Maui - Lahaina to Kahului Airport
Big Island - Kona to Hilo
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| The inter-island terminal is open-air and pretty bare bones |
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| We were surprised when we saw the little inter-island plane on our hop from Oahu to Maui, but we were looking forward to it for our trip from Maui to the Big Island. When the Hertz bus dropped us at the inter-island terminal, the bus driver laughed and said "there's your plane". |
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| Another beautiful flight goes even better with some IZ |
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| Bye Bye Maui |
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| Hello Big Island |
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| I signed up to become a Hertz Gold member prior to our trip, which meant our car was ready and waiting with the keys in it on each island. It was quick, but we might have picked different cars or added Helen to the driver list if we had to speak to someone. Of course, we always took the path of least resistance and took it as is. |
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| On Oahu we got an Altima, on Maui it was a Dodge Avenger, and on the Big Island it was a Dodge Challenger. Derek joked that we would have probably gotten a Camaro next if only we would have continued our vacation one more week. |
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| Just north of the airport we saw some cars parked on the side of the road next to a lava tube and decided to check it out |
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| This place was so cool we were so glad we stopped |
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| You could follow the lava fields all the way up into the hills |
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| Lots of coral messages and designs laid out against the black lava rock |
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| We went looking for some supplies and didn't know what was north so we headed south towards Kona and found this little store, Matsuyama Market, just south of the airport |
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| Headed north along the coast |
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| You drive through lava fields and then about every 10 miles or so there's a resort area road leading a couple miles down to the ocean where there are hotels, shops, and restaurants with luxurious landscaping standing like an oasis in a desert of lava. I'm sure many people park themselves at their resort area and never venture out. |
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| We drove around the Waikaloa resort area looking at all the beautiful things |
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| I saw this guy cleaning his boat and asked if he caught any fish |
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| Nice fish |
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| What kind of bait did you use? |
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| Very nice boards made by a local guy from koa wood |
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| Hawi was a cute little town. The old hotel has been converted into the Bamboo Restaurant, Gift Shop, and Gallery. Helen loved this little shop. She usually isn't interested in buying anything, but enjoyed talking to the owner and ended up making several purchases. |
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| We were on our way back to the car after spending a couple hours already in Hawi when we passed this neat shop with a bunch of ukelele's in the window. We decided to go in and were glad we did. The owner was a really neat guy and the shop was filled with all kinds of cool stuff. |
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| The owner gave everyone a ukulele and a fun ad-hoc lesson |
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| tsunami waning siren |
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| Beautiful drive south towards Waimea |
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| We finally made it to Hilo, checked into our hotel, and then went to Ken's for a very late dinner |
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| Pancakes, Loco Moco, and a burger at Ken's, which is open 24 hours a day and always seems to be buzzing with activity |
