Hawaii : Day Four

We took a quick ride with Andy to Kilauea Iki…it was close to the Military Camp. I was feeling much better especially after a breakfast of eggs, bacon and pineapple.

 

See the rainbow it is going into the pot of gold deep in Kilauea.

Kilauea Iki was a lake of lava in 1959, it is technically a pit crater located next to Kilauea which you can see in the distance…steam is rising.

The Government Shutdown closed much of Volcanoes National Park.

We headed out going through Hilo and North to a Vanilla Farm…the only Vanilla Farm in Hawaii.

We had lunch and a farm tour.

A cute gal we know from Minnesota!

Lunch was vanilla lemonade (wonderful) a salad with a vinaigrette made with raspberry and vanilla, a chicken breast marinated in bourbon and vanilla then topped with an mango vanilla chutney on a vanilla bun and potatoes roasted with a southwest vanilla rub. 

The plants are grown in net like long hammocks in a soilless medium of bark in a shade greenhouse, when the plants bloom they are all hand pollinated…leaving nothing to chance.

 

After the farm tour we headed back to enjoy Vanilla Ice Cream…hint for you serve your ice cream in a chilled bowl…it tastes heavenly on a warm day.  The afternoon was topped off with coffee and a trip through the gift shop.  Adam bought some vanilla beans in a jar and will make his own vanilla extract.

We drove further north…the end of the road or this road anyways.

Driving back south …Groves of Eucalyptus trees that were planted as the next cash crop when Sugar Cane production ceased on the island.  A Japanese paper company wanted to buy the Eucalyptus trees but the natives didn’t like their spraying practices to kill off the canes. So the Japanese paper company backed out of the agreement but not before many many groves of Eucalyptus were planted.  The trees were never used and are now old groves, soon they may be cut down and burned at energy producing plants…but it sounds like that is being met with some opposition also.

Next we found a beach with some crashing waves. Laupahoehoe Beach Park.

It was a lovely diversion… the power of the crashing waves was fun to watch…and it was cool there!  The teenagers did boy things there, climbing rocks etc…

Our next stop was …Akaka Falls State Park.  The kids all hiked down and up again.  Far Guy and I watched the day grow darker and the feral cats come out of hiding.

We had supper at Pineapples in Hilo.  An open air restaurant with wonderful food.  After that we headed back to the Military Camp this time to a two bedroom cottage without a kitchen.

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I have almost caught up with the laundry and menu planning for the week.  Far Guy is scheduled for surgery to have his infusion port replaced early this morning.  The catheter that leads from the port to his vein has a crack or a hole…this was discovered on Friday and the surgeon wants it taken care of.  We plan to rest up and relax the rest of the week.  Far Guy is recovering from a bad cold…which he most likely got from me in Hawaii.