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Our submarine
tour was scheduled for 11am, so after breakfast we hung out in
the room for a bit before driving into Kona. Before we picked
up our tickets we saw a parasailing trip with this huge smiley
parachute - way to be cheerful all the way up there! The submarine
tour lasted for about 45 minutes and dove down to around 110 feet.
The crew even had a Japanese translation tape for the one Japanese
couple. Despite repeated warnings, several people tried to take
flash photography out the portholes.
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We managed
to get a few good shots of the underwater life (sans flash of course),
but it was a bit harder in deeper water because the light became
rather dim. After the submarine ride we did a little shopping in
Kona where I got my sister a short sarong and Eric bought a small
wooden bowl.
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I
had read about this sushi place called Wasabi (formerly known as Bento's)
that I wanted to try in the Coconut Grove Marketplace. We walked for
a little ways and I was starting to get concerned that it wasn't there
or outside walking distance. At last, we found the sushi place tucked
away in the back corner of a little market area. The sushi was made
right in front of us and was very good - although I have had good
sushi in Florida that was comparable to this. Eric decided to have
a teriyaki chicken bowl that had way too much food in it for lunchtime.
All in all, a worthwhile experience. |
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After
hiking back to the car we made our way mauka (toward the mountains)
and upland for a tour of the Holualoa Kona Coffee Company. We learned
how they pick, select and separate the coffee beans into the quality
of coffee needed to become "Kona Coffee."
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We
also saw how they roast the beans and what they do to flavor coffee.
After roasting, they mix a flavor with alcohol, coat the beans,
then let the alcohol evaporate after the flavor has soaked into
the bean - the whole flavoring process takes less than 30 minutes!
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On
our way home we decided to stop and create our own coral graffiti
on the side of the road. The whole distance from the airport past
our hotel (over 20 miles) was covered with natural 'graffiti' that
people have designed from white coral placed on the black lava rocks.
We spelled out "E + L" with the white rocks and took some
photos to remember our experience. |
Before
going back to our hotel we stopped by the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach
to look around and take some more photos along the beach. They have
ancient koi ponds on the property along with a bunch of wildlife including
a kingfisher and morey eel. When we got back to the hotel I nursed
my new mosquito bites and we chilled another bottle of champagne.
For dinner we walked over to Donatoni's. |
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We had to wait
for an outside table so we had a glass of wine at the bar and chatted
with the bartender about tourists and the other islands. Our waitress
from the night before came over to say hi and the hostess rigged
it so she got our table again. I enjoyed a seafood medley with black
squid ink fettuccini and Eric had spaghetti. It was a quiet night
and we enjoyed some champagne in the room while catching up on email.
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