Hawaii 2

The diving is done and now is time to relax as I have not secured car and without a car the Big Island become even bigger for exploration since the apparently 150cc scooter is not sufficient to go around as I might become def by the rattling sound of this Chinese Italian engine, what is supposedly 150cc like I’m 22 year old. Anyhow it will get me from hostel to shop and around in near vicinity which is measured by tolerance of my ears to the noise of scooter. Pineapple hostel where I lodge is nice place stay as it is on Mamaloha highway close to Captain Cook village and sits in quiet less residential and much much less touristic area than Kailua – Kona so the feel of place is different plus the ladies running the show there are nice and seems to be on the same page as I, therefore we could have meaningful conversation when there is time for them. Since I have no car and I have not seen whale yet I took the whale sightseeing trip with Body Glove agency who are having this amazing offer of guaranteed sight of whale which means that if I do not see whale I can come back as many times as I need with the same ticket. Wake up my Luigi Chan from the restful sleep at car park and get him some juice at the Shell so we can hit the bypass towards the Kona in bone rattling and fly catching speed of 45 miles, what is actually the max speed on this bypass and possibly the surprisingly highest speed that Luigi Chan can make on straight line and to bewildered drivers possibly fastest as their eyeballs where nearly popping out through windshield as they passed me. Bypass road is nice kind of scenic road closer to the shore where the lava fields can be seen surrounded by lush green vegetation on each side with so vibrant green color that is looks like painted. Park the Luigi Chan at the rental car park to avoid paying for car park as well as this way it will be watched by the rental guy for free 😊 Forking hot at midday, no wonder that you don’t see any dog out as it will become hot dog in minutes so they are smart hiding. Body Glove is nice catamaran what take people  out to the ocean expecting to see whales, well they can be seen in some restaurants on the shore too but they are not worth watching. We sailed along the coast and then more into open ocean but there were no whales to be seen but we saw some dolphins so nice trip and because they had a marine biologist on board we got some interesting facts as well about marine life. As soon as the Luigi Chan came to roaring life ‘more like spitting lawnmower to be honest’ I set to the Body Glove salesman to book me for tomorrow on the another trip and also as we had great discussion I got a helicopter trip booked too. Since the boat trip was from 12:30 to 15:00 the day was kind of gone so I just went cruising at Captain Cook area and seen some nice coffee farm and very breathtaking views of valleys below. As I returned to the Pineapple the place was full of newly arrived backpackers who were everywhere and the tranquility of space suddenly changed but as I mentioned to Annie ‘the boss’ I went to sharp the knives what were so blunt that cutting jelly was an exercise for bodybuilders. Happily sharpening the knives and watching Graham Norton show time has passed as the sky got grey and the drops of rain started coming down to refresh the scorched land. My dive buddy Paul from big apple texted that he is going to Mauna Kea tomorrow if I want to come so we agreed to postpone the trip one day as I have whale watching booked already and to his credit he said o.k so cool dude. Well few cuts later I had tested the knives at my dinner preparation and they passed my inspection so now it is time to eat and catch up on Graham Norton show before the control room will shut down the AV, what had happened just as the show was over. Falling asleep to laughter and clicking glasses / bottles as the newly arrived people was not as bad but still the earplugs are best option. Another trip to Whale watching and another disappointment, except I had a good chat with bartender so at least something since no whales and no dolphins. Now is time to get back to hostel prepack the backpack with the long sleeve clothing, trousers etc for trip to Mauna Kea as early morning wake up 5:00 to catch bus is needed, therefore early bed is on the plan.  Alarm went off but I was already up and ready to rock a roll on Luigi Chan towards the Kona to find parking since I will leave him there overnight. Roads empty and sun still sleeping I was at Kona driving around to look for a car park, where I will abandon Luigi Chan for a day and night and I decided to leave him at Body Glove office since I remember that this is free parking and also off the main road so there is chance that no one will ‘borrow’ Luigi Chan for a spin. Walking up the road at 5:30 in the morning is nice and silent but as I was following my smart phone map to the bus stop I was a bit worried as I left build up area and suddenly I was in middle of nowhere on the dark road when I saw fire station so at least some civilization and then I turn left to the dark road leading to somewhere where as per my maps should be MACY’s and K-MART. Felt like the journey find the courage as it is dark and I’m on my own on the dark road but thankfully the sun was coming up slowly so when I was on the apparent bus stop what was described on the website as area in middle between the entrances to MACY’s and K-MART parallel to the trees. Such a nice description of bus stop but thankfully there was a little HELE-ON sign on the pole and also gentleman in the bushes with the bicycle who went asking me if I’m waiting for a bus to Hilo as he is there from 5:00am so I was on the right track. Bus is here and the lady driver is one angry lady I have to say but since she is the driver of the only bus going to Hilo have no chance to do something else just sitting in the freezer bus and hoping that I will thaw when arrive in Hilo. Thankfully half way through the journey in the highlands we stopped at this nice gymnasium and park when the angry bird announced that there is 30 min break and no smoking in vicinity of the gymnasium since it is forbidden to smoke around school by law apparently. Well as soon as my body thawed and I was not afraid bend my joints so they will not broke and I was able to walk around a bit and get the blood flowing as so far the glycol is not healthy in the veins.  The area where we stopped Honoka’a Park is nice green area not far from Hilo, where we arrived in no time afterwards and my dive buddy Paul was there waiting for me at the car park with his Toyota Tacoma in white so we hit the road and as I was on the road from 5am and frozen I asked for breakfast and coffee first. We head off to the old town Conscious Culture Café what is nice hipster coffee shop with good breakfast and nice coffee served by girl with beautiful smile so all  tasted better of course. After the fueling we quickly stopped at Puna Chocolate Company & Café to get some presents made in Hawaii, then hit the road to Mauna Kea with sightseeing on the local roads as sat nav was taking a piss from us and guided us to local residential area, what was beautiful but none less not on the way to Mauna Kea. Since the weather in Hilo was grey and Paul mentioned that it has rained for three days he was not eager to get on Mauna Kea but we had a great conversation and drove up the hill and soon enough we saw the protesters tent town. AS we drove in Paul thought that road is closed as the protestors tent in right on the road but they have traffic management set up and we were able to go up no problem so hooray we are on the road to mountain where the Gods live. What a amazing trip as the clouds disappeared and we were heading to peak of the highest mountain in the world positioned in blue sky. We have crawled slowly toward the top to avoid altitude sickness since we gained 4203 meters in few hours as we started at sea level. Slowly crawling up we looked around and what a views. As we got to the top we were alone with Gods and the thin air….. As I have exit car my head realized that air is thin and moving has to be slow as well as the turning head is not the best idea, rater turn whole body but I would say that deep breath in belly is really good to reduce altitude sickness for me since I draw long deep breath in and suddenly I stabilized and could enjoy the view of amazing blue sky and  fluffy clouds below covering the earth as it was some kind of duvet inviting you just jump in to the soft fluffy stuff. Since we were in the car and ascend a quite quickly we took only few moments to admire top and then start driving down and stopped randomly to admire view and took some photos until we reached bottom and we stopped to talk to protestors to see what is going on and what they are protesting for. The reason behind is huge eighteen story telescope building built in the area on Mauna Kea but not on the top where all be built to others telescopes are and some of them could be decommissioned but way below the top with new access road, which later will be use as precedents to get more buildings around the road and slowly creep to own the whole top the mountain, which is really bad. Not mentioning that same size telescope is now being built at Canary Island called Giant Magellan Telescope. Well I’m not scientist but it seems to me that protestors know what they are talking as well as I think that the money spent on it could be used on something better as I see lots of homeless people, the young could not afford their own accommodation and therefore families are not forming, environment is fucked up, giant ocean plastic patch is still floating and apparently no one knows how to clear it and the plastic is still used across the world. I would say that we should focus on our own planet and make sure that we take better care of the planet and people living on it rather than spent money on new telescope.

              As the time is moving we started moving too towards the black sand beach and relax a bit before the sunset as well as seen the lava field hardened on the existing road and this is some sight to have, when you realized that this happened just last year. I have to say I’m so glad that Paul took me on the trip as I have not secured car and therefore I would be not able to see all that beauty. We had finished in the local fancy restaurant called Jackie Rey’s Ohana Grill and what a treat it was….food was absolutely delicious and the whole place was booming with people. Afterwards we drove to the apartment where Paul stayed and then we went to the Seaside restaurant for one drink and we stayed a quite time to taste some whiskeys they have on display as well as have chat with bartender until they gently throw us out about two hours after closing time.

              Hawaii Big Island took me by surprise and I love it there so much that I wish I could stay or come back.