The Na Pali Coast

See you in January from Kaiai

Mahalla, Mark, Laura, Isis

Mahalla, Mark, Aaron, Isis

Today is the last day in Hawaii for a couple of months so we will just carry on as if all is normal although the next one is on Kauai in January. We called Mark first thing in the morning and all came down to say good bye, I just wish that we had had a longer time together. It was so nice to see Isis and Mahalla again since it was Christmas 2004  when we saw them last, but it seemed that it was only yesterday that we saw them, pretty incredible friends if you ask me. I can hardly wait for our next get together.

Who said there are no old cars in Kona

We only have a couple of days left so we went on the quest of the cheap Jeans today. I got a pair for less than $16 so not too bad and the best Laura could find was $10 to $12 cheaper than home still not too bad collectively we saved $30 compared to home. We also went back to the fabric store in Kealakekua and got some fabric for a shirt or two since Laura offered to make shirts for me.

We took a walk around the international market also and had a real shock when we discovered it was nearly three quarters empty and it looked like more were going out of business too. It has never the same after they moved it away from the down town site and combined with the economic times it has really been hurt, I don't know if it can survive on the Big O plan.

Dysfunctional Adults

We met Mark and the  ladies for lunch at the Don Mei's beachcomber Bar at Royal Kona Resort. Isis and Mahalla were very taken with the view looking into the town and the meal was excellent.While we were in the bar there was a couple that were having a conversation I thought it was a bit odd but didn't say any thing but Mark decided to get a picture of them so of course so did I. They then went off to discover more of Kona and we went on the hunt for our Christmas gifts. We ended up back around Quinn's to find every thing we needed. 

Best Pizza on the Kona Coast

Drove through the Kona Heritage Corridor today which is at about 3000 ft elevation , kind of sad to see the heritage buildings being pushed out by new construction.  Lots more coffee plantations, and a few coffee mills with signs out, "buying cherries now" that's coffee cherry.  Signs also out indicating that work as a coffee bean picker available, but its slow, hard work on fairly steep hillside for the most part.  And in the sun, so everyone involved seems to be pretty well covered up head to toe.  I think I'll go home and do office work quite happily, even if there is a wet grey winter ahead in Victoria. 

After the bad experience in the submarine I decided to put the Canon camera away and continue with the Nikon D80, it takes better pictures, the view finder is better, it is more reliable, and won't take over the focusing, the only thing the Canon has is HDMI video recording I guess I will have to live without.

Dinner tonight was at Sam Choy's what an experience great rib eye for me and a three way of fish for Laura, and we both aggreed the main attraction was the salad absolutely fab.After dinner we caught up with Mark and had a great evening catching up on all things in the universe. Sorry no pictures allowed.

View of the Kahua Ranch entrance

We had a dinner arrangement at the local Kahua Ranch this evening. About a 2 hour drive north with a bus driver who fancied himself a comedian. He did throw in a good bit of interesting stuff too, where to find some lava tubes from the 1800's eruption of Hualalai, where the rich and famous have houses and private golf courses, how to find some of the non-marked beaches, the history of Parker Ranch and how it was assembled, and then why and how it has been disassembled, where there is a 2 mile stretch of highway that was built as an emergency landing strip for the Concorde back in the early 1970"s.  The Kahua Ranch itself has a visitor center with store, dining area, bonfire rings, benches and entertainment.  Between the country music played by Jack Martin and the introduction by Rancher John we were well fed with a steak and chicken dinner with all the fixins ending up with smores by the bonfire.   Sweet..... Jack is a local hero that has a couple of bands and has somewhere in the area of 50 guitars, and can represent almost any instrument you name Since it was Halloween he also dressed in a wizards costume and played a lot of CDB ( Charlie Danial's Band ) tunes.

Front entrance

Lanai

View towards K

Earlier in the day we had our traditional Wyndham up date session (Buy more  ) it didn't go too bad and we finished right on time for $150 we just told them we had things to do and people to meet which was true, realy. It was great as we had just moved to a new unit due to problems, so we ended up in a front unit with much better views and the sound of the waves was all we heard best night sleep since we got here. Front desk  Rosie is a dear and we thank her very much for her efforts. And we thank her for putting up with us.