Yes it was Paradise! (at Waikaloa Area)

There are so many highlights of the Big Island that I believe there will actually be three journals when I am finished!

The number one highlight of course was seeing all of the interesting sections of the Volcanoes National Park (seen on the island tour we took). I believe we had one hour for lunch at the Volcano House but we used at least half of that time doing some preliminary sightseeing of the area surrounding the restaurant. Then we went around the perimeter road with the extremely knowledgeable bus driver (Jim of Roberts) entertaining us with all sorts of knowledge. In addition we made various stops for a closer look. We exited the Park about four hours after entering. (See more detail in my journal about the Island Tour).

Not only did we see the Volcanoes National Park in the day, we returned at night to see the active volcano, Kilauea, erupting; it is the most spectacular sight I have ever experienced. You cannot leave the island without witnessing it yourself. Even though my video camera took fantastic video(no way a camera without maximum zoom capabilities will work at night), I also bought postcards. Please see my separate journal which describes sightseeing our own, including the evening visit.

Another highlight of our stay at Waikoloa was seeing various beautiful and unusual beaches though I personally did not swim in the ocean since the surf was too dangerous for me. We visited both Hapuna Beach (which used to be number one beach) and Kauna’oa Beach, the new number one beach. I really would be hard pressed to decide which I liked better. Both had nice sand and landscaping. The waves were about the same but I believe Hapuna was more crowded. I also liked Anaeho’omalu Beach, known as "A" beach since so hard to pronounce the proper name. The "A" Beach was unique in that it had a unique wall of sand (as if surf was frozen in time)! (See picture)

Definitely a memorable part of our stay was driving along the North area doing sightseeing on our own. I especially liked the Lapakani State Historical Park, which I believe very few tourists ever see. When visiting that Park, I felt like I was on an archeological dig! We spent a considerable part of the day driving to the Pololu Valley Lookout and more important hiking down to the beautiful black sand beach! Unfortunately the hike up was not so enjoyable. More detail info will also be in my journal III.

An additional highlight was spending the early evening hours at the Kahala Ranch. We made a conscious decision not to spend too much money on tourist activities, but I am glad that we did participate in this. We had lots of fun and I believe it is an activity that is quite different from most of my past vacation trips.

Web sites for info: General re Hawaii: For more information. To me that site is the best site. That is where I ordered Hawaii’s Big Island Official Vacation Planner
Within this site is FAQ: For many interesting facts.
and dining: For dining information.
Another general: For more information.
Calendar of events: For calendar .
For hotel info in Waikoloa area: For hotel information.
For activities: For activities.

Quick Tips:

Order Hawaii’s Big Island Official Vacation Planner book. This pamphlet was very informative before the trip, during the trip, and a great memory book afterwards since there are so many color photos.

Pick up lots of literature at the airport, especially 101 things to do in Hawaii.

Also, surf the web ahead of time. And on the LONG airplane trip, read about the area.

Where to stay in Hawaii may be a factor in your vacation. If I had to do it over again, I would have definitely stayed one or two evenings in a hotel located in or near Volcanoes Park. For the balance of my stay (and one week was not enough), you can choose
a resort in Waikoloa area which is near the great beaches, great golf courses, and a few of the sightseeing stops
OR a resort in the Kona area which is near the concentrated population areas, Mall shopping, and some of the sightseeing. By staying at Paniola Greens, we were a little too isolated since we had to drive to everyplace.

Pictures to follow (the video camera produced great footage, but I have to create separate pictures).

Best Way To Get Around:

Not renting a car wasn’t even an option for where we were staying. We used the car just about every day! If you are renting an Avis car, make sure you "register" for the car before getting on the shuttle to the cars (unless you are a Preferred member) and be aware that Avis closes at 9:30pm.

Best Things Nearby:
Ocean and great beaches at Waikola Village – about eight miles away
Golf Course
Small strip mall with grocery store
Restaurants

Best Things About the Resort:
Tennis court on site
Pool
Spacious rooms with balconies
Beautiful grounds
Washer and dryer in the unit.

Resort Experience:
The Paniolo Greens condo is a beautiful condo that gives you a feeling that you are staying in a residential area rather than the hustle and bustle of a tourist area.

The primary attraction of this condo for me was the unit itself. I know I had neighbors but at no time did I feel surrounded by the noise of them. The layout was similar to many two-story townhouses. The kitchen, dining room area, living room, and two balconies were on the first floor. The galley kitchen was not extremely large but certainly was more than adequate for us. If you do a lot of cooking, there was a full-sized stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher. The only items I personally used were the microwave, coffee maker, and toaster. And there were lots of cabinets for storage of any food, beverages, etc. Besides the dining room table (for four), there was the breakfast counter. The living room had the normal furnishings (sofa, chairs, tables, TV, etc.) and also was fairly large. The furniture was a rugged-look wicker. Both balconies offered spectacular views of ocean, golf course, countryside, and lots of lava. The two bedrooms were on opposite sides on the second floor. The master bedroom had a king size bed, large armoire (consisting of the TV and drawers for your clothes), and a wall of mirrors. That bedroom, as well as the second bedroom, had more closet space than you would ever need! In fact I had the impression that the units were originally built for permanent residents and not for vacationers. In between the bedrooms were two bathrooms and a laundry room. I really liked having a washer and dryer right in the unit! I believe the upstairs also had two balconies.

There were many other things I liked about this condo that I will list (not necessarily in order):
The view - the condo was situated on a hill surrounded by the golf course. From the balconies you could see the ocean miles away! You also were able to view the countryside, which was very green in some spots, and then other places were barren lava. What a contrast! Of course, you also were able to view many holes of the golf course. One of our pictures from the balcony captured one of the many "animal" guests (a goat). And it was so quiet. Being so high up, we were able to view great sunrises and sunsets.
The amenities - The resort staff were very friendly and helpful. In fact, Bob ended up golfing with one of the employees of the resort! There was a very organized orientation session held Sunday morning where various reps from the planned activity tours gave their spiel about what you could choose to participate in. The one person, with an Australian accent, was excellent as he enticed us to the Kohala Ranch (very good choice)! The pool was excellent (though I wished the water was a little warmer) and most times I had the place to myself. There were plenty of lounge chairs so I could alter my location as the sun moved around! The few pieces of exercise equipment were set up in an open room overlooking the pool (but the equipment was not in great condition). Best of all there was a tennis court for free tennis (only later in my second week in Hawaii did I realize just how nice that was!). Finally, there were other amenities such as a hot tub, barbecues for use, book exchange, etc.
Golf Course – By staying at the resort, you had golf privileges at Waikoloa Golf Course.
Misc. – I liked the fact that there were wide sidewalks from the resort to the strip mall so I could jog without worrying about being in the street.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Through a series of minor set-backs here and there and mostly other activities, we realized that we had only one more evening at Hawaii (before going to Kauai) and we had yet to go out to a nice restaurant. I was very disappointed that I was not able to get reservations at Roy’s. However after wandering around for over ½ hour or so in the Kings’ Shops mall, we came upon Roy’s and tried to see if we could get in. They accommodated us! We may not have had the most desirable table in the house but the service was so good that you would have never known that our table was just outside the kitchen (which I normally would not accept). Yes the meal was a little expensive, but it was worth it.

I will start with desert since that is always my favorite part of dinner. I ordered the house specialty: chocolate soufflé. It is scrumptious! The chocolate concoction is appropriate for the Volcano Island since the hot chocolate center could be compared to hot lava (not in taste but consistency)! And of course the raspberry sauce was artfully arranged on the plate. The only part I didn’t like was sharing it with my husband. But for most "normal" people, the desert was definitely big enough for two (I just hate to share good deserts!). When I was surfing on the web, not only did I find Roy’s web site, they actually publish the recipe for the soufflé! For recipes By the way, the desert has to be ordered when you receive your entrees in order to give the chef enough time to prepare.

My entrée was macadamia nut encrusted white fish (I can’t remember which fish). Not only was my meal excellent tasting, the chef had done an excellent job with the presentation: you could have taken a picture of the plate since it was so pretty. Bob’s pork tenderloin was very tasty. I was so happy that we were able to eat at Roy’s! You can also view sample menu entrees on the web. In looking at the menu, the entree choices were a reasonable number but boy was it hard to choose since so much was tempting.

The cost for dinner for two (including entrees, desert, one coffee, few beers, tax and tip) was $82.00.

Bob was ecstatic that he got a chance to play on this beautiful golf course. The price, while reasonable for Hawaii standards, was a little steeper than he usually pays ($145 –160 a round whether you play weekends or weekdays) but he was able to get a discount! So he can brag that he played on one of the top golf courses!

The views are spectacular on this course (there actually are two separate courses to choose from) and not only do we have several pictures, there are a wealth of pictures on the web (which is nice to view to reminisce). While playing on the course, you have lots of beautiful ocean views including one par 3 right over the water. There is also lava all around the fairways. The interesting thing about the lava is if your ball lands on lava, you have two options. You retrieve the ball and most likely will get totally cut up as you walk on the sharp terrain or you leave the ball and use a new one as you take your penalty stroke. Most sane people take the later option! Of course there is always the possibility that your ball will bounce in after landing on the lava. In that case, your ball is ruined from all of the cuts!

In the past, the seniors’ skins championship was played on this course.

I found four web sites that you may want to visit to see pictures and more information about the course (and the Mauni Lani resort which is also spectacular)

For pictures and information .
For pictures and information .
For more facts .
For lots of hole-by-hole pictures and lots of other information. Click on photo gallery within the website.

My pictures will be available shortly.

We were told that signing up for the evening at Kahua Ranch would provide "a unique and exciting experience" and it definitely lived up to the billing. I had so much fun!

Interesting Folklore: The tour started with the driver totally entertaining us with all of the stories and history of the area. I think it took at least 30 minutes to get from our condo to the ranch, and the driver talked non-stop. Then when we got to the ranch, John (who may have been the owner) continued on with the great storytelling. He also was very interesting to listen to and I felt I definitely had a good perspective on the 8500-acre ranch. I was especially surprised by how few employees run the ranch. There were other eye-opening bits of information.

Lots of activities were new for me: There were many activities that included audience participation. One was lining up to look through the telescope to see Saturn. That was the easy activity for me. Then I decided to try to get on the horse. As others were taking pictures of me TRYING to get on the horse, the really funny pictures were of the others laughing their heads off as I had some major trouble getting on. Finally I was successful and before I fell off, I had my picture taken. If you notice the handler is laughing (and probably so glad that I finally was able to get up on the horse). There were other activities including roping and branding. We brought home an example of the brand (on a piece of wood) and were worried that the airline personnel would think we had explosives because there still was some smell to the brand. I was a total failure in the roping activity. Of course the best activity was making smores and sitting around the campfire singing!

Good Food: The two entrees were beef and chicken. The chicken was very good and the baked beans were absolutely "yummy." There were also lots of salad choices and vegetables including corn on the cob. And the dessert was macadamia pie. I almost skipped on the dessert because I don’t like pecan pie. But this pie was delicious. I would have kicked myself if I had passed.

Great Music: While we were eating and after dessert, the music entertainment began. It was lots of fun and many of the guests got in the spirit by dancing. I especially remember one person that played a great fiddle and one woman who had an absolutely fantastic voice. She had us all singing along in several of the songs. Definitely silly, but loads of fun.

When the brochures tell you not to miss this evening, listen up!