Despite the cold of last night I had a snuggly, comfortable night's sleep. The proprietor cooked us a feast for breakfast complete with fresh fruit, eggs, bacon and hash browns. All of the guests of the bed and breakfast ate together like a big family.
We made our leave from Aloha Junction and made our journey to Hilo where on enquiring about camping permits we had an encounter that was reminiscent of Elaine and Ted from 'Airplane'. 'It's not an empty building, we also have our courthouse there'. Right...
As we drove up the east coast of the Big Island we passed scenic Hilo Bay with its lushious green jungle surround and then proceeded to Akaka Falls State Park, singing along to The Beatles and Queen. We stumbled across the park somewhat unexpectedly and then discovered, by reading our guide, that it was a good place to visit. The loop track took us to Kahuna Falls and then on to Akaka Falls, both fairly pretty waterfalls. The former was 100 feet and the latter 440 feet. It was a very pleasant stroll through jungle like growth with magnificent bamboo groves and beautiful ferns and cheeseplants. I saw a small gecko like creature move in amongst the wet growth that would be a haven for glow-worms.
On our continued journey north we paused at Laupahoehoe Point to watch the heavy surge and waves beating on the coastline. The wind was quite strong. Just before, we made a stop at a local general store where the shopkeeper told me she loved my accent. I told her it was probably an amalgamation of several countries around the world as I had been away from home for seven months, I was on my way home as we were running out of money. She couldn't understand why I didn't just ask my parents to send me some. Thinking about it, I think she might have thought that I am American because she told me that she hoped I wasn't searching for work in Hawaii because the locals couldn't get it. It was time for me to leave at that point.
We drove along to Kalopa State Recreation Park where we inspected the park with a view to camping but I was deterred by the complete absence of other campers making us a vulnerable target so we travelled on in search of a home for the night.
We stopped at Kukuihaele to take a look over the Waipio valley and then drove down Old Mamalahoe Highway and enjoyed the rolling fields of the ranches and the odd sighting of cattle and horses. It was a lovely road to drive down.
We reached Waimea, also called Kamuela, and took the cheapest room available at Kamuela Inn. It cost a whopping USD 95, not the USD 85 quoted, don't forget the tax...
The Parker Ranch grill delivered us a very good meal with very good service. I ordered and enjoyed my first steak at a restaurant! On ordering hot tea to accompany my dinner I was presented with a presentation box containing a dozen or so varieties of tea bags.
Before retiring I caught up with most of my journal before hearing the tragic news that a bed and breakfast proprietor in Naalehu shot his eight year old daughter on Sunday. That particular bed and breakfast wouldn't have been our first choice but we might have ended up there! It's a dangerous world.
We fell asleep while trying to watch 'Passenger 57' at 01:00.
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.