Big Island Hawaii Travel Series Chapter 6 Condo · Monday March 21, 2011 by colin newell
We have been going to the Big Island of Hawaii for a few years now – and we have happily gotten into the rhythm of the Islands pretty quickly.
Our routine is pretty straightforward – we fly Alaska Airlines out of Victoria B.C. (via the Horizon Air partner) into Seattle-Tacoma (SEA). The departure is early (just after 6 AM) so it is an early rise. Our flight out of Seattle (to Hawaii) after a very brief flight from Victoria to Seattle is mid-morning putting us into Kona, Hawaii at around 1:30 PM local time. Grab the rental car and the first stop is Kona Brewing Company for a relaxing lunch and brew while we chill out from the flight.
From there we hop over to the Kona CostCo for a quick shop the cover the first week or essentials and anything we think we might need a supply of – generally we buy a bit too much but it all gets used. Because we are staying in a full featured condo, we have a full gourmet kitchen and access to an outdoor BBQ – so it is pretty much like home, so we shop accordingly.
Our Condo, no secret folks, is the Hale Kona Kai We have spent around 90 days there – and we are sold on it. We have heard expressions like “We have been to the Big Island a few times and stayed at a few different places – and when we find the Hale Kona Kai, we stopped looking…” Comments like that are gold and it’s not surprising – but it is how we feel. On our last visit we got to tour around 4 or 5 other units – they are all good but ours is the clear gem. You can look up Hale Kona Kai on TripAdvisor.com and you will find, year after year, that the Hale Kona Kai is the #1 most favorably rated condo on the Big Island of Hawaii – look it up.
Now there are lots of great places to stay on the Big Island – like I alluded to in a previous chapter – but we find that a good condo affords a level of freedom that is not really matched with any other style of accommodation; come and go as you please, eat out or cook in as you wish and the level of affordability is generally unmatched – they are simply cheaper than comparably sized hotel digs.
The Hale Kona Kai is also a smaller unit – so it is quieter and more intimate. It is also one of the few places hanging right over the water. Our unit is so close to the ocean, you can fish right off the balcony. The sea wall, in case you are wondering is around 12’ – and during the tragedy of the Japan tsunami, the ocean surge did not breach the Hale Kona Kai sea wall – like it did with some Alii Drive businesses.
The Hale Kona Kai is very popular with Canadians for some reason – that is not saying that you will not meet a diverse collection of folks… We did and during our last visit formed some life long friendships. During one afternoon as the sea side pool (yup, a sea side pool…) there was a couple from Calgary, a couple from Sooke and a family from Vancouver.
The Hale Kona Kai is on a quiet side street (waterside) that includes the World class restaurant Huggos – and The Royal Kona featuring Don the Beachcomber – home of the Worlds first (and arguably best) Mai Tai!
The Hale Kona Kai is a 7 minute walk from an ABC Store – but then again so is virtually everything in Hawaii! The main Kona village in Kailua Bay (on Alii Drive) starts 6 minutes away on foot and the heart of the village is a good 15-20 minutes to town center. In the next chapter, we will start talking about food and drink!
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The Hawaii Series, yes, we are experts Chapter 5 · Sunday March 20, 2011 by colin newell
The Big Island of Hawaii is a diverse and all-encompassing destination that offers every manner of diversion and activity possible. In our previous chapter on this subject, we outlined some of these – and promised to talk about the meaty aspect of getting there, getting around and getting a roof over your head.
Photo above: Our home away from home, the Hale Kona Kai condo off of Alii Drive – right on the waterfront!
Digs | And once again, there are as many choices for accommodation as there are activities to accompany your visit. Hotels, motels, gated luxury, back-packers, camping and condos – and that just scrapes the lava strewn surface.
Travel to Hawaii (and most places away from North America – or where ever your home might be) generally involves a bit of long term advance planning. For Andrea and I, fans of one particular condo, we usually book 10 months in advance to get the unit that we want. If you are doing the hotel routine or booking a condo in a bigger unit you can probably get away with less lead time – often as little as 3 months. Results vary of course. That in mind, you might want to think ahead with flights as well…
Getting there | Where airline flights are concerned, you might want to jump in earlier than later. Sure, there are always seat sales to be had – but once you settle on your digs, you might not want to leave the flight to chance.
Want to visit the farms? Get a rental car! Photo right
Hawaii is well served by many of the finest airlines (and some not so much) that hop around North America and the Pacific Rim – Generally if you are coming from Asia (from memory here folks) you are looking at flying into Honolulu before getting your connector to the Big Island. American, Delta and United serve Hawaii direct from North America as does Hawaiian and Alaska (these 2 considered among the highest in terms of customer satisfaction – the others… not so much )
From Canada you can fly to Hawaii direct with West Jet – and Air Canada comes in via Honolulu.
All this in mind, it is highly variable as to when you will get your best price – Seasoned travelers will know better than I – because Andrea and I do not really shop around much. We fly Alaska – and buy the tickets when we feel like it – generally after we nail down our accommodation.
Wheels | After getting the flight and the roof over our head, it comes down to booking some transportation while on the Big Island. And here is the bonus folks. Car Rental rates on the Big Island are amongst the most economical on the Planet – that is because there is so much to choose. The only caveat here is: Will you or won’t you be driving on dirt roads or climbing into the mountains to check out some of the out of the way coffee farms?
Photo right – In our next chapter, we will look at Eating and Drinking – Hawaii style!
The joke comes to mind: What is the difference between a 4-wheel drive and a rental sedan? You can take the rental sedan anywhere. Yup, maybe you have heard this one.
What you rent will also depend on what you are bringing with you, family wise. If it is just the two of you, a two-door sub-compact will probably suffice. We rented a Nissan Altima the last time – probably for about $30/day – and it was too big. Comfy, but too large. And as far as getting to the coffee plantations, our lovely and friendly coffee farmers who have adopted Andrea and I have 4-wheel capabilities and have taken us to some mighty out of the way places (another chapter…)
One tip about rental cars: Many outfits will try and push extra “insurance” and “Collision waivers” – but so you know, Rental Car companies are not in the business of selling insurance – and technically they cannot call it insurance – We are life long AVIS rent a car people and they simply refer to it as “Liability coverage” – and dig this, most of us already have this coverage in many of our credit card contracts or attached to our home and car insurance. Worthwhile to check out what your policies do and do not cover.
Health care | If you are visiting Hawaii from Canada or the continental Unites States of America, look over your health care coverage closely – if you are visiting from anywhere else, look close. You are better off having too much insurance than too little. We get an extra chunk of coverage that sets the two of us back around $50 for the entire month – for the two of us. And it incorporates virtually unlimited liability, extraction, doctors-without-borders, etc – almost valet health care coverage. Look it up if any of this is a tad unclear.
In our next chapter we will get down to the finer details of where to stay – and what to do when you get there! As well, we will starting talking about the joys of dining in and eating out.
Winter to Spring Pop Culture 1 Facebook Face off · Saturday March 19, 2011 by colin newell
Just decided that my blog and websites have been neglected long enough – and the web stats show it.
This blog averages around 75,000 unique visitors a month – and that is not hits – that is actual people. Thanks folks!
But those reader levels have been dropping faster than the water level in the spent fuel rod baths… and it’s all my doing.
Dang you twitter.
Because if you do the math — and I am fond of my core twitter followers, that is a small audience relative to here — but it is there that I am putting my energy.
Foolish huh? Yea. It is.
And it is not like there are lots of people out there sitting on their hands waiting for me to write something – I mean, I hope not.
Still, writing pulp blogs here is way better that firing quips into the wind on Twitter.
As much fun as that is.
So my new rule is: Before I utter a beak full of tweets, I am going to bash the side of my head and think up some observation on the human condition…
Like this one.
Good start. But I am not finished.
Facebook – it has been way useful for keeping track of events of my actual friends in almost real time – with alarming regularity and reliability that rivals gravity.
But what of those special friends… you know the ones… the ones you have stalked on facebook from your past. The people you went to High School with. The friends of the people you may have dated 25 years ago… etc.
Well, I ask myself. Why am I peering into their lives. I have a cluster of friends on Facebook who are part of my distant past and I am pretty sure I will never, ever get together with them – for any reason… ever. So why do I look into the window of their lives? Or why do I continue knowing what I know?
Hard decision.
Time for a Facebook cleanup. People do it all the time. Different reasons. You have yours, I have mine.
It is time to let the past go and let people get on with their lives.
It is the right thing to do.
Colin Newell lives and writes in Victoria B.C. Canada and is often the go to guy for opinions on the subject of Canadian Cafe and Pop Culture
Winter to Spring Victoria Food Culture 3 Making sauces with Don Genova · Friday March 18, 2011 by colin newell
Prosciutto and tomato pasta sauce
Heat 8 tablespoons of good Olive oil in a pan
Slice 2 pieces of Prosciutto into bite size pieces (from 100g)
Cut up tablespoon of shallots finely
When oil heats add the Prosciutto and stir for 5 minutes
Add shallots
Add teaspoon of chili flakes
Add teaspoon of lemon pepper
Add parsley
Minute before you take out of pan, add 20 grape tomato
cut in half.
Drain pasta preserving around 1 ladle full of pasta water
Combine cooked pasta into the Prosciutto and tomato mixture
add 1/2 cup Parmagiano Reggiano cheese and the pasta water.
Stir to combine.
Plate and top with more grated cheese.
Serve with garlic toast and some yummy Italian Red Wine.
