We had a delightful dinner at Ohelo with Frank and his wife Zoe. The food was fine and the company even more so. So much so that we sat at the table long after paying the bill to the distress of those waiting for the table. The staff did not even bother us at all.
The next day we set out for Kona with dreams of coffee and other treats along the way. Of course we could not pass through the territory unimpeded. First there was the Ka’u Coffee festival that called us off the road, I tasted several interesting coffees, none worth the asking price to me ($15/7 oz bag minimum). Being fully caffinated we moved on down the road stopping at Black Sand Beach again to look for turtles.
Which we found. There were also several in the water which were hard to photograph. After a stop at Punulu’u Bakery for lunch we continued up the West Coast to our B and B Hale Maluhia Country Inn. Our room was the Japanese Tea House. It is an octagonal room with shoji screens all around and the bath had a lovely open shower and soaking tub. It had all seen better days and will again as they complete recovery from a major rain storm a year ago. I would note that backing into the driveway is not for the faint of heart. It feels like a 20% grade around a 90 degree curve. I did it a couple of times, but not in the dark. Going in forward would not be a good idea as it would require backing into traffic coming around a tight U turn.
We took two major drives from there. First we drove to the north shore visiting beaches and towns along the way. We drove up the dry side and returned along the lush higher inland road. The next day we elected to drive to the peak of Mauna Kea where there are several famous astronomical observatories. The road is limited to 4wd vehicles. This is not so much due to its being a rough road as it is for the need to maintain control while descending the 20% plus or minus grade on dirt.
We returned to the room for a rest and then had dinner at Jackie Rey. It was delightful. They had a lovely mushroom dish for Carol and I had to have the Ono, a local delicacy white fish. Coconut Ice cream was too great a temptation and it went fine with an excellent cup of Kona coffee. At $40 to $50 a pound I will not be buying it for regular use. My excellent Costa Rican or Tanzania peaberry are really very good for a quarter of the price.
We flew on to Maui this afternoon and picked up our rental for the drive to Lahaina from Bio-beetle Rental. The car is a 10 year old Jeep Patriot that had been modified to run on 100% bio fuel. The car has been hard used in over 97000 miles of rental service!
We arrived at Chris’ apartment – Air BnB – and we were warmly greeted and given the run of the place.