Hawaii

I can't believe that, only  3 weeks ago, we were in Hawaii. The lush gardens, the towering epiphyte trees, the beautiful sceneries and volcanic rock, everywhere. After months and months and months of research, Mum, Aaron and I decided to stay in Hilo on the Big Island. We had no idea what other islands had to offer but after doing a bit of research, Hilo fit the bill: Volcano National Park, Snorkelling, not touristy and a hideaway. To top it off, we found an amazing accommodation that was too good to be true.  The accommodation was the best, it MADE the trip.

The tall tropical trees covered with epiphyte plants that make the entire area seem like a magical forest from one of  Miyazaki's movies.

Aaron and I in a tree at the Lava Tree park. 

Frank and Janice (Aaron's folks)

Mum and UJ (cute)

Kiluea caldera, it's steaming, it's active!

Gorgeous plants at the entrance of the lava tubes

This is amazing, around Waimea, you can see where the lava has flowed towards the ocean.

A pool of water heated by Kiluea

Mum and I at the thermal pool

Happy Birthday Aaron. Could it be the best birthday ever? Snorkelling with family!

Look at what's swimming around whilst we were snorkelling!

Reef tidal pools, these were so clear and beautiful.

                   

Interconnected tidal pools in Puna

Aaron afloat





Hale Mohlau is a 21 acre property nestled in the luscious are of Puna. It is beautifully landscaped  and when we arrived, it was late and the dark obscured the beauty that surrounded us. We were a bit worried since a few people had mentioned it was hard to find and we were finding it in the dark! It was not so bad and when we go to the house, Mike who looks after the property, came out to greet us. We enter the house and even though we have seen photos online, we were blown away. The house is absolutely beautiful, none of that tacky 70s furniture or bedding that the majority of holiday homes in Hawaii seem to be stuck with. The look of the house had us giddy and Mike, who lives in a hut 50 meters back from our place was full of information and told us that the entire house is off the grid. The solar panels on the roof stores energy all day and we had to turn off devices when they were not in use. There were wireless internet, TV, jacuzzi, stove, etc and the few days we were there, we were just off the grid. It was amazing. Actually, we never turned the TV on, we didn't have to!

That night , we fell asleep to what seemed like sounds of birds but Mike told us there were actually Portugese frogs!

The kitchen. The floral displays are from the gardens.

The lounge.

When we woke up the next morning, it was like Christmas! With day light, we saw the bountiful beauty that surrounded us. Aaron and I woke up and in our pjs, we put on our shoes and went out exploring and taking photos:

The view from our bedroom, the deck.

The view from the deck. I mean, this is just gorgeous!

The exotic variety of plants, flowers and fruits had us going "ooo"ing and "aaah"ing in our pjs around the garden. This was a very expansive landscape garden full of exotic flowers, bananas, lychees, nuts and guavas abound!

Wish we could grow these successfully in Melbourne!

I've never seen this plant before but it is absolutely amazing

look at its flowers, the colours are stunning!

The other amazing thing was that wild orchids were everywhere. The hawaiin temperature was just perfect for these alien beauties.

Mum's favourite.

Ginger flower

The heated jacuzzi that Aaron and I had a dip in.

Lychees picked fresh from the trees! When Aaron and I were picking these, we saw a family of wild pigs! It was so cool!



I think it is safe to say that if you are heading to Hawaii for relaxation and not tourist packed activities, you should definitely go to Hilo and if you're going to stay somewhere, you should definitely stay at Hale Mohlau.
For $300  a night, you get a beautiful 3 bedroom house with all the amenities you would ever need.
Beats any stupid hotels!

We did venture to the other side of Big Island but it just wasn't our style. There were too many people and we just loved Hilo side more! The one amazing thing was Monstera. We went there for dinner and boy it was amazing. We had so much food ranging from sushi, shallow fried snapper, udon with special broth , baked papaya, tonkatsu and shoju. The waiter there was exceptionally knowledgeable about the food and customs, which is rather refreshing.

 I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive about Hilo because we picked it solely using the internet and we really didn't know what we were going to get. After getting to our house, all my anxiousness faded and it turned out to be an amazing few days!