Beautiful flowers were everywhere; Kailua-Kona coast near our hotel with a view of Bubba Gump's
We decided to use up our frequent flyer miles and hotel program awards I had been saving up for years, and we headed off on a 6-month "Journey of Joy" that was to take us to Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand and back to Hawaii before returning to pick up our rig in the Midwest. We were guided by Spirit to just follow our hearts and find joy every day--an assignment we willingly took on. This travelogue shows some highlights of the first part of that trip.
Beautiful flowers were everywhere; Kailua-Kona coast near our hotel with a view of Bubba Gump's
On November 15 we flew out of Eau Claire, WI, where it was below freezing and headed on to the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. We had lined up (relatively) inexpensive accommodations at the Kona Islander Inn where we stayed for the first 10 days. It was right across the street from the ocean and gave us great access to downtown Kona. We were greeted by our friend, Nancy Sweatt, who runs Dolphin Journeys. She takes people out on a boat to swim with the wild Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins. We went out with her several times and had fantastic encounters with the wild dolphins. It felt like we were invited to join the pod. What a special experience that was! We went scuba diving a couple of times with Nancy and enjoyed being able to get close to the very colorful fish. We even spent Thanksgiving Day scuba diving and then sharing a tasty turkey dinner. Thanks for all your hospitality, Nancy!
Kay at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau--the sacred Place of Refuge
One of the interesting places to check out on the Kona coast is the Place of Refuge. In ancient days lawbreakers who could make it safely to this place (while evading a death penalty) could perform certain rituals mandated by the kahuna (priest). After that the lawbreaker could return home with a full pardon. We had fun learning about some of the ancient Hawaiian customs.
Carvings at the Place of Refuge; Beautiful palms at Honaunau
Palms and surf along the Kona Coast; Kealakekua Bay (where the dolphins play!)
At Kealakekua Bay you can often see the dolphins playing. It's a large bay where Captain Cook landed and later died in a skirmish over a row boat. There's a lot of history in this area.
Tom on the lava with surf in the background
The storms whipped up a tremendous surf near the Kuamo'o Battlegrounds. Tom tried to get close for some great pics and ended up being thoroughly soaked before he was through!
Surf's Up!! Watch out for those waves!
What awesome power!
We spent one week at the fabulous Hilton Waikoloa Village using up my hotel awards points. We had fun sliding on the 125 ft. waterslide, snorkeling in the lagoon, and walking the grounds. Tom did a couple of strenuous hikes along the back of Waipio Valley and up to the top of Mauna Kea. The Mauna Kea Summit hike started at 9,000 ft. and ended up at 13,150 ft. It was a 15 mile round trip--and all that after being accustomed to being at sea level!! He was one tired fella when he returned!
We had a wonderful time connecting with other friends while we were on the island. Fellow ATPs (Angel Therapy Practitioners) Angie & Duke Hartfield and family recently moved to Kona, and we got to help celebrate Angie's birthday. We also made a lot of new friends while we were there, too. We were definitely looking forward to stopping in Kona again on our way back from New Zealand. Aloha!
We flew on to Fiji for 5 days and landed at the Nadi airport on the island of Viti Levu. Fiji consists of 320 islands scattered across 518,000 sq. kilometers of Pacific Ocean. It has a hot, sunny, humid climate with tropical breezes. There are beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters and friendly people. There are about 800,000 people in the country--half indigenous Fijians and the other half are people from India who moved to the islands.
Tom enjoying our room at the Sheraton Denarau Villas near Nadi; The view from our lanai/balcony
We used up some more hotel award points and stayed at a very nice Sheraton resort. The resort complex included three hotel or villa complexes, several restaurants, three pools, a scuba center, and activities desk.
Sunset at the resort; The little Chapel at the resort--available for weddings
Kay relaxing in a hammock--what a life! There were delightful walkways along the ocean.
View of the outside of the villas; One of the 3 beautiful pools at the resort
The other 2 pools at the resort--we had to check them all out multiple times!
Two Christmas Trees (made of sails) and an angel added a holiday feeling, Fiji style.
Carved stone face near hotel lobby; Another view of the oceanfront beach at the resort
Every evening there was a torch-lighting, drum ceremony; Native singers entertained daily
Water lilies in the pond outside our villa
Beautiful flowering trees were everywhere.
We sent scuba diving one day, but we were very disappointed. I think the resort operation just takes people to a 'convenient' place. We had two dives on Mystery Reef, and it was a mystery to us why they would consider it a good dive site. The coral was mostly dead and there weren't many fish. I know there is some fantastic diving on the outer islands--but we sure weren't impressed where we went!
The Whale's Tale cruise
One of the highlights of our time in Fiji was the wonderful day sail we took aboard The Whale's Tale. Our friendly, talented crew waited on, fed us good food, and entertained us with songs and jokes. We got to go snorkeling a couple different places where the sea life was plentiful. The golden and white sand beaches were wonderful. The colors of the clear blue waters were gorgeous. We sailed past the filming locations of many movies (South Pacific, Blue Lagoon, Castaway, Robinson Crusoe). There were only about 20 of us on the trip which made it nice. It was fun making friends with some folks from Australia and New Zealand and swapping stories.
We enjoyed snorkeling and swimming as we cruised around the film sites for "The Blue Lagoon" and "Castaway."
Honeymoon Island where we snorkeled and had a picnic
The Highlands of the island--very mountainous
Another fascinating experience we had was taking a Highland Tour of the interior of the island. It was a private tour for just the two of us with a Fijian Indian guide. We traveled through the back roads, past sugar cane farms and up into the highlands 2,000 ft. above sea level. We had spectacular views of the distant islands on one side and the "Valley of a Thousand Hills" on the other. There is a great deal of logging in the area. Pine trees grow so fast in this climate they can be harvested in 10-15 years. After a stop for tea, we headed on to the Nausori Village and were welcomed with a traditional kava/grog ceremony. Two young women gave us a narrated tour of their village, then we headed to the local waterfall where the kids swim and play, people wash clothes and from which the village water supply is piped. Life is very simple there--no electricity or water in the homes, very little furniture--but the people seem quite happy.
After five fun-filled days we headed off to New Zealand where the next travelogue will pick up.
