This was by far the busiest day spent on the island. We drove the entire outer perimeter in a day with planned stops along the way.
First, we headed north to Waimea toward the Hawaiian Style Cafe.
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| The four of us shared two plates - one loco moco and 'The Big Moc' which was two spoons of rice, Portuguese sausage, link sausage topped with an egg. The word hearty doesn't give it justice. |
We continued our drive east on 19 toward Hilo where we made one 'scenic stop' (they are everywhere) before continuing on toward Akaka Falls.
Though the reviews were generally positive, there were a number of 'not worth the stop' kind of comments which left me a little weary. However, it was definitely worth the visit and a nice break in our otherwise long drive to the Volcanoes National Park.
After Akaka Falls, we continued on our journey into Hilo and stopped by Two Ladies Mochi shop. They make mochi and then more mochi.
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| https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=348913815142657&set=a.348913808475991.87042.348909485143090&type=1&theater |
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| We got four strawberry (those were the best!), two peach, one passion fruit, one chi chi (pink milk flavored mochi), and a daifuku moch (traditional white mochi filled with red bean) |
Onward and southbound to Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park!
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| Another scenic stop |
Back in the car, we continued our journey south to Kua to visit our friends at Punuluu Beach. By this time, it was getting rather late in the day and we were all pretty hungry so after a quick aloha, we hopped back into the car to begin our journey northwest toward Kailua-Kona for dinner.
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| http://www.gohawaii.com/big-island/regions-neighborhoods/kau/punaluu-black-sand-beach |
By the time we got to Ono Searfood & Poke Korean BBQ, we were all BEAT. Hubby patiently and safely navigated through torrential rain to get to this Korean restaurant which was on my list of places to eat. We were the only Koreans there and unfortunately, this was his least favorite meal. It satisfied my Korean food craving and I honestly did enjoy my Kim Chee Jigae.
