Sunday, February 5, 2012

Feeling the Aloha!

It has obviously been a loooooooong time since we added to the blog.  Our plan to retire from Mars at the end of 2011 was replaced by a 31 March retirement date.  That meant Mick would continue to commute to the East Coast each week and that Joni's recovery from surgery would be largely unsupported by her mate.  Joni is now four weeks past her surgery and recovering well but still sore and tender.  What better way to complete her recovery than to spend a couple of weeks in the sun of paradise Hawaii.  We had planned this trip as our first trip in retirement and did not alter our plans in spite of extending at Mars or Joni's surgery.

So here we are, spending the first week in the Kona sun on the Big Island.  We are staying in Waikoloa on the Kohala coast.
On day 1 we spent a few hours relaxing at Spencer Beach just up the coast.  Then walked next door to the Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site where after watching a video about Kamehameha conquering the Hawaiian Islands and walking the site, we scored Joni's highlight of the trip - on day 1 no less!  We bought her a super deluxe National Park Service stamp collecting book.  She is soooo excited!  Here she is proudly displaying her new book in front of the Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site sign.  By the way, that rock formation in the background is the heiau.

Hungry, but excited by our find, we left the monument in search of some local fare.  We happened on an "Ocean Fest" local event in Kawaihae Harbor so we took a chance on finding something tasty.  Again, we not only scored big on lunch (poke which is marinated raw fish, fish tacos and fish salad which were all very good) but Joni was able to push some kids out of the way to get a good spot at the "touch tank"!  She handled some sea slugs, several varieties of anenome and other creatures from the local sea.  You can tell that the children in the picture weren't being very good sports about this big kid taking over the touch tank! 
Stay tuned!  Mahalo!

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