They Say it's Your Birthday/Moondance

Mary's birthday....we had a slow, sleep in kind of lazy day.  The only bad thing about the Bamboo Cottage is that it is such a comfortable place that you're not really motivated to leave.  So we got a late start on our way to the Waimea Mid-Week Market to stock up on some food and stuff for a last week back in Waikoloa Village.  We got lots of fruit but we got there too late to get our favourite, homemade pasta!  After the market we did some birthday shopping at The Gallery of Great Thinks.  While Mary shopped around the Parker Center I found a comfortable seat and read some of my book, "Hawaii".  It was quite cool so after Mary's browsing we went to the Waimea Coffee Brewing Company and had a warm drink along with a piece of cherry-berry pie.

From there we drove down to Kawaihae to check out other birthday possibilities but no luck.  So we headed back for Hawi but on the way we pulled over, set up some chairs and did a little whale watching.  We sat for about a half hour and got some whale blows and splashes but no big breaches.  From there we went in search of the Mo'okini heiau.  This was the bloodiest sacrificial site in all the Hwaiian islands.  We drove down to the Upolu airport just outside of Hawi and parked the car.  We walked down the road that parallels the small runway until we got to the sign that said Heiau beach access.  So off we went along a seaside trail...and we went on....and on wondering if this was the heiau.  We saw a rainbow and some whales splashing but no heiau.  After about 45 minutes we figured we had to get going back if we hoped to get to our dinner reservation.  So back we went, trying to convince ourselves that we had seen the heiau.  We finally got back to the road and a young couple was parked there.  We asked where the heiau was and they pointed in the opposite direction the we had gone....so, no heiau, no blood but lots of sweat and some tears from the strong winds.

We were able to get back and get to the restaurant, Sushi Rock, in time.  Mary had a fish cakes entree and I tried a sushi roll covered in a thin layer of steak.  Quite different.  When we came out of the
restaurant the full moon was just coming up so we hustled back to our place, picked up my camera stuff and headed for the Pololu lookout.  When we got there we had the whole lookout to ourselves with a moonbeam playing across the ocean and the dim lights of Maui in the distance.  A great way to end Mary' birthday.

Tomorrow we leave the Bamboo Cottage and head back to a house in Waikoloa Village.

Flowers of a coral tree.