Hawaii - our last day and overall impressions
The sounds of the rain forest greet us as dawn breaks on our last morning at Art & Orchids. We've been up to greet the dawn every morning as sleeping while the creatures of the night screech, whistle, howl and call to each other is not easy. We are nonetheless rested and ready to face the day.
Driving here we chose the northern route as it looked shorter than the southern road we will take on our return drive to Kona. We'll take the drive at a fairly leisurely pace as there are beaches to visit where we may be able to see turtles and more whales.
The weather looks good and we're driving towards the sunnier drier side of the island anyway, so a good day in prospect.
So how best to sum up Art & Orchids......lovely. It is not an impersonal I-could-be-anywhere four star hotel and it doesn't pretend to be anything other than a comfortable country bed and breakfast in a unique and beautiful setting. The owners make their visitors very welcome and provide quite a range of facilities in their jungle clearing. There is even a pool and an art studio. Our bed was large and comfortable enough, just a bit firmer than we are used to. Our room had everything we could want - jacuzzi bath, shower, a small reading library and 200 channels of completely unwatchable cable tv. Just couldn't find a news channel!
Would we stay here again? Yes, most definitely. Will we return to Hawaii? One day, perhaps. There is still a lot of the world to see.
Well it's off back to civilisation. As we wait for our Mokulele Airlines flight back to Honolulu and a night at the Ohana Airport Hotel, we can look forward to the next leg of the trip. New Zealand here we come.
The drive to Kona did not disappoint.
Within half an hour of leaving Art & Orchids we were driving along a highway at 3,500 ft, the outside temperature a chilly 60F. Within 7 miles we were close to sea level. The temperature was 75F and the landscape had changed completely. We had left the lush tropical rain forest and were looking at almost desert-like countryside with jagged black rocks as far as the eye could see.
We stopped first after an hour or so at Punalu'u Beach Park and saw sea turtles. We were able to walk to within a few feet of these huge creatures and had we chosen to go swimming, we would have been swimming and snorkeling alongside them as they fed.
Another hour down the highway and we were looking at hazy blue skies, a sun beating down on bouganvillia, coconut palms and black sand beaches. The temperature was now a scorching 84F.
Hawaii is an island of contrasts. The western side is the Hawaii that most people would imagine, very dry with quite an arid landscape, but always warm and sunny. The eastern side is more unpredictable and much lusher. Tropical rain forests, complete with tropical rain and very beautiful; more remote perhaps.
The people too are different. The east is much more laid back -the hippie influence no doubt and the west more geared to the holiday crowds looking for their little slice of paradise.
Finally, no report would be complete without a little mention of...Hawaiian food........well we didn't eat a lot. We arrived on our first night too late and rather too tired to go foraging for food and we were still so stuffed from San Francisco that we really weren't hungry.
Art & Orchids breakfasts were delicious, which rendered lunch superfluous. So that left dinner. Kaleo's is a small restaurant in Pahoa, a town about 7 miles from the B&B. Its cuisine is difficult to pigeonhole. Asian American fusion probably covers it. Anyway we ate there once and it was fabulous. So we went back the next day and it was even better. Over our two meals we had Coconut Shrimp, Coconut Mahi, Coconut Chicken Curry, (don't much like coconut) Pork Ribs, Crab Cakes, various salad and vegetable accompaniments and a truly heroic Mediterranean Platter as one of our starters. Sound good? It was better.
Which is why we're not really planning to eat today.....on top of another great breakfast, Markie insisted we take almost half of an amazing locally baked cake and we've been nibbling it all day.
Driving here we chose the northern route as it looked shorter than the southern road we will take on our return drive to Kona. We'll take the drive at a fairly leisurely pace as there are beaches to visit where we may be able to see turtles and more whales.
The weather looks good and we're driving towards the sunnier drier side of the island anyway, so a good day in prospect.
So how best to sum up Art & Orchids......lovely. It is not an impersonal I-could-be-anywhere four star hotel and it doesn't pretend to be anything other than a comfortable country bed and breakfast in a unique and beautiful setting. The owners make their visitors very welcome and provide quite a range of facilities in their jungle clearing. There is even a pool and an art studio. Our bed was large and comfortable enough, just a bit firmer than we are used to. Our room had everything we could want - jacuzzi bath, shower, a small reading library and 200 channels of completely unwatchable cable tv. Just couldn't find a news channel!
Would we stay here again? Yes, most definitely. Will we return to Hawaii? One day, perhaps. There is still a lot of the world to see.
Well it's off back to civilisation. As we wait for our Mokulele Airlines flight back to Honolulu and a night at the Ohana Airport Hotel, we can look forward to the next leg of the trip. New Zealand here we come.
The drive to Kona did not disappoint.
Within half an hour of leaving Art & Orchids we were driving along a highway at 3,500 ft, the outside temperature a chilly 60F. Within 7 miles we were close to sea level. The temperature was 75F and the landscape had changed completely. We had left the lush tropical rain forest and were looking at almost desert-like countryside with jagged black rocks as far as the eye could see.
We stopped first after an hour or so at Punalu'u Beach Park and saw sea turtles. We were able to walk to within a few feet of these huge creatures and had we chosen to go swimming, we would have been swimming and snorkeling alongside them as they fed.
Another hour down the highway and we were looking at hazy blue skies, a sun beating down on bouganvillia, coconut palms and black sand beaches. The temperature was now a scorching 84F.
Hawaii is an island of contrasts. The western side is the Hawaii that most people would imagine, very dry with quite an arid landscape, but always warm and sunny. The eastern side is more unpredictable and much lusher. Tropical rain forests, complete with tropical rain and very beautiful; more remote perhaps.
The people too are different. The east is much more laid back -the hippie influence no doubt and the west more geared to the holiday crowds looking for their little slice of paradise.
Finally, no report would be complete without a little mention of...Hawaiian food........well we didn't eat a lot. We arrived on our first night too late and rather too tired to go foraging for food and we were still so stuffed from San Francisco that we really weren't hungry.
Art & Orchids breakfasts were delicious, which rendered lunch superfluous. So that left dinner. Kaleo's is a small restaurant in Pahoa, a town about 7 miles from the B&B. Its cuisine is difficult to pigeonhole. Asian American fusion probably covers it. Anyway we ate there once and it was fabulous. So we went back the next day and it was even better. Over our two meals we had Coconut Shrimp, Coconut Mahi, Coconut Chicken Curry, (don't much like coconut) Pork Ribs, Crab Cakes, various salad and vegetable accompaniments and a truly heroic Mediterranean Platter as one of our starters. Sound good? It was better.
Which is why we're not really planning to eat today.....on top of another great breakfast, Markie insisted we take almost half of an amazing locally baked cake and we've been nibbling it all day.
