the BIG one
FARIDA & BRAD!!!
August 5, 2006
The Big Island, Hawaii
First of all, congratulations to Farida, my college roommate and her new husband, Brad! Dude, Farida... you're Married! Thanks for inviting me to share in your special day. Ummmm, week. Also, much mahalo to the Padojino and Peralta families for adopting us and taking us in. I had a really good time. Aloha.
I didn't take many pictures while I was there. I wish I'd taken more. I let professional photographer, Sherwin do all the work. Check out his blog to see if he has uploaded his pics when you get a chance.
Here are some of mine:
Turtle, a Turle.
This is at the black sand beach on our way to Brad's mom's house in Pahala, about an 1 1/2 hour drive from Kona. Turtles hang out at the beach to rest.
Yummy malasadas, portugese dougnuts (I think). You can have them plain or stuffed with filling.
We were racing down the crater to get good parking at the start of the hike, but we had to pull over and take pictures when we spotted this beautiful full rainbow. I tried to get some height on this jump, but the winds were really blowing me back.
Xavier.
After lunch, we hiked what seemed like a never ending trek an hour and a half (2 1/2 miles) on lava to the end of the earth. Some of us made it and some of us made it without getting seriously hurt.
Apparently, the best time to see the lava is during sunset. It was one of those once in a lifetime things to do and an experience I'll never, ever forget. We then hiked 2 hours back to our cars in the dark. Thank God for our flashlights.
916 Veneto...revisited. Sherwin, Farida, Rex, Gwen. We missed you, Tony (and Julie and Marley and Mary Jane)!
Hooray for open bars!
It's about a mile or 30 minutes from Keakelua Bay to the Captain Cook monument. On the way there, Timi, Farida's sister and her husband, Mark saw dolphins.
I had to jump in. Right underneath were many, many fish.
One thing that was different on the Big Island than in the Caribbean were the waves. It was kinda funny watching the fish move back and forth, back and forth with the waves.
Underwater antics...
Brad, the only Local Boy with us probably thought we were a bunch of idiot tourists. First we hiked the hours to and from the volcano. Then, we kayaked a mile each way to and from the Captain Cook monument. I think they were his first time doing both.
There was coral for days. About 30 ft. from the platform of the monument where we entered the water, there was the end of the coral and the beginning of the deep sea, like the "drop off" in Finding Nemo where Nemo touched the "butt." Very cool.
Almost the entire Padojino clan kayaked to the spot. Way to go!
We were in the heart of Kona coffee land, so we stopped by Bayview Coffee to get schooled on coffee production. We even got to taste coffee before it was roasted.
My #3 best tasting ahi tuna was at O's Bistro in Kona. #2 was Havana Blue and my #1 is still Gaylord's in Kauai. Yums!
BONUS Pic
We kept passing this by so, after I dropped Sherwin off at the airport on our last day, I drove to Da Kine Bail Bonds to take this pic. Didn't spot Dog or Beth, but I think Dog's brother or someone close to him was at LuLu's the night of the wedding rehearsal.
posted by Gwen @ 11:02 PM
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