Caspar Institute logoitinerary   < 1 April Caspar to Oakland   3 April Kohala, Big Island >

OAK->KON, Waimea 2 April 2013


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Now was that so bad?

It's a five-and-a-half hour flight over the blue Pacific, flying with the sun, so, as the flight attendant said, "you're all three hours younger." (No Daylight Slavings here. Why should they?) Even in First Class (which we were NOT) it's a cattle car, so let's save our money for dinner at Merriman's!

We arrive just after noon local time, and ask our car renter where she'd go to lunch, and she tells us about the place only locals go just down the road. Then the drive across the shoulder of Hualalai to our first nest.


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<p>Southeast view from our room at Aaah The Views B&B</p>

Southeast view from our room at Aaah The Views B&B

Waimea is a lovely, unspoiled town in the saddle between the Kohala Mountains and the rest of the Big Island. It's headquarters for the Parker Ranch, the largest landholding in Hawaii (except the government), and Science City, the cluster of world-class telescopes on top of Mauna Kea. At 2,500 feet it's cooler than the North Kohala Resort Slum below us. And it's right at the dividing point between the windward and leeward sides of the island, so all the weather (and moisture) funnels through.

 

South view from our deck. In the distance, through the vog,
you may be able to make out the ocean just north of
Keahole Point, where we landed, about 30 miles away.
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After the rough-and-tumble of TSA (sullenly preparing us all for 9/11/2001) and the enforced boredom and inactivity of the flight, a quiet time surrounded by beauty is the sovereign remedy.

salad farmer overlookingReturning to a beloved place and finding it the same or maybe even better, as here at this little 3-room B&B, is an unusual pleasure. The hills here even look like our hills, but the air is tropical. From one treasure spot to another in a little more than a day!

Waimea is a delightful spot, mostly undiscovered by tourists ...except at dinner, when the hoarde (or those lucky enough to score rezzies) ascends from the resorts below to try authentic regional food at the aforementioned Merriman's. Do we have rezzies? Are we ?"

<p>North view from our sitting room</p>

North view from our sitting room

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<p>You may note in the above picture...

You may note in the above picture the spoon marks on the Chocolate Purse. Sorry; afraid we couldn't contain ourselves. THAT is a dish we mean to reinvent at home. The black bean sausage sauce too.

Not at all a bad end to a day. We came home, watched Stephen Colbert, and slept like bricks ...until 6am local time. 

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