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Honolulu, Kona Arrival

HAWAII, Nov 23 - This is my second visit to the Big Island in Hawaii; the first with Elizabeth.  It is Elizabeth's first ever trip to Hawaii.  Period.  So it was exciting arriving here today, especially as only yesterday, I was atop a McDowell Mtn summit in Scottsdale, writing about a beautiful hike.  Less than 24 hours later, we were in Hawaii, about 3,000 miles to the southwest, in the middle of the great Pacific ocean.  Marvels of modern jet travel...

Given that it was Elizabeth's first ever trip to the Hawaiian islands, and that the forecast was for story weather, it was quite heartening to arrive in Honolulu after a 6.5-hour flight and feel the balmy breezes, but no rain (above shots).

From there, it was only a short hop to Kona (170 miles) on the Big Island, our first destination.

Our first hotel was a Marriott's at Waikoloa Beach on the west coast of the island (left).  We were told out room would not have ocean view, yet the Pacific appeared before us when we opened the door to our balcony (middle left). From there, we could also see Mauna Kea (two right photos), the highest mountain in the Hawaiian islands at just under 14,000 feet.  You can see a slew of telescopes at its top which I visited back in Sep 2007.  As was the case back then, they were again being illuminated by a setting sun. 

By the way, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world, measuring about 30,000 feet, higher than Mt. Everest in the Himalayas, from the ocean floor to the top.  Just another item you can stash away for your next "trivial pursuit" game.  :-)

Our hotel is right on the Waikaloa beach, where you can see Elizabeth carefully checking out the water temperature with her pinky (two middle shots).

Then it was show and feet clean up time (left shot), as is always the case after mucking on sandy beaches.  And as is always the case wherever the "Birdman Bob" treads, there were birds around (the other three shots) to greet us.  If you look carefully, you will see a bird in flight in the rightmost photo.

(video clip)

The sunset was pretty, as the clouds and sun traded places all afternoon in the western sky (left). While the sun was still up, Elizabeth and I went for a walk through the nearby shopping malls - King's Shops and Queen's Shops (above).  If you click on that "Play Bob" video button, you can enjoy a short (24 sec) clip of Hawaiian music being performed at the King's Shops.

Later on in the evening, back at our hotel, we caught the finale of a three-hour luau. 

And that's all she wrote from our Day 1 in the Hawaiian islands.

To be continued...

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