths in flip flops. 2 guys casually carrying a cooler and fishing gear in flip flops walked faster than us and disappeared from our view quickly.

The cove itself is fairly rocky with small beaches on either side of the cove and quite peaceful with the sounds of the waves and only a handful of people. We ventured a couple feet to the right where it was completely volcanic rock to check out if there were any creatures in the tide pools. However, there wasn't much except for some birds walking around and small fish that jumped from one pool to another. Very peculiar were these brown birds that hold very still for a couple minutes staring into the water. My research now tells me these might be juvenile herons which makes a lot of sense why they reminded me of herons...

Walking back to the left towards the beach, where the water was so clean and cool. We let the waves lap our feet and as we stood watching the open sea and the sun setting, something floated a couple feet in front of us that turned out to be a turtle! It was swimming around in the spot and sticking its head and flipper out of the water but I was unable to take a clear picture of it. 

Standing in the same spot, we saw a large rock on a rocky outcropping that looked suspiciously like a turtle. It was too far away for us to investigate but from the pictures, it definitely was a turtle but since it was not moving, it was unclear if it was alive! After seeing more turtles throughout the trip resting on rocks, it probably was alive. Two turtles on the first day to Jon's delight!

We continued down towards the end of the cove, past some sacred sites that we cannot enter in. At the end was large volcanic rocks that is typical of Big Island where several other couples were also watching the sun set. We picked a slopy spot for us to take a break and watch the sunset.

The skies were stormy in the distance so the sun was mostly hidden until the very end when the sun was right above the horizon as a yellow ball in a fiery orange sky. At the same time, there was a cruise ship sailing towards the fiery ball which made for a cool shot.

After the sun set, one of the couples leaving stopped to ask us how long we've been in the Big Island to which we told them this was our first day! They were leaving the next day and was on vacation from Los Angeles. A funny moment happened in conversation when the husband asked us if we had seen the 'churros' here. Jon and I had trouble understanding and gave him a unsure look, thinking why he was asking about 'churros'? But after he repeated it a couple more times, I realized he was saying 'turtles' but his accent made it sound like 'churros'.

We walk back to the parking lot along the harbor and encountered a large group of kitties that ran around the bushes and boats. There were so many that they were probably being fed by someone.

Airbnb

The Airbnb was in a quiet neighborhood a couple minutes outside of Kona city area. We met the hosts in their living room and they had a giant map where people put pins on where they were visiting from. Of course the Bay Area was filled with so many pins that it was going into the ocean. Taiwan too was surprisingly filled with pins. 

Coincidentally as the host talked about her kitty Lovebug and how she loved to stay in the guests bedrooms, a large cat lumbered up the outside stairs. Lovebug is a very very round cat but she really really loves to be pet in any way you want to pet her. We could pet her roughly, softly, on her belly, back, pat her butt, she loved it all. It's so nice to have a cat in your Airbnb that loves attention but also doesn't try to get in your face all the time.

After a long day of traveling, we tucked in for the night to prepare for the early start the next day.