KONA day 8

This is my last day here in paradise. So sad....too bad.....
Dwight, Doug, Frank, Cindy and I drove south from Kona to do some sightseeing around the coffee country and the area where alot of the "locals" live. We stopped at the "Painted Church", then Doug, Frank and Cindy wanted to pick up some genuine Kona coffee.
Went to Place of Refuge and then did some snorkeling at a spot that I hadn't been to. Saw lots of corral and even a moray eel (Video to be posted later). I also took some hide off my leg on some corral coming back to shore. Oh, well....no pain, no gain!
On the way back to the condo, we stopped and got some Donkey Balls (chocolate covered Macadamia nuts). Then the whole group met at "Lulu's" and had dinner. Went back to Frank and Cindy's condo and visited for a couple of hours. Dwight, Frank and Doug drove me to the airport for a 10:25 p.m. flight. Sure was hard to leave, especially after spending the past several days with old friends.
Thanks, guys for the wonderful time and the great memories!!! Hope to do it again soon..........

KONA day 7: The Dolphins

Swimming with dolphins at the Waikoloa Hilton

These animals are very smooth feeling...almost like a wet volleyball.

And when they look you right in the eye from this close, it's like you just gained a new best-friend!!!

Click HERE for a short video

On the grounds at Waikoloa Hilton.

This place was unbelievable!!!!!

Later in the evening, we had pizza at the Kona Brewery. Yummmmm.

KONA day 6

A very laid-back day...just hung around the condo all morning, then walked about a block to where Frank, Cindy and Doug are staying and had lunch with them. Hung around some more, then watched the sunset. Kurt came by and wanted to get a picture of us in the same pose as an early promo photo......

KONA day 5

Did some more snorkeling this morning with Dwight and Doug. Got some great underwater video of a sea turtle. Go to the following link for a short sample of the video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1573738911893353097

Spent most of the afternoon just sitting around on the beach, then went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for dinner, then walked around Kona. Tough day...

Doug, Frank and Cindy at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Angelina, our server at Bubba Gump

Sunset from Bubba Gump

KONA day 4: THE REUNION

As you may recall, on my last trip to Kona, Dwight, Noreen and I completely blind-sided Kurt with my arrival. Well, last night (Friday), Kurt and I were completely blind-sided by the arrival of our former bass player, Frank Wambolt and his wife, Cyndy, and another old friend, Doug McKenzie.

I just wanted to spend the day doing nothing at all, so Kurt and I took his son and some friends to the beach, then went into town and had lunch. After awhile, Dwight called Kurt on his cell phone to find out where we were. About 20 minutes later, they all showed up. WOW!!!

So now, the whole band is here in Kona....a wonderful reunion after about 26 years!!!!!! (no reunion concert planned......yet)

My hat is off to Dwight and Noreen for being able to keep it so quiet for so long! Good one, bruddah!!!!!!!!!

KONA day 3

The day began early, with the birds singing at 6:30. I got up around 6:45 and went down by the pool to sit and watch the ocean....hoping to spot some whales. I did see a couple, way off in the distance...this time of year, they are often seen breaching (or jumping) out of the water, leaving a huge splash as they fall back into the water. Other times, they will simply come to the surface, with only their backs showing, then those huge tail fins will clear the water and stick up in the air. Very cool!!!!
After a small, late breakfast, Dwight, Noreen and I met up with Kurt and his wife, Serena. (Kurt is a good friend and old music buddy who lives over here).
The five of us drove north from Kona to a very nice beach called Kua Bay. Great for body surfing or body-board surfing. It's not a real big beach, but the water is beautiful and the waves are perfect. On the way to Kua Bay, we stopped at a stretch of beach where Paul Mitchell owns a home (the hair products guru), and also the man who invented the pacemaker owns a home. Paul Mitchell's house was built in Bali, taken apart, then shipped to Hawaii and reconstructed.

After a wonderful day of body surfing and just sitting in the sun, I went to Kurt and Serena's for dinner. I am staying with them for 2 nights, then on Saturday Dwight and Noreen are coming over for a BBQ.

Me, Kurt, Serena and Dwight near Paul Mitchell's home.

This is the Bali house (Paul Mitchell).There were no big fences around the property and we were able to walk right up to one of the gates from the beach.

After a long day of body-boarding at Kua Bay

This "graffiti" alongside the road on our way to the beach is actually dead corral on black lava. The locals fill up buckets of the corral which has washed up on shore put it to good use.

Sunset Over Kua Bay

There were a couple of hammocks on the beach in front of Paul Mitchell's house, so I figured...what the heck!

KONA day 2

A good night's sleep last night and ready for another day of decisions.....which beach to go to, and what to eat....hmmmmm.....decisions, decisions!!!
Went to Kahalu'u for some snorkeling and just plain "hanging in the sun"!
Kahalu'u is often referred to as "Turtle Beach" because of the several large sea turtles which can be seen in the water. I took my waterproof video camera snorkeling with me, mounted onto my snorkel tube. Being that this was my first effort at underwater video, the technique needs a little work, but the result was fascinating. I will post the video on Google Video in the next day or so.....
Aloha.

KONA Day 1

Spent the night on Monday with my daughter Mandy and her family. Tuesday morning she drove me to the airport for an 8:40 flight to Honolulu. Had a very smooth and comfortable flight on an Airbus A-330.

After a 3 hour layover in HNL, caught a 45 minute flight to Kona. Arrived at 4:40 local time.

After Dwight and Noreen picked me up at the airport, we visited for awhile at their condo, then went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.

Another few hours of visiting and my long, but enjoyable day was done.

Dwight and Noreen at the Hard Rock Cafe