Thursday, January 3, 2019

Kona and Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii



Today I'm going to finish our last island in Hawaii.  If you have been following along we took this trip in October to celebrate our anniversary and both of our birthdays.  I'm so behind in posting about previous trips.  I still have two full weeks in England to finish.  Hopefully I will stop dragging my feet and get on with our travels.  We have cleared our home of Christmas so now I have some time to devote to our trips.

First up is our trip to Kona.  It was a very rough sea day as we approached.  You can hardly tell as we are viewing from high on the top deck of the ship!


This is as close to Kona as we got as the Coast Guard advised the Captain to not allow us to board tenders to visit the island.  This is a town that does not have a pier for such a large vessel so we were going to go on tenders ashore.  The swells of the ocean would have made for dangerous boarding of the pier from a moving tender.  We were disappointed, but understood that our safety is of upmost importance.  So we said goodbye to Kona and sailed on to the other side of the big island of Hawaii for a stop in Hilo.

That evening the Naturalist that was on board told the Captain if we sailed by Kilauea we may get to see some of the lava flow that still is active.  You may remember large damaging eruptions this past year from this sleeping giant!   As we passed the island in the evening we were only able to see smoke plumes from the volcano.  It was a lovely moonlit evening as the Captain guided our ship close by. 




The next day we were docked at Hilo.  We had booked an excursion to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.  This is an extraordinary "Garden in a Valley on the Ocean."  



This garden was founded by Dan and Pauline Lutkenhouse in 1978.  They purchased 17 acres of land and spent six years clearing the jungle and created a paradise of exotics.  There are miles of winding trails to take you down, down to the ocean floor.  The steep trail descends down 120 feet to sea level.  We walked the downhill trail and were delighted by all the beauty we viewed!


Come along with us as we walk carefully downhill!


The under story of trees and lovely waterfalls cool our spirits as we descend into paradise!  How in the world did these folks ever do this job is beyond my imagination!



Around every bend more and more lovely flowers growing happily in this tropical paradise.



As we reach the bottom, the under story opens and we reach a path to take along the ocean.


Lovely flowers everywhere and the gorgeous ocean pounding the lava rock formations.


If you want to take a lovelier walk, I don't know where it would be!


If you love orchids, this is the spot for you!  Hawaii is also known as Orchid Island.



The ocean and flowers certainly are two of my favorite things!  Yes, I'm in paradise.


I really didn't want to leave this beautiful spot, but we had to catch our ride back to the ship.


Oh, and we needed to climb back up that steep hill.  Oh no, I told Grayden he must hail a golf cart for me!  Yes, I wimped out and rode the golf cart back up!  

This trip was primarily to Hawaii and then one more stop.  I'll share that next! 









33 comments:

  1. More beautiful photos ! What a lovely place. I'd like to visit some day. My husband passed through for a day enroute to the Far East and decided to take a bus tour of Honolulu and immediately dosed off as the bus began and slept the whole tour. So he says he has had a Hawaiin nap!

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    1. My goodness, Dotsie, your husband must have been exhausted to have napped on his tour of Honolulu! ♥

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  2. Beautiful pictures from Hawaii.
    Happy New Year!

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  3. Oh wow, these photos are gorgeous and bring back so many memories of our holidays in Hawaii. We only had one day on the Big Island, when we vacationed on Maui one time. We flew in and got to the volcano and also a fern forest. It was a lot of fun and I hope to go back one day. I see your photos and I want to get on a plane right now, lol!

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    1. Denise, It's nice to hear about your time in Hawaii. When we visited Hawaii years ago, we were able to look down into Kilauea. I think once we go to Hawaii we want to return. I hope you return one day! ♥

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    2. Thank you Martha Ellen, I hope we do too. But in the meantime I love looking at your photos and am happy to see them again. Enjoy your week :)

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  4. That walk must have been incredible. An amazing life work I am thinking on the part of the Lutkenhouses. So glad that you could hitch a ride back to the top. If that were not available, I would miss the walk down because I would not go.

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    1. Vee, the whole way down, I realized I would be taking a ride back up! It was really, really steep, but incredibly lovely. ♥

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  5. I can just imagine your garden/nature-loving self being in paradise in the midst of all this beauty! So many gorgeous flowers!

    I would absolutely have ridden a golf cart to back to the top. No question about it.

    Happy New Year, friend!

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    1. The steep terrain added to the beauty of this garden, but I really needed to have some help on the return! Cheryl, surely heaven must be like this beautiful garden. Happy New Year to you, my friend! ♥

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  6. Ohhh.. I so enjoyed seeing the flowers and jungle you saw there.. I lived in Hawaii for 8 months as a young woman and remember the aroma of the plumeria and jasmine and ginger. I so want to return.
    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    1. Teresa, I do hope you are planning to return. Maybe a cruise there would suit you and your husband. ♥

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  7. Wonderful photos of the Botanical Garden of Hawaii Martha Ellen. I´m so far behind with blogging and commenting, so I only read now your posts of December. Your house looked so festive and that snow....... Until now we don´t have snow this winter and no frost either. So cozy with the boys baking Christmas cookies.
    Well, a bit late but I wish you all the Best for the New Year.
    Janneke

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    1. Janneke, we have been having really warm temperatures for this time of the year. In the 50s and 60s, so the snow is long gone! I hope you had a great Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year! ♥

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  8. I’d love to see that park in person! Wonderful pictures. I remember when my parents came back from Hawaii and how many pictures my mom took of the gorgeous plants and flowers. I love that the park is by the ocean. I may of had to take the golf cart ride back too!

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    1. Liz, you would enjoy this botanical garden. It was a wonderful place with so many exotics at every turn! The ocean really added to its beauty! ♥

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  9. Such an amazing array of colour in the garden, a real joy, with magical wonder around every turn!

    Sorry you missed out on Kona, but I know the 'fun' of trying to judge the right moment to leap out as the swell lurches you towards the slippery rocks! It's one thing when you are twenty something and fit as a fiddle, but ~~~

    ~~~Waving~~~Deb in Wales xoxo

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    1. It was a good call not to stop in Kona, Deb. We really couldn't be too disappointed as we certainly enjoyed many amazing places on our trip to Hawaii.
      Have a cozy evening! xoxo ♥

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  10. It does look like Paradise. What was the temperature while you were there. Did it ever feel too hot or humid?

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    1. Cathy, the temperatures in Hawaii were in the 80's and 90's. It was really hot and humid the day we toured Pearl Harbor. When we went to the Botanical Garden it was very warm but cool and refreshing as we walked into the lushness of the dense growth of plants and trees. ♥

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  11. I hope to be able to visit Hawaii by cruise ship one day! This year it will be Alaska. I love orchids and this walk looked divine. In hot weather I'd also have to take the gold cart back up the hill --I wimp out in heat!

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    1. Hot weather and exercise don't mix well for me either, Pat. Alaska is a magical place. We did the Inside Passage several years ago. It was amazing! Glacier Bay is not to be missed! ♥

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  12. Such beautiful pictures! How exciting to travel to Hawaii! Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you, Pilar. Hawaii is a lovely place to visit. Happy New Year to you! ♥

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  13. Kona is one of the islands of Hawaii that we chose to visit many years ago, Martha Ellen. Isn't it beautiful? Those purple flowers in Hilo are so lovely, and the ocean views are gorgeous. The paths are lush and green, and there's much history on the Hawaiian Islands. Your photos are making me long to visit again. I can't think of a nicer place to celebrate your anniversary.

    I hope the new year is being good to you so far, Martha Ellen. It has been raining a lot this weekend.

    ~Sheri

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    1. Sheri, Hawaii is a paradise that we enjoyed so much. It was a lovely way to celebrate our anniversary. I hope you can visit there again, my friend.
      Wishing you have a wonderful New Year! ♥

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  14. An amazing trip. Your photographs are quite beautiful.
    I enjoyed seeing the colourful orchids, it really looks a very nice place to visit.

    Have a happy and healthy 2019, my good wishes..

    All the best Jan

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    1. Jan, we really enjoyed our visit to Hawaii. The orchids were just amazing in paradise! Have a wonderful new year! ♥

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  15. So beautiful!! Hope to get there one day, but sure enjoyed all the pictures :-) What a wonderful, memorably experience!

    Blessings,
    Jill

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    1. Jill, you would really appreciate the beauty of Hawaii. Thank you for visiting with us today. ♥

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  16. Those orchids are so pretty. Will probably visit soon or in the very near future if the grand children do not come here for a visit. Such a beautiful place. I wouldn't want to leave.

    betsy

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