I left you for the night at the Hawaiian Sanctuary in Pahoa. The next day we woke up bright and early because we had a full day of adventure planned (and then some) and because the kids wake up right around 6 AM every day of the week.
After a hippie breakfast of commune made granola and burnt coffee with sesame milk, which wasn’t as terrible as it sounds, we packed up and went for a walk around the Sanctuary farm. We checked out the eco-cabins and got chased by geese who were upset that we didn’t have breakfast for them. Poor Bodhi Kai was right at eye level with the giant beasts so they went for him while Anastacia and I ran away, and left Monica (and Mahina) to defend Bodhi.
As we drove south, we giggled a lot about our stay at the Hawaiian Sanctuary, which Monica insisted was a perfect representation of the area – a little hippie, a bit out of touch with reality, a lot of farming, and super beautiful.
Isaac Hale State Beach - photo by Anastacia
Our first stop destination was Pahoiki or Isaac Hale State Beach. We drove along a beautiful, windy coastal road, whose scene varied between lush jungle and lava moonscape, with the vast Pacific Ocean on the side. Along the beautiful drive, Mahina threw up her chunky quesadilla breakfast, and I, sitting next to her, had the pleasure of cleaning her up. When we arrived at the beach she got a wardrobe change and we walked around the beach that was completely covered by lava during the 2018 eruption. If you look at Isaac Hale State Beach on Google Earth, you can still see the concrete wharf, which is now under a few feet of lava. Wild stuff. Before the 2018 lava flow we could have driven a loop back to Pahoa, but we had to backtrack because the road was taken out by lava and not rebuilt. Fortunately, Mahina didn’t throw up again, but the car smelled all day.
A pirate in the making
Our next stop was breakfast in Pahoa at a cute little restaurant called Pele’s Kitchen. Someone who I assumed worked there showed me and the kids their pet tortoise and pet parrot in the backyard, because that is the Pahoa style. Bodhi Kai was pretty excited to have a parrot tossed on his shoulder, as was Mahina, but I'm not super crazy about birds so I had to be a brave girl when it jumped on me.
After breakfast we headed to Hilo, drove Banyan drive but didn’t plan to stop because we had so much to do and see, but Bodhi Kai had to poop so we did an emergency stop at the Queen Lilioukalani Gardens, which seemed lovely so I put it on my list of places to come back to. Then we drove up to Rainbow falls and snapped a few photos, and held on to Mahina tight because she loves water and was mad about not getting to jump into the falls.
The girls at Rainbow Falls
Back into the car, carseats buckled, kids with their respective stuffed animals and snacks, windows down because it was smelly, we headed to my requested stop, Honoli’i beach. I had intended to stop here when I came last time but I hate using a GPS and missed it, and then was too stubborn to turn around so this was a chance to take a quick peek. Honoli’i is the popular Hilo side rivermouth surf break under a jungly bridge and looks like a great adventure, so it goes on my places to come back to list as well. Will report back on this another time.
Onomea Bay Trail hikers
Our next destination was Onomea Bay Trail, which was a quick but beautiful little hike through the jungle and down to a river mouth (lots of rivers on Hilo side). Anastacia and I hiked a little farther than the river mouth and when we got back, the babies were happily naked and splashing in the river. The hike also goes through a small part of the Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve and Garden, and it looked super awesome so it was added to the places to come back to list – which says a lot because if I can opt for the free version of something I nearly always will. We got back to the car and had a quick snack on the side of the road (by this I mean trying to keep the kids out of the road, swatting mosquitos, changing a poopy diaper and trying to stay relatively dry in the on and off rain), and loaded back into the car before heading to Akaka Falls.
The kids fell asleep on the way to Akaka Falls so Monica said she would stay in the car with them while Anastacia and I did the little loop hike to see the falls. We quietly snuck out of the car, glad for a little reprieve from the unbuckling cha cha. Just as we were leaving the falls, Monica walked up carrying Mahina and towing Bodhi Kai, who had woken up and insisted on seeing the falls. The kid doesn’t quit. Of course he wasn’t thrilled about the hike back up to the parking lot, but saying “I told you so” to a three year old doesn’t give much satisfaction.
Kids and kids - cuteness overload
On the way to Akaka Falls, Monica had noticed a goat farm that had what appeared to be a little petting zoo off the road. “We’re going. I’ll wake the kids up if they fall asleep!” She declared enthusiastically. In spite of my love of goats (particularly baby goats), I was tired and kind of burnt out by this point, and on the verge of opting out, but we pulled into the driveway and I mechanically unbuckled the carseats and got out, if a bit zombie-like. My mood did a 180 degree turn when those little baby goats started nibbling at my pants nuzzling me for treats. The kids were so cute with the kids (ha, punny) that this unplanned stop turned out to be my favorite stop of the trip. I thought the “Free Goat Therapy” sign was a gimmick, but it really worked. Plus, they had delicious goat cheese that didn’t have the “I just licked a goat” flavor.
Back in the car, we headed off to the sleepy little town of Honoka’a, which I was grateful we just drove through and didn’t get out of the car. It was about 5 PM on a Friday night of a holiday weekend so not much was open. Our last stop of sight seeing was the look out at Waipio Valley. On the way, the kids (not goats) fell asleep, so again Monica said she would wait in the car while Anastacia and I went and saw it. Again, we snuck quietly out of the car and again, after about 5 minutes Monica came down with Mahina on her hip and Bodhi Kai in tow. These kids.
Waipio is a spectacular valley where King Kamehameha was sequestered as a child and grew up, is sacred to Hawaiians and now closed to the public. I think you can still do horse tours or something, but I’m grateful Monica’s parents took me down there when I visited them 15 or so years ago. I remember it being lush and wild, and even from the lookout you can feel the grandeur of the place.
Back in the car, we headed to Waimea to Monica’s step sister Adia’s house to say hello. By this time I was maxxed out, but if I can’t keep up with a three year old then that is just embarrassing. We hung out for a bit, and she suggested we get dinner at the night market, so we packed back into the car and went to the night market, but not before bundling up because it was cold and rainy. The weather on this island is crazy. The night market was pretty quiet because of the weather, so we got a coffee, fed the kids, and then packed back up for the final push home. Not that you would, but if you count it, that was 11 stops and 22 times of buckling or unbuckling kids from car seats, times two kids, which makes for a total of 44 ins or outs of a carseat in one day. I am now a carseat professional, which is great because I needed to beef up my resume a bit. And although it was exhausting, the day further proved the notion that there is cool shit to do and see around every corner of this majestic island. Amen.
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