The Right Way to Fall

Day 3- After successfully hitching our way from the Kona side of the island over to the Hilo side, our last driver kindly dropped us off at enterprise where we had a car booked!! It felt good to finally be mobile. Although we'd be lying if we didn't admit that we felt really cool hitch hiking. Trust me, we did. Especially Mike. <eye roll> After picking up some groceries for the rest of the week we headed to our home for the next 7 days. We rented a room in a guy's home for $36 bucks a night off Air bnb. Compared to the rest of the accommodation on this island, this is a steal. After getting settled in we headed to Rainbow Falls. 

Rainbow falls is a waterfall that is 80 feet high and 100 feet in diameter. The scenery that surrounds it truly makes you feel like you're in a real live Jurassic Park. You have the freedom to explore on your own and swim in the rapids.

From here we walked to the rocks behind the waterfall. 

This was definitely a favourite so far. The volcanic rock that makes up the island looks like something you would see at Disney land. It never ceases to amaze us how the volcanic rock acts as the perfect canvas for a landscape painted by over 3000 different species of plants. You can drive along the highway and not see the same type of tree for kms at a time. The sheer hight of the trees is breathtaking. 

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Day 4- We hit the road for Waipio Valley, which is on the north side of the island. There is a steep road that takes you into the valley. Only 4 by 4 vehicles can make the trip and they don't do it for free so we hiked it instead. The road gains 800 vertical feet in 0.6 miles. Apparently it is one of the steepest roads in the United Stated and possibly the world. Needless to say my glutes are hurting today. 

Once in the valley there is a beautiful waterfall in the distance. The trail was closed... something to do with ancient burial sites. 

When the valley opens up to the ocean the sand is black, ultra fine and as hot as hell. Kind of how Kassie likes her men. :)

                                        

The greenery was lush and untouched in the valley. There are some farmers/hippies who live there and in my opinion they have settled into a modern day version of Eden.

Aloha from Hawaii

 We jumped into the Big Island feet first.. or shall I say with our thumbs up? Turns out we messed up big time by not renting a car but luckily the big island is hitch hiker friendly, as the locals say, "It`s the island way". This became our only mode of transportation for our first three days here. We met some interesting characters along the way and they all got us to our destination in one piece. Some left us with a better story than others.
                                            

Our hostel was cool but the guy running it gave us some poor information which led us in the wrong direction more than once. Although he did invite us onto his roof top to check out the fireworks on July 4th!!

Here are some photos of the first activity we did on the Kona side of the island. The hike is called Captain Cook. Strenuous and nasty is how I would describe this 6km hike. It is rated as moderate and it has a 1500 foot ascent back to the top.  Our arms and legs were all beaten up from walking through the tall grass but it was well worth the ocean view at the bottom. 

But then Mike sustained his first injurty of the trip... Oops. Don't worry folks, he is going to be just fine.. I won't need to find myself a Hawaiian equivalent.

And here is the reason for it all:

Vagabonding around the world

Our journey abroad began like many of our other travels, although this time it felt different. By the time we reached our destination I wasn`t already dreading the idea of having to come home.  Knowing we have a year ahead of us really allows us to enjoy our time while soaking up every bit of the culture, scenery, activities and people we encounter along the way.  I decided to write this blog as a way to keep our friends and family in touch as well as share some of our experiences with fellow travellers searching for adventure. I will try to keep it interesting and I cannot make any promises on the exceptional quality of my grammar...sorry Jeremy. For those who didn`t get it before... we are the Keith`s and we are vagabonds but we are also bonding.... get it? #keithsvagabonding