Hawaii – Waipi’o Valley
There were new people at the breakfast table today. They were a young couple from San Francisco. Most people seem to come to stay here for a couple of days, either stopping a few days at other places on the Big Island or island hopping.
Our hot item at breakfast today was Sausage Bake. I must say Johnsie is a good cook. Everything she has given us has been first class.
Today we are off to Waipi’o Valley on the other side of the island, north of Hilo. We set off at 8.30 on a beautiful bright and sunny day, driving north on Highway 11. Just north of Honalo, we took Highway 180 which is a scenic uphill drive along a windy road up above Kailua-Kona. To the north east of Kailua-Kona we joined Highway 190 and continued in a north easterly direction towards Waimea.
Soon after joining 190, we take a small detour to the right up Kaloko Road. This is a seven mile steep climb round horseshoe bends up to 5,000. Near the top we were driving through a cloud forest. In the afternoon it has always been cloudy up here but now it is clear. We were expecting jungle like landscape but it isn’t. More like woodland with no tropical plants at all. There was a view down over Kailua-Kona and the airport but not worth being photographed. We did see wild turkeys on the road and, I think wild chickens. Tom thought they were too big to be chickens and they might have been peahens as our guidebook mentions that renegade peacocks roam a nearby golf course.
We took Highway 190 all the way to Waimea where we turned right onto Highway 19. The most impressive signs on the way were the 1801 and 1800 lava flows from Hualalai and the 1859 lava flow from Mauna Loa. It is amazing the affect they have on the landscape. Also along this road is one end of the Saddle Road. We would have loved to drive this highway to Hilo but our rental contract with Hertz does not allow it.
Waimea is a cattle town. The famous Parker Ranch is situated nearby. Just a few miles east of Waimea we took another detour along the Old Mamalahoa Highway. According to the guidebook it was a more interesting route and we agree. Lots of green pastures on either side and rolling hills. There are caves along the way but we saw no sign of them at all. We joined Highway 19 again just before turning left onto Highway 240 for the last leg of our journey.
Once again according to our guidebook, Waipi’o Valley is the place to go to but we never went down onto the valley floor. We did go to the lookout and the view was spectacular. From high on the cliff you look down to a black sand beach and the waves lapping the shore. The valley itself extends some way inland but from the lookout you can only see a small part of it. On the far side are steep cliffs and in the rainy season waterfalls will be cascading down the sides. We saw no waterfalls today. There is a trail up the side of the far cliff into the next valley which looks to be extremely steep.
Only four wheel drive vehicles are allowed to drive down the mile long road which drops 900 feet into the valley. There is a four wheel shuttle down and a choice of a wagon tour or on horseback when you reach the floor of the valley or, of course, we could walk down. Walking down would have been alright I guess but getting back up again would have been a real chore. The guidebook told us the cost of the shuttle would be about $50 each, the wagon tour $55 each and the horseback ride $89 each. We inquired at the information kiosk where we could book these tours and were told to drive back a mile to the town of Kukuihaela where we would find more information at Artworks.
We found Artworks easily enough, in fact it was the only shop as such in the place. A tour had just finished and I spoke to a couple of people who were returning to their car. They had thoroughly enjoyed the trip but it cost $159 each. That was way out of our price range so we decided to give it a miss. We might have been tempted if the waterfalls were in full spate. We did buy a sandwich and a drink at Artworks though and sat outside on the veranda to eat our lunch.
From Kukuihaele we drove back to Honoka’a where we stopped and had a walk around. There was not a lot going on in the town. We wandered down both sides, looking in shop windows but a lot of the shops were not open. Maybe it is the end of the season or it could be they only open at the weekends. There were quite a few signs up about an audition held today in the town for extras to take part in a film later on this month. They were looking for elderly people which would have suited us fine but the auditions ended at noon. Darn!!
At 2 we decided to head back to our side of the island- This time we stayed on Highway 19 all the way to Kailua-Kona instead of taking the detour along the old highway. We did take one small detour though jJust south of Puako. Our aim was to go to a beach at one of the resorts but it was impossible. We saw lots of resort villages and posh hotels but no access to any beaches at all.
I Kailua-Kona we wandered around and stopped off at a bar for a drink. The place was almost empty but there was a good view over the ocean. We did get into conversation with the only other customer there about the debate today between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. We caught a bit on the radio in the car but would have preferred to have seen it on television.
For dinner we returned to the Fish Hopper (where we had lunch on our first day). This time we sat in a booth at the back and still had a vood view out to sea. We could see swimmers practicing for the Iron Man Triathlon. As it was very hazy, the sunset was unremarkable today. We chose the three course special and for $14.95 it was very good.
On our way back to the car we bumped into Cindy and Al who had been staying at the farm. They are staying in Kailua-Kon tonight before catching a flight home tomorrow.l
Related posts:
- Hawaii – Kohala Coast
- Hawaii – Day 1
- Hawaii – Snorkeling Again in Honaunau Bay
- Hawaii – City of Refuge
- Hawaii – Kilauea
November 01 2008 04:07 am | Further Afield
