From Kona with Love

BIG ISLAND VACATION, PART TWO: Entering our fourth day here in Kona, on the sunny side of the island. Nice, though somewhat cramped, one-bedroom condo right on the water, with the surf barely 20' away from our 3rd floor lanai. View is facing south over a craggy lava beach and immediately in front of our room is a little tidal pool where two sea turtles have been hanging out.

The town proper, or at least the crazy-busy, mile-long tourist strip (Ali'i Way) starts just a couple blocks to the north, so all the restaurants and shops are well within walking distance. The city of Kona, unlike Hilo on the other side of the island, is in a development frenzy, with condos, shopping centers and new roads coming in everywhere. The older part of town, especially the settled areas along the waterfront, are quite peaceful during the day, and very busy at night. There's a very nice farmer's market and interestingly, the oldest missionary church in the islands is located along the main drag, a surprisingly massive structure dating back to the 1820s.

We've been doing a lot of snorkeling and swimming. The air temperature has been getting into the low 80s and the water temperature has been right around 78 degrees. Yesterday was a fun day as we went out on a catamaran sailboat for a dive trip to a couple primo spots accessible only by boat. The boat was rated for 26 people, but there were only 5 others onboard and with a crew of 3, it made for a great day. We did some real sailing, got close to a humpback whale and even closer to a large hammerhead shark. We went to two snorkeling sites, including one right in front of the Captain Cook Memorial, where the famous explorer was killed by the natives when they discovered that he wasn't one of their long-lost gods. The captain of the charter boat was giving me a little history lesson and informed me that even to this day, the memorial site is actually sovereign British territory.

I think the girls have been more or less enjoying themselves, though finding some place we all want to eat is a challenge. Tiana likes the buzz on the main street and last night she actually ran into somebody from Ballard High School. Both girls have been doing a ton of snorkeling, which has been a great activity. Today I think that Savi and I are going to try to find a beach where we can do some body surfing. We have to be careful not to get too much sun. Tiana hasn't had any problem--she's getting a very nice, very dark, tan.

That's it for now!