Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The Big Island of Hawaii Trip Plan: Go Local When You Visit


The last week and a half my husband and I were lucky enough to spend time with friends on the Big Island of Hawaii. Our family friends have homes in the Kohana area, in the city of Hawi, which is up on the North end of the Island. A breathtaking, tropical lush green coastal region. 

This was my second time visiting this particular Island, and my Husband's first. The scenery, vegetation, wildlife and people are absolutely B E A U T I F U L! If you want to experience the local flavor of the Island - this is a great area to spend some time.

Since we were staying with the locals we had the advantage of eating all of the local food, shopping the local markets and visiting the local hang outs. One of our first adventures was visiting three different Farmers Markets on the Island - one in the town of Hawi and two in Waimea. 

At the Hawi Farmers Market under the Banyan Tree I was able to have a refreshing glass of fresh squeezed Lilikoi & Guava juice. Can you say...YUM! It was so delicious. We also found other treasures - like breadfruit chips, fresh canned lilikoi pulp, and too many amazing creations made by the local artists to mention.  One of my favorite things about the Hawi Farmers Market was the live music played under the Banyan Tree. A barefoot ukele playing local was a strumming & singing away. So.much.fun!
If you are headed to the Big Island I would definitely recommend you make it to their Saturday Markets. I would suggest hitting them in the morning - as one of them in Waimea closes shop at noon. 

After we had hit the Farmer's Markets we just happened to smell something wonderful wafting around in the air.... Huli Huli. Now we just needed to find the cart that was selling it. Shouldn't be too hard as there are always long lines waiting to snatch it up. Here is a little Hawaiian tidbit for you- "Huli" means "Turn" in Hawaiian - so it is  "Turn Turn Chicken". I say Nom...Nom!


Sure enough we found the cart - the locals were lined up to snag their Huli Huli for the day. Do I need to mention what a good sign it is when the locals are flocking? We were heading with friends to Hapuna Beach State Park that night for boogie boarding and good grub. This Huli Huli was going to be the perfect addition to our beachfront meal. 


It is SO YUMMY I had to find a recipe for you. Here is the recipe submitted by John Heckathorn in the Hawaii Magazine


These are the dear friends we stayed with and their family that lives on the Island full time.


Ahhhh - SO RELAXING!!! A definite MUST-DO on your stay is to dine and surf. We were able to stay at the beach long enough to watch the sun go down and it was so worth it. Simply beautiful. AND for the records...this picture makes Hapuna State Park look like a mild wave beach...not so. In the photos I didn't happen to catch the bigger waves. Trust me, after being swept off my feet twice and tumbled around enough to fill a bucket with the sand gathered on the journey- there are some pretty big waves at times. It was the perfect beach for the boogie boarders! I have quite a few other local beaches we visited as well that I will post about later. 

I have SO MUCH MORE to share with you. This trip to the Big Island of Hawaii was full of fun and adventure. I can't wait to get to the next post. 

Until I can post again my prayer for you is that you can look around you and find the beauty and adventure awaiting you every day! I believe God has an assignment for each of - we just have to have willing ears to hear and willing hearts to follow. Oh, what adventure He has planned for us EVERY.SINGLE.DAY in the little and the BIG. 

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-Simply Sublime


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