Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden and an Unpleasant Surprise

After our horseback ride in Waipio Valley, we had a short drive to Hilo, where the Botanical Gardens we wanted to visit were located. We got a bit lost trying to find it since it seems nowhere in Hawaii has a physical address to input into a GPS. All the directions are something like: "Make a slight right onto the road with the two flashing lights, pass mile marker 11.2, and turn up the driveway with the banana trees on either side."

The botanical gardens were definitely beautiful, but since I don't know much about plants or trees, all the gorgeous flowers started to look the same, even if they were different colors and shapes. My favorite section was the orchid area of course.

Because I know nothing about any of the flowers and plants pictured below, I'm pretty much going to be skipping captions on them. Also, if you're not a fan of pretty flower pictures, skip ahead because the unpleasant surprise is still yet to come.

Front entrance sign.

Me and Eden reading about the statue of the Hawaiian god

Mom on the bridge down into the garden. It starts out level, but then you go down a lot of stairs, which are not fun on the way back up and out of the gardens. When we left, I felt like I had just taken a shower because I was that sweaty. 

I'm pretty sure this one is called beehive ginger. They also had these flowers for sale at many of the farmer's markets.

Of course there were geckos!

There was a bird area with a cage that had a few macaws in it. This red guy here liked to talk.

At the end of the trail downwards, you hit the ocean and can read about the legends of the rock formations and how they got that way.

Eden doing some reading.

I appreciated the botanical gardens for their beauty and all the plant life they contained, but I can't say I wasn't thankful to get back into the air conditioned car. Plus we had ridden horses all morning and then taken a mile and a half hike around the gardens with a lot of steps at the end of the trail, so I was beat and ready to go back to the hotel and take a shower. Turns out, that was not in the cards.

Eden wanted to check out Hilo since it was only a mile or so down the road, so on our way there, Mom stopped at an intersection to let a pedestrian cross. We heard a terrifying screeching of tires and everything seemed to go in slow motion like it does in the movies when something traumatic happens. BAM! We were rear-ended by a pickup and the rental car was pushed through the intersection.

Poor rental car. Simply not drivable anymore and not our fault. 

Eden was in the back seat and bore the brunt of the impact, but it seemed that everybody was OK aside from being very shaken up. I had never been in any sort of collision of that nature before and I just couldn't believe our bad luck. Luckily, Mom had purchased the additional insurance through the rental company, so we were fully covered.

All of our phones were dead, so we didn't really have any way to communicate with the rental company, tow truck, or insurance agents. Luckily for us, the man who hit us was a gentleman and loaned his phone to make calls. He even drove Mom to the Hilo airport to get a new rental car because we still had two hours to drive to get back to the hotel. Me and Eden stayed on the side of the road with the broken car until the tow truck came and it was really funny because we had no way to communicate with Mom to know if she had contacted the tow truck and we were supposed to ride to the airport with him or what was going on. The tow truck dude was also very nice to us and made some calls and found out that we had to wait just a bit longer because Mom was on her way back with a new car.

That's the tow truck driving away with the crashed rental car. At least Eden and I had a grassy area on the side of the road to hang out on.

So, once again, we had a THIRD rental car on the island. I could hardly believe we had gone through three cars in under a week! Our luck was so bad that I could only laugh at the situation because there's really nothing else you can do in a situation that bad.

We all had some much-needed alcohol when we got back to the hotel. And I got my hot shower. What a rough day.

Until next time!

Hawaii Day Five - A Mishap in the Place of Refuge

Eden wanted to take us snorkeling with the dolphins at the Place of Refuge, or Pu'uhonua O Honaunau in Hawaiian. This meant we had to get there as early as possible since the dolphins are most active in the early morning hours.

When we got there, sadly, there were no dolphins hanging around. They come and go as they please, so it's really just by chance that they'll happen to be in one place at a certain time. Mom and Eden went snorkeling anyways though because apparently Place of Refuge has some of the best snorkeling on the big island.

I particularly enjoyed the Place of Refuge because I didn't have to get wet to enjoy its beauty. There were lots of shady trees and rocks to walk on and there were tide pools that you could look into and find little critters. I wore my New Rocks and didn't regret it one bit. Boots are best for any and every occasion in my mind.

Mom checking out the tide pools.

A view of some of the little tide pools from above.

I found an eel who poked his head out long enough for me to zoom in and get a decent photo. 

Can you find the little striped fish in this photo? They blend right into the rocks.

New Rocks at the beach. Winning.

Mom and Eden jumping in to snorkel.

Eden making fun of me for not snorkeling that day I think. ;-P

Mom and Eden out in the water checking out the fishies.

Mom's a pro at floating.

The shady, dry view I had of the Place of Refuge. Perfect spot on a picnic bench to read and do puzzles while everyone else went swimming. I could've stayed there all day. The weather was perfect.

Right next to the Place of Refuge is a national park with tiki statues. I think it might actually be considered the Place of Refuge too, although I'm not 100% sure of that.

Mom was attempting to park the car and somehow backed up into a very low, hidden lava boulder while going under five MPH. The tire got pushed forward so it rubbed on the car (some sort of bar that the wheel is attached to underneath the car got bent), so even though it was just a little bump, the car was no longer drivable! What an ordeal. We had to call AAA to come tow the car and then find a way to get another rental car in the mean time. While waiting for the tow truck, Mom and I walked around the park and looked at all the tiki statues and scenery. Eden ended up driving us around in her pickup truck before she headed off to work. Mom sat in the truck bed because it's legal in Hawaii and Eden's truck only has two seats in the front.

Triangle huts

A lone tiki god statue.

Beautiful view from the park.

Look at all the tiki statues!

Check out all the lava rock. I love this kind of beach because it actually makes sense to wear close-toed shoes, which I feel most at home in of course.

This guy was cutting down coconuts. It's dangerous to walk under the trees if the coconuts aren't harvested - more people are killed annually by falling coconuts than by sharks!

These little green geckos are everywhere! They're so cute. 

Mom's view from the back of Eden's pickup as the tow truck takes away our broken car. Good thing Mom's insured!

 After the ordeal of breaking the rental car, we headed back to Eden's house because there's a really nice beach that's a two minute walk away. But first, Eden fed a crazy-looking wild duck.

Our friend the ugly duck.

The duck wanted that fancy organic popcorn.

The beach by Eden's was grassy and shady, so of course, I enjoyed it. This is my kinda beach.

Gorgeous view of the beach by Eden's house.

Another little green gecko. 

It was a rough day and Eden had work at 4 p.m., so Mom and I were stuck at the hotel without a car for the remainder of the day. Not to worry - the pool was great!

Stay tuned for more Hawaii posts. Still to come - Mom and I take a Kona coffee farm tour and visit Eden at work.

Until next time!