We couldn't believe how quickly our time in Waimea came to an end, but it wasn't long before we found ourselves packed up and on our way to Kamea'a via Akaka Falls and Hilo.
We picked up a few snacks at a farmers' market along the road to Akaka Falls that we hadn't tried before (Taro Chips, Fried Plantain, Rambutan) as well as our standby, apple bananas.
Afterwards, while we initially were planning to also take in the World Botanical Gardens, Cashel was getting a little antsy (and a little hungry), so we stopped at a little smoothie place (with very expensive smoothies) and let the kiddo run around a bit.
We thought again about possibly stopping at the Botanical Gardens, but decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea to bring a toddler with grabby hands in a place where they say "do not touch the plants" and headed on to Hilo.
We were planning to have lunch at Hilo Bay Cafe at the recommendation of the owner of the home we were renting, but upon arriving in town, found there to be a 45 minute wait (at 1:30pm, no less - the place was really good!), so we made our way to Walmart across the parking lot and stocked up on a few necessities while we waited. Cashel had fun trying on some hats :)
The wait wasn't too long though, which was good, because we were famished. The food was excellent, and the atmosphere nice. It was a little more upscale than it appeared to be on the outside (i.e. strip mall restaurant with a 3-to-4-star dining experience)
It seemed like a really long drive to get to our next accommodations, but it was an overcast, rainy day, and Cashel was a little fussy as he was past nap time and not really too fond of sleeping in his carseat for this leg of the trip. Once we arrived, though, we were pleasantly surprised. Granted, we were now in the rainforest, so we weren't prepared for how muggy it would be.
We spent a good amount of time out here on the beautiful front porch, and spent much of the rest of the afternoon just resting and trying to not sweat until it started to cool off with an afternoon rain shower.
The rest of the house was nice as well, although muggy, like I said before. None of the places we stayed in Hawaii had air conditioning, but in the evenings, it really cooled off nicely.
Yes, that is the NCAA tournament on the TV. We did have some downtime with a napping toddler while on vacation lol Plus, I think Mark's idea of a vacation sometimes would just be uninterrupted sports-watching :)
We had such a late lunch that we were able to get by on just a granola bar and some fruit for supper that night, and we all called it quits early. Granted, it was difficult to sleep much because the rainforest sounds were SO LOUD! I kid you not that this is an entirely accurate depiction of just exactly how loud they were (if not actually LOUDER and MORE intense). It took a little bit longer to finally settle down, but we still woke up feeling fairly rested.
This ended our second full day in Hawaii!
We picked up a few snacks at a farmers' market along the road to Akaka Falls that we hadn't tried before (Taro Chips, Fried Plantain, Rambutan) as well as our standby, apple bananas.
Akaka Falls
It was a sticky hot hike through the viewing area to Akaka Falls (hotter and stickier than I remembered from 3 years ago), but we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful rainforest views, and the waterfall was beautiful! Afterwards, while we initially were planning to also take in the World Botanical Gardens, Cashel was getting a little antsy (and a little hungry), so we stopped at a little smoothie place (with very expensive smoothies) and let the kiddo run around a bit.
We thought again about possibly stopping at the Botanical Gardens, but decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea to bring a toddler with grabby hands in a place where they say "do not touch the plants" and headed on to Hilo.
We were planning to have lunch at Hilo Bay Cafe at the recommendation of the owner of the home we were renting, but upon arriving in town, found there to be a 45 minute wait (at 1:30pm, no less - the place was really good!), so we made our way to Walmart across the parking lot and stocked up on a few necessities while we waited. Cashel had fun trying on some hats :)
We spent a good amount of time out here on the beautiful front porch, and spent much of the rest of the afternoon just resting and trying to not sweat until it started to cool off with an afternoon rain shower.
The rest of the house was nice as well, although muggy, like I said before. None of the places we stayed in Hawaii had air conditioning, but in the evenings, it really cooled off nicely.
We had such a late lunch that we were able to get by on just a granola bar and some fruit for supper that night, and we all called it quits early. Granted, it was difficult to sleep much because the rainforest sounds were SO LOUD! I kid you not that this is an entirely accurate depiction of just exactly how loud they were (if not actually LOUDER and MORE intense). It took a little bit longer to finally settle down, but we still woke up feeling fairly rested.
This ended our second full day in Hawaii!
