Beach 69

Some people say something good comes out of everything. I don't actually believe that for all cases. In our lost key situation (last post), I try to make myself feel better about all that money we wasted by looking at these pictures. The day we went back for our car was the most beautiful day. The skies were so clear.

 

 

This is the best panoramic picture my phone would take. Mauna Kea with it's snowy peek is on the left and the Kohala beaches are on the right. The mountains and valleys are so beautiful. 

As we were driving into Hawi, we could see Maui ahead. It pretty much just looks like the shadow of another mountain. 

This was the true gem of the trip though. Since we were on the west side of the island where the best beaches are, we decided to stop somewhere we had never been. We have since learned that this beach is called Beach 69. It is our favorite beach so far. The playing is great. There is plenty of shade. The snorkeling is just as good as the "best" snorkeling spots listed in the travelers guides. The waves are pretty good for the kids to ride. And the water is crystal clear. 

Evan can now climb above the top knotch of that rope. He would play there for hours. 

Supposedly the snorkeling around that lava island is incredible. 

He begs to ride waves all the time. He's become quite good at it too. 

He also wants to surf as much as I do. He "practices" every chance he can get. 

I'm not sure what the grumpy look on my face is about. 

Pololu Valley

I read about this wonderful valley, Pololu Valley near Hawi where you can hike down to a beautiful black sand beach. Naturally I HAD to go there. It was perfect weather. The hike was nice...not too strenuous or dangerous. The beach was amazing and very few people were down there. We met up with friends who were going. Read the bottom to find out the end of the story.

 

This is the view from about the halfway point. 

M and Baby S

Mr C was on ocean watch. The ripe currents are supposedly very dangerous down there. Swimming is not advised at this beach. 

M takes her clothes off everywhere we go 

I love this picture of the kids playing. This was about as far in as we would let them go. 

Like I said, very few people were down there. 

This gang will construct something out of anything. They had so much fun building. 

Supposedly, you should respect this island. "Aloha Aina" is a common term that means "love of land". Some say that if you move or take something, it is a curse or bad things will happen to you.

So we had the best time at Pololu Valley. As we were hiking back up to the car, Brian asked for the keys. I quickly said "I don't have them; you do." He reminded me that I was the last one that had them when I was getting things out of the trunk. A flash went through my head of dropping the keys into my beach bag which we decided last minute to put back in the trunk rather than carry all that way. Yep it was all my fault and boy have I beat myself up for it ever since.

 

So here we are with 3 kids no cell service and about 10 miles to the nearest town. Our friends were still in the valley with no cell service. So we start walking. We didn't get far when a very nice couple asked us if we wanted a ride. We squeezed into their sedan...yes, I, who never let my kids ride 2 miles without their carseats and is very cautious of whom drives them, let them sit in our laps in a strangers car. We get into town to find out the tow guy can't break into our trunk because there is no entry through the car. So we call a cab from Kona (about 45 minutes away) to pick us up and take us to the Kona airport to rent a car. We drove home, by this time, late at night. Got up early the next morning, took our spare keys to get our car and return the rental. It ended up being the most expensive, time consuming thing we've done on the island so far. Lesson learned: keep a spare key in a magnetic box on your car...or don't give me responsibility of the keys.