Ten Days in Hawaii - Day 9: A Special Dinner

This morning we all planned to get up and go snorkeling at the spot Doug and Ev found on Tuesday.  Doug and Cathy got up early and left at 6:00 AM, but the rest of us planned on leaving at 7:00.  When the alarm went off at 6:00, Val and I could hear rain pounding on the roof so we decided snorkeling wasn’t in the cards this morning so we shut off the alarm and went back to sleep.

The rain stopped later, but by then it was getting too late to go snorkeling so we waited for Doug and Cathy to return and tell us about the great snorkeling we missed.  They returned around 9:00 and said although the snorkeling was OK, it wasn’t great.  The water was rough and there were strong currents, but Doug did see a turtle and an interesting thing that looked like some kind of translucent jellyfish.  They also avoided the rain so it was worth the trip.  I think we have learned the lesson here; go snorkeling with Doug on the first day he goes.  This was the second time he has found an excellent snorkeling spot only to return and find conditions less than inviting.

After Doug and Cathy returned everyone decided to go to breakfast, but Val and I decided not to go as we are not big breakfast eaters.  This is our last day on the island and at the house so we spent the rest of the day relaxing and packing.

Cathy, Doug and Heather at breakfast (from Ev's cellphone).

Cathy leaves and Ev gets in the picture (from Doug's cellphone).

Heather wins the prize for the best gecko picture (from Heather's cellphone).

Not a great picture, but I'll include it because he has his tongue out.

For our last night on the island we decided to go out and have an authentic 
Hawaiian dinner.  Based on reviews and the fact that they had been visited by the Food Network show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”, we decided to try Ka'aloa’s Super J’s.  It was along the road south of Captain Cook and didn’t look like much from the outside and was very small inside, but we had a great dinner.  They serve lau laus which are described on their Facebook page as “seasoned pork, wrapped in taro leaves, then wrapped in ti-leaves, and then steamed to perfection”.  Along with the lau laus there was rice, macaroni salad, and a tomato and salmon relish.  You could have had poi instead of rice, but I think poi is an acquired taste, which we haven’t found yet so we all opted for rice.

When we entered, there was only one person there who turned out to be Janice, the mother in this family owned and run restaurant.  She was very nice and friendly and helped us non-Hawaiians understand what we were eating.  While we were eating our food, a park ranger from the nearby Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park (the Place of Refuge) came in for her dinner so we talked to her for a while.  She obviously eats here a lot as when our meal was ready she helped the owner serve us.  This dinner turned out to be an unexpected treat for us.  Not only did we have an excellent dinner, but I think we all felt like we were experiencing something a little more authentically Hawaiian than a lot of the things we did on this trip.  Overall a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to experience authentic Polynesian food.

(from Ev's cellphone)

As you can see, not very fancy, but the food was great and we had a great time (from Ev's cellphone).

After dinner we returned to the house and had a quiet and subdued evening.  Although I think we are all ready to go home, it is sad and depressing to leave such a wonderful place.