The Lynns: Aug '12 Big Island Trip

As I mentioned in the Part I trip, we had to book two different properties because we couldn't find one place available for the whole time. So, on this day we were changing properties, which meant we wouldn't have any place to go back to between 11a until 4p, at the latest. We decided we'd spend the day driving south to Kona and maybe even go down to see the Place of Refuge.

Kona was a cool beach town. We walked up and down the road that runs along the water. We stopped at an area with a bunch of street vendors. We bought some dried guava, which we'd never had before. The adults liked it; the kids did not. We also got 4 papaya for only $1 total!

We were going to check out the oldest church on the island, but when we came upon it, it was during a service. We had lunch, shaved ice, and checked out a tiny beach area.

We then headed south and tried to find a couple of places I saw on a map, but we couldn't find the entrances. So, we just stopped at a tide pool area, which had too many small dead crabs for Beck's taste.

The Place of Refuge was at least another 1/2 hr away, so we decided to see if our other unit was ready. It was. This place was not as big but still big, and the amenities were better. It had a big fancy pool with slides and a pebbly "beach." You could borrow DVDs and games for free and best of all you could access the main Hilton resort.

We spent the rest of our trip hanging out at the various pools between our property and the main Hilton resort and at the main Hilton's lagoon, which feeds directly from the ocean. So, there's lots of ocean life.