More than one of our children was most excited about Hawaii day three. Why? We had a big ziplining excursion planned for that day. An early start was required; we were scheduled to be at KapohoKine’s downtown Hilo location by 8:00. From there, we quickly filled out the required paperwork and loaded into a van for the short, narrated drive to the zip location. On site, we were happy to find that the crew was all set up and ready to get us on the course.
All laid out like that, the equipment might look somewhat complicated. It was no biggie, though. Here’s what it looked like on.
Midway through the course, the crew untethered us and led us to a scenic resting spot where we were treated to local fruits–and a killer view.
Our zipline adventure with KapohoKine remains a favorite part of our trip. Once we finished each zip of the course, we said our goodbyes to the crew and set on our way. We’d managed to work up an appetite.
We headed straight to What’s Shakin’. This super cute roadside eatery is best known for its smoothies–and for good reason. I managed to recover quickly from the sticker shock (smoothies are priced right around $7 each) when I took my first sips of my smoothie. Far superior to anything I’ve ever gotten from Jamba Juice, these smoothies were legit. They manage to make them insanely creamy in spite of the fact that they don’t add yogurt or dairy products. Jeff and I suspected that the papaya is what gave our smoothies that delicious, creamy texture. In spite of the fact that neither of us much care for papaya as a stand alone snack, we’ve taken to adding it to our smoothies at home and indeed, we were right; papaya was the secret ingredient. You should totally try it in your next smoothie.
After leaving What’s Shakin’, we continued along the scenic drive towards the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. I mentioned in a previous post that I am not normally a fan of gardens, oh but this one was gorgeous. These kids of mine even found it entertaining. I guess when you live in the desert, there is great novelty in seeing life-size leaves. I mean, like, literally life-size. Kennedy stands five feet one inch tall, and that leaf was taller than she is.
It wasn’t all about the freakish flora; there was such beauty there, I could have stayed for hours.
The itinerary wouldn’t allow for it though. We made our way back to our rainforest hideway in Volcano for one last night, but not before stopping at the grocery store to pick up a rotisserie chicken and some organic greens. Dinner that night would be a chicken salad and in spite of the fact that it cost roughly $27 to the previous night’s $200+, our dinner-on-the-fly was worlds better than the one we had at Kilauea Lodge.
The last activity of the day was a trip to Punalu’u, the black sand beach.I had hoped we’d get a glimpse of the turtles, and we did.
I also wanted a family photo in the sand. There were a lot of factors working against me on that one, but in spite of the wind and poor lighting, I did come home with an acceptable one. Not ideal, by any means, but alright.
Ironically, the selfie version I took with my iPhone turned out better.
Highlights from day 3:
- Zipline adventure with KapohoKine
- Smoothies from What’s Shakin’
- Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden
- Punalu’u Black Sand beach
Disappointments from day 3:
- a flop of a family photo
You might also like:
Our Hawaiian Adventure | Days 1 & 2
Our Hawaiian Adventure | Days 4 & 5
Looks like a great time. Isn’t Hawaii spectacular? I’d live there if it weren’t so darned expensive! Glad yall had such a good time. I just recently did a scrapbook page of the flowers I saw in Hawaii (breath taking for sure!). Check it out here – http://inkiefinger.blogspot.com/2014/10/paradise-found-for-mds-monday.html
It may not have met your vision, but that photo is not a flop!