Category — Travel

On Friday we had a bit of a laid back day, did a little sight seeing, shopping and going for a couple of long walks.

However, this morning we did one of those things that you check off on your life’s “bucket list” of things to do. After much discussion and debating the pro’s and con’s, on Thursday we decided what the heck…… let’s do it and we booked a 2 hour helicopter tour of the Big Island for Saturday.

It was amazing and as with a lot of spectacular sights, pictures don’t compare to being there. However, we have this once in a lifetime memory locked in our brains.

Paradise Helicopters was recommended by the Expedia Rep at our condo and we were certainly pleased with our tour. Our pilot was Koji and there is a picture  of us with him by the helicopter at the end.

The only bit of a” bummer” was that Brenda got seated in the middle seat in the back which makes it a little tough to see around those on the window seats. They seat the passengers based on weight distribution, so it is a bit of “luck of the draw” and size.

The weather this morning was about as good as you can expect. You will see some smoggy haze in the pictures and that is from Kilauea erupting.

After take off from Kona International Airport we headed towards the Kona Coffee area and between the volcanoes of Mauna Loa (13, 679 ft.) and Mauna Kea (13, 796 ft.). So, pretty quickly you go from a healthy vegetation growing area to miles of barren lava.

Along the way we passed over lines of steam vents that were either from recent rain water falling into the cracks and boiling on the lava that is deep below the surface or from lava that is directly under the surface.

Currently Kilauea is actually a volcano within a volcano and we were lucky that the weather cleared and we got to see the very active hot lava bubbling and spewing. Koji did a great job in getting both sides of the helicopter to see the active volcano activity. AMAZING !

Then we headed for the ocean and hoped to see lava flowing into the sea. On the way there you pass over an area that was wiped out by the last major eruption in 1983. What you see in this picture is a road through a subdivision that goes to nowhere.

Koji did explain that at times the winds are not favorable and although you know there is a lot of activity down below you can not actually see the lava flowing into the sea. Well we got lucky and could clearly see this happening. You will also see people standing on the solid lava near the ocean cliffs, they hiked in about a mile from a small town that still exists without any local services, etc.

After this we headed toward Hilo where they get +300″ of rain each year so it’s not too long before there is a lots of vegetation, etc.

From Hilo we flew to the Waipi’o Valley where there are waterfalls. Actaully we flew right into the valley and the top of the valley was way above the helicopter.

The average waterfall height is around 1200 ft. You’ll notice they cascade down to the valley floor in three of four falls and each time they create a pool. There is one waterfall that is over  2400 ft however, they have had a bit of a dry spell here so there is no water right now.

After this is we headed through the Waimea Valley and out to the ocean. We then did some spotting for Humpback Whales that are migrating through the area. We were lucky enough to see a Mother and her Baby Calf right beside her. From here it was back to the Kona Airport.

Wow! What a day and what a memory of a lifetime.

Today we had a bit of a quieter day. No real deadlines or activities that we had planned to get to. So, we headed south on one of the many roads and ended up at the Greenwell Coffee Plantation.

It is the oldest coffee plantation in the Kona area. As you could imagine they have a lot of coffees to taste and all classify as Kona Coffee. Which means they come from a very specific area of the Kona region and a very specific elevation of the Kona region. Anyway, the coffee is delicious, full of aroma and taste. If you are a coffee aficionado you either love or hate the taste of Kona Coffee.

Coffee beans grow on coffee bushes/trees, all are harvested by hand and it takes 7 pounds of harvested beans to get 1 pound of coffee beans for your grinder………… and there  is your free coffee lesson for the day. Believe us when we say it sounds like a lot of work.

The one neat thing about Greenwell Coffee Plantation is that they originally started out as a cattle ranch and fruit farm. However this was not profitable, so they switched over to growing only coffee. Therefore, there are a number of avocado trees, orange trees, papaya trees, tangelo trees, etc. on the property and the farm has no use for the fruit they bear. So, as the fruit ripens the staff picks it and places the fruit in large wicker baskets near the gift shop and if you are lucky enough to be there at the right time you can get some pretty sweet produce.

Just take a look at the size of the avocado we had for dinner tonight. That’s a full size dinner plate it’s sitting on and a packet of sugar to show you some comparison of size. Yummy!

After the coffee plantation we headed back to Kailua-Kona and even though we were not officially lost; like they had to send search and rescue for us. We did manage to find some pretty interesting scenery and a unique one lane route home through some pretty desolate volcano field.

More adventures tomorrow.

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Well, we are one year late, however we are finally Hawaii bound.

On Monday we drove to Vancouver and stayed overnight near the airport and this afternoon (Tuesday) we fly to Kona Hawaii for 5 nights before we head over to Honolulu for the remainder of our vacation.

Side Note: Is it legal to be on vacation or call it a vacation when you are retired 🙂 Brenda says I am semi-retired 😉

The drive down was beautiful. The valleys were overcast however once up top it was clear and sunny, even all the way through the Chilliwack valley. But, as we neared Vancouver it started to get foggier and when we finally arrived it was totally fogged in. But, you could hear the planes flying, so that’s the good news.

So, stay tuned for more adventures from Hawaii.

Aloha

On our way home from the reunion we stopped in McMillan Provincial Park which is located about 12km outside Port Alberni on the way towards Parksville.

Inside the park is the Cathedral Grove Forest. Here are some of the oldest and largest trees in the forests of Vancouver Island. One Douglas Fir is over 9 meters in circumference and some of the trees are up to 800 years old.

There is a short walking trail, a few plaques explaining the history of the area and we have attached a few of our photos.

Friday morning after a great breakfast we headed into Tofino for some grocery shopping. After that it was back to the cabin to prepare for an afternoon picnic at Chesterman Beach. The weather and the scenery was amazing .

On Saturday we had the usual large breakfast and gorged ourselves. It wouldn’t be reunion weekend without over eating.

After breakfast we headed in to Tofino to take in the Saturday Market and walk around town to many of the shops. In the afternoon a few went for a walk and others caught up on their sleep with an afternoon nap. The day was beautiful, the sun was shining, it was a warm day and we have really been lucky with the weather…. a great way to spend the afternoon.

Later that evening we had a delicious meal prepared by Rick & Gayle  and then a campfire complete with Rick entertaining us on his guitar.

It was a great weekend, however on a sad note; this was the first reunion since our good friend Ed House passed away late last year.

We miss him dearly!

On Thursday after a morning coffee we drove over to take a walk on the Black Beach section of the “Wild Pacific Trail”. This beach walk was all along a very rugged coastline and through a heavily forested area. The sun was shining and it was spectacular.

After checking out we headed to Tofino where we were meeting with our Reunion group friends. On the way we stopped in at Chesterman Beach which is just outside Tofino. Once again another gorgeous beach on the west coast.

We finally met up with Dean and Judy in downtown Tofino and wandered around a bit before heading to the Condo/Cabin our reunion group has rented for the next 4 days. There is a main cabin and then a guest suite off to one side which is perfect for our group.

So let the partying and the weekend begin.

Today was a very busy and exciting day. After a morning walk and coffee we headed off towards Long Beach.

Along the way we discovered Combers Beach which is all part of the area known as Long Beach. The walk down to the beach is really unique. A lot of it is a constructed beach walkway and as you get closer to the beach the trees and vegetation gets extremely dense; to the point you could not walk through it if you had to. So, there are warnings as you get to the beach to be aware of tides as you could get trapped on the beach in high tide and storm conditions.

Once at the beach to scenery and the landscape is absolutely amazing. Long Beach gets the attention because of the surfing and waves, but this beach is spectacular. Its long and wide and hard to describe in words or in pictures, but take a look.

After a morning at the beach and a long walk we headed back to go out with Canadian Pacific Princess Resorts for an afternoon of bottom fishing. Early in the week it didn’t look like were going to get out fishing as they require a minimum number of fishers on each boat. However, the weather was fantastic and enough guests showed up to go out.

The weather was very good and it was nice and sunny, however the winds picked up and it made for difficult fishing as the boat drifted at about 1 1/2 knots which is very fast for bottom fishing.

In the end we caught three bottom fish which consisted of 2 sea bass and 1 china rock cod.

What a day…………….  it doesn’t get much better than this.

Monday morning we got up early and headed off to Vancouver Island with our final destination being Ucluelet.

We arrived at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal right after the 10:50 a.m. ferry had just departed and so even though the line up was stopped outside the waiting area we were pretty sure we were going to catch the 12:50 p.m. ferry. Sure enough we did and the trip over was amazing, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze and the scenery was outstanding.

Once on the other side after the traffic thinned out we made great time getting over to the highway that leads to Ucluelt and Tofino. In fact with the weather so fantastic we took a detour and headed to Long Beach for a sneak peek prior to sunset…….. WOW!

First thing Tuesday morning we went for walk, had a coffee and picked up some sandwiches for a picnic lunch.  After that we drove to take a hike around the Lighthouse Loop of the Wild Pacific Trail that is located at the end of the Ucluelet peninsula.

After this hike we headed off to the Pacific Rim visitor center to pick a National Park Pass so we could stop at the various locations inside the park. OF course the main attraction are the beaches and especially Long Beach. This is where we had lunch, went for a long walk and watched the surfers. More adventures tomorrow!

Last weekend Brenda and I went up to Sun Peaks for a couple nights.

We stayed at Nancy Greene’s Cahilty Lodge. It’s nothing too fancy, but it is very conveniently located in the upper village and close to everything; plus the room rates are amazing at this time of the year. Also, throughout the hotel are display cases and photographs of Nancy’s many achievements world wide; Olympic Medals, World Cup Championships, Order of Canada….. etc.

However, the main reason for us going to Sun Peaks was to see a free afternoon concert on the mountain by Kevin Costner and the band Modern West.

Early Saturday morning I got up and went golfing and Brenda went exploring the Village and the housing areas around the Sun Peaks Village. We are always on the lookout for suitable accommodation for our yearly family Sun Peaks winter get-away.

Anyway, around 4:30 p.m. we decided to head down to the main stage area to watch the opening acts and wait for Kevin Costner and Modern West. We had special wrist bands that the Cahlity Lodge folks gave us which allowed us in to an area near the front of the stage. However as we got near the stage area the Extra Large Adirondack Chair in the lower village was empty. So, Brenda said “Let’s hop in here and watch the show”. Well, it worked out perfectly and we had this as our personal sitting area for the next 3 1/2 hrs.

The chair was off to the stage right side and a fair way back but it worked out perfectly as the speakers were the size of a small condominium and they were directed up the hill and not to our side. It was amazing sitting there and watching the concert and the people walk by and saying hello to many friends that were up for the show.

Occasionally a family or group would come up to us and ask if we would get out of the chair so they could take a picture. We gladly obliged, helped get folks in and out of the chair and take their group photo for them and then immediately we hopped back in to the chair.

We had a lot of laughs and had a great weekend.