Tiki-Kate and Pdrake's Tiki Tour of The Big Island

After much arm twisting, I convinced Perry to hang out with me in Hawaii for a week. I've got to say, he's an exceedingly good sport considering all he put up with. Seriously, I dragged him up every mountain and volcano on the island and across countless lava fields. Excellent stamina.

I can't see how I forgot about Bongofury's post about the Naniloa Hotel last year. Maybe it did stick in my subconscious because that's where we spent our first two nights in Hilo.

They've still got those awesome Marquesan pillars leading up to the little ballroom.

We lucked out on our second day and found some kids setting up for a prom in the ballroom.

There's a fabulous rattan chandelier.

They've got a row of Maori war clubs above the stage.

We ended up a botanical garden and found this little guy.

Then we came across his much larger brother. (Just for the sake of reference, Perry's 6'2")

We moved on to Volcanoes National Park. We stayed at the Volcano House and found this little guy in the lobby.

The next day we headed for Kona and stopped at the City of Refuge along the way.
Mmmm...tikis.

As we were nearing Kona, we came across this antique store. Good stuff.

We stayed at the Royal Kona Resort which is, of course, the home of Don the Beachcomber. The mai tais were horrible, but the ocean view was spectacular. We also had the pleasure of spending an evening at the bar with Brad Parker aka Tiki Shark.

The hotel had this great fish hook chandelier.

I'd like to thank Bamboo Ben for recommending Kanaka Kava.

They had this weird tiki outside and tons of hippies inside.

Perry loves hippies.

Brad sent us to the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel where they are restoring the Ahu'ena Heiau. Very cool place.

Back in Hilo, we ended up in this great little sports bar called Cronies. Good sense of humor regarding the decor.

I had a fantastic time on the Big Island. :D

i don't know who that guy is, but he does look a little like me. i know it wasn't me because you said good things about him. i'm a dick.

looks like fun.

i deny everything.

:P

freakin' hippies. take a bath already.

cronies at cronies. guy in the middle was at pearl harbor during the attack.

sunset over boobies from the top of the world. no color correction required.

On 2007-05-13 15:15, pdrake wrote:
i know it wasn't me because you said good things about him. i'm a dick.

Shut up, Perry. Don't make me drive to Vegas to remind you of how fabulous you are. (I have to go to work in the morning.:wink:)

promises, promises . . . .

Wonderful photos.
Would you recommend staying an entire 7 nights on the Hilo side?

On 2007-05-13 16:46, christiki295 wrote:
Wonderful photos.
Would you recommend staying an entire 7 nights on the Hilo side?

No. I actually wish I had flown into Kona now instead of Hilo. I wish we would have been able to spend another night at the National Park, but not in that tiny hotel room. I would also have liked to have spent an entire week in Kona. The Royal Kona was fabulous, and there was so much to do in the area.

those were small beds, but cozy. not like the naniloa beds. big and roomy.

oh, here's a picture of my bed . . .

[ Edited by: pdrake 2007-05-13 17:07 ]

stopped and had a drink with gecko at la mariana. thai snake juice. mmm, mmm, good.

On 2007-05-13 15:27, pdrake wrote:
freakin' hippies. take a bath already.

cronies at cronies. guy in the middle was at pearl harbor during the attack.

HELL YA!!!! GO RAMS!!!!!!!

Looks like you two had lots of fun....great set of pictures....lots of beautiful tikis (love the big Moai in the fawna). :)

beautiful day in kona . . . (actually, it was like being in a steam oven.)

akaka falls. we were pretty much inside a cloud and it was drenching us. we had to walk through a jungle crouching over because the monkeys and spiders were attacking constantly. they grow them real big on the big island.

On 2007-05-14 19:18, pdrake wrote:
beautiful day in kona . . . (actually, it was like being in a steam oven.)

LOL...I KNOW that steam oven....I went to Honaunau in late June (04')....OOF....Hot beyond Hot.... My second trip there was in December (06') and it was MUCH more comfortable....

That being said....I LOVE the Big Isalnd, and am looking into eventually living there, part time at least.

South Kona rocks....Don the beachcomber is great...it was a great place before Don's took it over too, but when it became Don's...even better. I love that Royal Kona place...never stayed there, but did the Luau there, and stayed next door at the Hale Kona Kai.

We stayed at the Hilo Naniloa too...I loved it.

AND ate the breakfast buffet at the Volcano House....STELLAR...overlooking Kilaeua Caldera crater...breathtaking.

The fire in the lobby fireplace has been burning continuously fo.... what, 40 years ? Awesome.

Hawaii rules....Period.

How was the lava flow ? I heard it takes like 3 hours to hike out to it now.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2007-05-22 10:31 ]

On 2007-05-22 10:27, tikiyaki wrote:

AND ate the breakfast buffet at the Volcano House....STELLAR...overlooking Kilaeua Caldera crater...breathtaking.

The fire in the lobby fireplace has been burning continuously fo.... what, 40 years ? Awesome.

Hawaii rules....Period.

How was the lava flow ? I heard it takes like 3 hours to hike out to it now.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2007-05-22 10:31 ]

The buffet at the Volcano House was fabulous. Love that view.

The fireplace has been burning continually for 125 years.

Hawaii does rule. Totally.

We skipped the hike to the lava flow. I don't think either of us would have survived that one. :)

On 2007-05-22 11:04, Tiki-Kate wrote:

On 2007-05-22 10:27, tikiyaki wrote:

AND ate the breakfast buffet at the Volcano House....STELLAR...overlooking Kilaeua Caldera crater...breathtaking.

The fire in the lobby fireplace has been burning continuously fo.... what, 40 years ? Awesome.

Hawaii rules....Period.

How was the lava flow ? I heard it takes like 3 hours to hike out to it now.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2007-05-22 10:31 ]

The buffet at the Volcano House was fabulous. Love that view.

The fireplace has been burning continually for 125 years.

Hawaii does rule. Totally.

We skipped the hike to the lava flow. I don't think either of us would have survived that one. :)

I heard that a huge lava bench-about 30 acres collapsed into the ocean recently, making it really unsafe to hike in certain parts...

I also heard that people are hiking 30 minutes from the Kalapana side and seeing the flow...but that has lots of potential danger too....

125 years...right...I knew it was somethng crazy.

Did you guys go to Lapahoehoe ? That's a nice stop on the Hilo side.

On 2007-05-13 15:05, Tiki-Kate wrote:
As we were nearing Kona, we came across this antique store. Good stuff.

Does anybody know the name of this store? Is it still there?

Here's the info. (I think it's correct, and I think it's still there.)

Discovery Antiques
81-6593 Mamalahoa Hwy
Kealakekua, HI 96750
(808) 323-2239