Our 'Round the Big Island Day Trip
 e headed off early on our Big Island adventure, all the way around the island in one day.
Setting out from Kona, we headed north and crossed through Waimea and
past the Parker Ranch to the
Waipio Valley.
 This
valley is still inhabited by descendants of ancient Hawaiians who tend
to the taro crops. There is a long, black-sand beach and we saw lots of
kayakers out in the surf. We could only take pictures from above, as
the trail is so steep down to the valley only 4-wheel-drive vehicles could make it down there. I was happy to stand above and admire the scenery.
The
natural scenery on the way to Hilo was spectacular. We stopped along
the way to take pictures of the coastline and of a waterfall that could
be seen from the road.
The famous waterfall on this side of the island is Akaka Falls.
There is a nice trail that leads to the falls and scenic overlooks
where we took pictures. We were lucky enough to capture a rainbow at
the bottom of this picture.
 Bamboo
and ginger were plentiful along the trail and the whole area made me
feel like I was in a remote tropical jungle instead of a few miles off
the road.
We continued on towards Hilo, admiring all the scenery along the way. We decided to check out Rainbow Falls on the outskirts of town and hiked the trail there to the overlook at
the top of the falls. There we saw two streams that came together and
dropped over the edge to a calm area of water below.
 These
falls were not as secluded as Akaka, but were just as interesting in
their own way. The terrain at the top was rugged and the cascade ended
near some caves and pretty foliage.
We had
lunch in Hilo at a very good Mexican restaurant with the strangest name
— Reuben's. With a name like that it sounded like they'd serve good
reuben sandwiches, but it was all Mexican and it was delicious. We
wandered around the waterfront for a little while then headed to Nani Mau Gardens before going to the volcano.
Nani Mau means, "forever beautiful" and these gardens were. They stretch over 53 acres that were once part
of a rainforest. Hilo gets about 130 inches of rain a year, so these
plants are happy plants. There is a museum, an orchard, a ginger
garden, annual gardens, an orchid walkway and many other sections just
as gorgeous. We took the tram through the gardens since we didn't have
a lot of time to wander, but the driver stopped at a few places for us
to take pictures. One area was the Makalapua Lookout where we got good
pictures of the entire annual garden. We strolled along the orchid
walkway and took pictures there before getting back on the road and
heading to Volcanoes National Park.
Fishing Adventures on the Big Island
My husband was really looking forward to sport fishing in Hawaii.
Fishing in Hawaii is different than in our home state of Florida. The
best fishing in Florida is miles offshore, but in Hawaii it's just off
the coast. We had gone on a half day fishing excursion right before the
raft ride, so we got to experience both adventures all in one day.
During
the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament, we could see the boats
from the beach at the hotel, that's how close in they were fishing.
We booked a half day fishing excursion on a boat called Tara,
even before we knew it was the winner of the tournament, and we were
hoping to have good luck while fishing on this boat. Darrell, his
father and I,
 boarded the boat early in Honokohau Harbor and met the crew, Captain Nate and First Mate, Jeremiah. They hustled
around getting ready, we stowed our gear and off we went. Tara,
a 46' Hatteras, was well equipped with all the fishing gear we needed.
I didn't plan to fish, just watch, but I settled into the fishing chair
just to see how it felt.
The crew got the lines in the water to try and catch tuna to use as bait for marlin.
 It
was interesting to watch as they caught a tuna, ran a line through it's
mouth and kept it alive by running water through it at the same time.
First Mate, Jeremiah, was quite efficient while performing those tasks.
I
had to give up my fishing chair so that the real fishers on the boat
could have a turn. My father-in-law landed one of the tuna that we used
for bait.
 But,
try as they might all morning, they never caught anything but bait
fish. I guess the billfish were tired after fighting with this same
boat during the big HIBT tournament. But, both men agreed that, even
without a big catch they loved being out on the ocean.
And
what happened to me, you ask? While Darrell looked longingly out to sea
in search of that prize marlin, I decided the sofa in the cabin looked
pretty good, so I tested it out for a few hours. After all, I had to
get some rest so I would be able to snorkel later. We had booked a snorkeling trip for that afternoon so we had to be back to port by noon. The crew,
anxious to catch some fish, was willing to stay out all afternoon if we
wanted to, but I didn't want to lose the deposit on the raft trip.
 After all, the guys had another charter booked, so they'd have another chance at 'catching the big one'.
So, a couple days later, the guys got up early and headed out again, this time on Pamela, booked through the Kona Charter Skippers Association. Pamela is a 38' Bertram sport fisher out of the same harbor. I decided not to
go along on this one, as I could wait until later to hear the fish
stories when the guys got back. Well the story was much the same as the
previous trip, a beautiful day on the water, but no fish. Darrell was
still glad he had gotten to fish, even if there was no prize marlin
tugging at the end of his fishing line on either trip.
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DOES NOT assume any responsibility for same, mahalo.
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