Hilo, HI

Hilo was the start of our tour of Hawaii, The Big Island. The map gives you an idea of where Hilo is on the eastern side of the island.After getting our rather "abused" rental car, we headed off to the local Walmart to buy a case of bottled water. When we got there, we found that the key fob would not lock or unlock the rental car. Also, if I opened the rental car with the key, the alarm went off. Sooooo - back to the airport to get rental car #2. This one (a Ford Focus) worked much better.

After our stop at Walmart we headed over to Big Island Candies; hey - first things first and you get free samples. Their macadamia nut shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate are delicious. I have multiple data points on this one! The store is really nice inside and caters to Japanese tourist.The also have a glass wall where you can see into the cookie/candy making area.While in Hilo we went to Rainbow Falls. It's called Rainbow Falls because in the early morning you can see a rainbow in the mist behind the falls. We didn't get there early enough to see a rainbow.This is also the area for the boiling pots. When the water is flowing fast (faster than the day we were there) the rock formations make the water appear to be boiling. Maybe today the temperature is below boiling.This is also where I lost my sunglasses - bummer; may they find a good home.

We next went to the Liliuokalani Gardens. The gardens remind me of Japan. We read that since Hilo had been damaged by so many tsunamis, they decided to build a park near the water as opposed to housing and businesses. Thus, the park is a "tsunami break" for the town.From the gardens we walked out to Coconut Island. This is a really nice area and also a good spot for fishing. Turtles are typically seen around the island, but we didn't see any.Our next stop was the local farmers' market. We had a fun time looking at all the local produce. Rosie bought 3 papayas that we snacked on over the next few days. They were really tasty.

On the way out of Hilo, we stopped at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory. This was a fun place to visit. There is a self-guided tour where you can look down on the entire process from nuts in the shell to nuts in the package. We also took a short break at their concession stand and got a cup of ice cream - one scoop of mango and one scoop of coconut. It was good! We then enjoyed browsing through the gift shop. Here we are with our purchases.Leaving the nuts behind we headed south on highway 11 towards Volcano, HI, and the Volcano National Park.