We planned a lazy start to the day but were still awake at 7am with the sun shining brightly.  Today we headed back up to Waimea (about 20 miles away) to visit the two farmers markets they have up there.

The first one was full of yummy foods to sample and we came away with a berry turn over, two different types of jams, a macadamia nut and honey tart, and home made fresh rosemary and garlic pasta.  The guy that was selling the jam was a true salesman, every time we opened our mouth he put a spoon with a new type of jam to try in it!  We ended up buying the passionfruit jam which he was telling us can also be used to make drinks or smoothies, it really was yummy.  We also got a Strawberry Jam which must have been really tasty because neither Q or I are huge fans of strawberry jam!

The Macadamia tart is really yummy, like  a pecan pie but made with macadamia.  No fruit or vegies purchased but lots of lovely sweet stuff.

AT the second market we bought some pawpaw, lettuce, kale (I have always wanted to try it) and had lunch.  There was lots of yummy food stalls.  Okay it was 10.30 in the morning so very early for lunch but we had had a very light breakfast in preparation and the food just smelled so good. Q had a beef curry, and I had teriyaki chicken and rice from Aunty Annies, which is an institution at the markets.  She makes her own sauce (which we also bought) and you can get beef, pork or chicken.  Portion sizes were huge, I only ate half of it.

From here we drove up to Waipo Valley lookout.  You can walk down into the valley however I had made the decision I wasn’t going to do this as it is a really step walk down and of course back up.  I did suggest Quentin could however he chose not to!  Still these pictures will do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dropping our farmers market purchases at home we headed to the Kings Shops about 10 mins away.  They have a Tiffany’s there, I knew what I was doing.    Quentin bought some new Oakley Sunnies and I looked at several bracelets at Tiffany’s but couldn’t make up my mind so came away with nothing…..this time….next time….who knows.

Seeing it was so hot at the shops we headed to the marble creamery ice cream store, where you select the ice cream flavour you want and then what you want added to it, then they mix it all up on a freezing cold marble slab.  We both ended up with a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of white chocolate.  He added marshmallows, M & M’s and gummi bears to his (gummi bears – I ask you), I added marshmallows, nestle crunch chocolate and macadamia nuts.  Very yummy, very big and very little change out of $20.  But did a great job of cooling us down!

Home and a swim in the pool at the resort made for a very relaxing day.  The Pool is beautifully warm, no “Argh” moment as you hope in, just straight in.  There was only a couple of other people down there so very enjoyable. Also spotted some of the wildlife which initially looked like a big rat. Turned out to be a baby mongoose. It’s mum took off, and was calling to it to join her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for a relaxing evening with meat sauce and our rosemary and garlic pasta for dinner.  Yum.

Once again an early start to our morning, we wanted to visit the Thurston Lava Tube before we packed up the car and headed to the west coast.  We headed back into the National Park before 7am and were the only people on the road.  However we did get slowed down by Pheasants  on the road!  They must make the most of any road kill before the roads get too busy and around every corner we were met by a family of them.  One stupid bird just stood in the middle of the road and looked at the car then just kept pecking the road.  No way was she going to move.  Just as I opened the door to jump up and shoo her away she finally slowly got the message and crossed to the other side.

The tube was pretty amazing, the walk down to it could have been through any NZ forest, so many of the plants were familiar to us.  While we saw half a dozen other people there was only us walking through the tube, it is really hard to believe that these tubes are what carry the red hot lava.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then back, breakfast, showers, car packed and heading to Hilo for the farmers market.  On the way we saw a couple of things that were slightly odd, road works with the man holding the sign, the side facing us said STOP, yet all the traffic was driving on through, and the side on the other side said slow, to ensure that southbound cars slowed down.  Somehow our STOP, GO signs make a lot more sense.  Just as well we followed the other cars and kept on going rather than stop!

We also came across this crazy looking car, truck, alien, why you need big double wheels at the back is beyond me, and yes “your bum does look big in that”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Hilo we went to the farmers market, lots of lovely fruit and vegies, we bought two types of passionfruit known here as Liliko’I, two big bags for $4 total, very yummy.

 

 

Other than that we didn’t buy too much there as it was just too hot and we couldn’t be bothered.  As we were heading back to our car we came across a café that I had read about on Tripadvisor; the Moonstruck so decided to stop for a quick cold drink, oh, okay, and something to eat.  Struggling to decide we got a frangipane croissant a passionfruit cheesecake to share.  Very very very yummy.  The croissant was even yummier than the pastries in Vanuatu!

 

Then a little further down the road we came across a candy shop.  Wow, what a candy shop, you could get everything, candy with ants, with bugs, chocolate covered bugs, bacon flavoured soda.  None of which we had, we just got the normal brittle and raspberry chocolates for our drive.

Then back into the car and to the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Gardens, while the road there was very narrow with several one lane bridges the gardens where just lovely.  Set on the coast, full of beautiful lush plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From here we stopped at Akaka Falls, for the round trip walk, blimmen hot but rather spectacular falls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next it was to find somewhere for lunch as we drove along the coast.  Only another 45 miles, 3 pm and we came across Village Burgers in Waimea very tasty and very hungry it hardly touched the sides.  Had the yummiest strawberry thickshake which was made with real strawberries.  Yummy.

Hit the condo about 4pm and it was like an oven, it had been closed up for a couple of days so sitting at 30C inside.  Q was quick to turn to air con on full bore and we soon cooled down.

Someone (not Quentin) may have unpacked all the bags and then had a little snooze before waking up and deciding it was time to go to the shops and find something light for dinner.  Dinner had, time for bed and no Wendy Nicholson, NO blog, I am on holiday you know and it isn’t like you are paying to read this! 

Today was a quiet day given we weren’t sure how our bodies would feel.  Surprisingly enough we weren’t feeling to bad.  After a lazy breakfast of banana’s, pancakes and bacon we headed out to do the Chain of Craters drive –  a 38 mile drive that takes you down to the coast where the flows crossed across the road and stopped coastal access.  This was the other side of the lava flow that we had crossed the previous night.

There was amazing crater pits on the drive, very very deep, thankfully we didn’t hike those ones!  We also stopped off to see the petroglyphs, a short 1.2mile hike, but it was blimmen hot.  Amazing though that these petroglyphs can still be seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we got to the end of the road, well where you can park at the end of the road, you then have another mile walk to actually see where the lava flowed across the road.  It is a very dramatic coastline, huge waves beating against the side of the cliffs.  Quite majestic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had great plans for the afternoon (well I did), however by the time we got home around 1.30ish I was feeling very tired so we just had a relaxing couple of hours before heading off to try and get a SIM for my phone.  You would not believe how hard that is.  It is just about as physically exhausting as hiking across the lava for 6 hours!  You can get plenty of top ups but no actual SIMS, well unless you want to buy a $50+ plan.

Tonight is our last night at our little cottage, it has been a lovely stay.  Well set up, with a beautiful basket full of papaya, pineapple, apples, bananas, macadamias, chocolates, pancake mix, fruit buns, through to all your toiletry needs like shampoo, conditioner, shower gel etc and of course the wonderful hot tub.

Tomorrow we drive to the other coast, but first will visit the Thurston Lava Tube here in the National Park before it gets busy, then the Farmers Market, Botanical Gardens and the scenic coastal route to our next spot.  Another busy day!