Crikey, this place is expensive and we are fast running out of cash! But please don't all start shedding tears for us at the same time, it's not really necessary because both Halifax Clarity and American Express hiked my credit limits before we left UK soil and these might just come in very useful.
I know that I have often been likened to Victor Meldrew - (American cousins you might have to Google that one) - and today after a visit to Safeway to buy a few provisions, according to Linda, I started to do my best ever impersonation of him! I have never come away from a supermarket with so little and paid so much!
I suppose it really highlighted the cost of living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where literally, everything from cotton buds to cement mixers has to be shipped in by sea or air. If you could survive solely on pineapples and macadamia nuts you might stand a chance of living economically, but outside of those two items you are dead in the water!
The two items that really hurt me today were Gala apples and a very small bottle of Diet Coke. In fact, it was probably the apples that caused the most anguish because for the cost of just one of these items, never mind the two that we bought, we can live comfortably for a whole week shopping at Aldi! Such was the price of the three items that I couldn't bring myself to take a bite or a drink and in fact have put them all in the safe for the night and have made provision back home for them to be met by armed security when we return! I am also trying to work out the cost of smuggling them into the Hawaiin Islands because I reckon that Gala apples and coke could well replace crystal meth or heroin!! Rant over!
Hey we are continuing to have a great time and this Big Island continues to require us to do big mileage if we are to see as much as possible before our departure on Thursday. It was a quiet day today because we only did 350 miles. Oh, and don't get me onto the price of gas (petrol to us) - I don't believe it!!
I forgot to mention a couple of things from yesterday in the form of lava tubes and Cafe Pesto in Hilo, pronounced Heelow. The lava tubes which we ventured into are fascinating and are created by molten lava moving beneath the hardened surface of a volcano. Once all the lava has been dispelled, it effectively leaves a circular cave and there are hundreds of these around the Volcanic Park here.
Cafe Pesto was interesting because we decided to dine in a proper restaurant for a change and it was purely by accident that we came across this whilst walking through the streets of Hilo. What a find and we both agreed that this was one of the finest dining experiences we had ever had in America. Simple fayre but so fresh and so beautifully cooked and what made it taste even better was that Linda paid! The first actual damage that she has inflicted on her credit card since we arrived!
Today, we took in the most southerly point of the USA where people jump off a 40 foot high cliff into the Pacific to mark the occasion. We watched as some tried so hard to summon up the nerve to jump but couldn't overcome their fears while others were so matter of fact about the leap into the unknown. I was so desperately disappointed that I had left my swimwear in our room - yeh right - and instead had to console myself with a coffee and piece of blueberry cake at the nation's southern most cafe! It was truly a poor substitute.
We also took in Rainbow Falls and a wander around one of the largest towns on the island, Kailua-Kona. The falls are so called because of the wonderful rainbow effect from the spray. We couldn't see it at all but were then advised that it could only be seen in the morning when the sun was behind you. Needless to say, we visited in the afternoon!
Kailua-Kona was the town that we flew into and is seemingly a paradise for triathletes having just hosted the world famous Ironman event. The place is rammed with people sporting the "I Finished The Ironman" tee-shirts and despite asking at many shops, I was unable to acquire one of these very impressive pieces of clothing. I could buy a "I Finished The Ironing" tee-shirt but that didn't quite carry the same kudos so instead, like every competitor that we have quite clearly identified, I am tonight spending an hour shaving off every bit of my body hair so that when we walk around town tomorrow other visitors to the Island will look at me and think, Ironman!
I think on that note I have written enough tonight and I hope that you enjoy this dispatch. An early night in anticipation of the 753 miles we are looking to cover tomorrow! Sarah, I am only kidding.
I know that I have often been likened to Victor Meldrew - (American cousins you might have to Google that one) - and today after a visit to Safeway to buy a few provisions, according to Linda, I started to do my best ever impersonation of him! I have never come away from a supermarket with so little and paid so much!
I suppose it really highlighted the cost of living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where literally, everything from cotton buds to cement mixers has to be shipped in by sea or air. If you could survive solely on pineapples and macadamia nuts you might stand a chance of living economically, but outside of those two items you are dead in the water!
The two items that really hurt me today were Gala apples and a very small bottle of Diet Coke. In fact, it was probably the apples that caused the most anguish because for the cost of just one of these items, never mind the two that we bought, we can live comfortably for a whole week shopping at Aldi! Such was the price of the three items that I couldn't bring myself to take a bite or a drink and in fact have put them all in the safe for the night and have made provision back home for them to be met by armed security when we return! I am also trying to work out the cost of smuggling them into the Hawaiin Islands because I reckon that Gala apples and coke could well replace crystal meth or heroin!! Rant over!
Hey we are continuing to have a great time and this Big Island continues to require us to do big mileage if we are to see as much as possible before our departure on Thursday. It was a quiet day today because we only did 350 miles. Oh, and don't get me onto the price of gas (petrol to us) - I don't believe it!!
I forgot to mention a couple of things from yesterday in the form of lava tubes and Cafe Pesto in Hilo, pronounced Heelow. The lava tubes which we ventured into are fascinating and are created by molten lava moving beneath the hardened surface of a volcano. Once all the lava has been dispelled, it effectively leaves a circular cave and there are hundreds of these around the Volcanic Park here.
Cafe Pesto was interesting because we decided to dine in a proper restaurant for a change and it was purely by accident that we came across this whilst walking through the streets of Hilo. What a find and we both agreed that this was one of the finest dining experiences we had ever had in America. Simple fayre but so fresh and so beautifully cooked and what made it taste even better was that Linda paid! The first actual damage that she has inflicted on her credit card since we arrived!
Today, we took in the most southerly point of the USA where people jump off a 40 foot high cliff into the Pacific to mark the occasion. We watched as some tried so hard to summon up the nerve to jump but couldn't overcome their fears while others were so matter of fact about the leap into the unknown. I was so desperately disappointed that I had left my swimwear in our room - yeh right - and instead had to console myself with a coffee and piece of blueberry cake at the nation's southern most cafe! It was truly a poor substitute.
We also took in Rainbow Falls and a wander around one of the largest towns on the island, Kailua-Kona. The falls are so called because of the wonderful rainbow effect from the spray. We couldn't see it at all but were then advised that it could only be seen in the morning when the sun was behind you. Needless to say, we visited in the afternoon!
Kailua-Kona was the town that we flew into and is seemingly a paradise for triathletes having just hosted the world famous Ironman event. The place is rammed with people sporting the "I Finished The Ironman" tee-shirts and despite asking at many shops, I was unable to acquire one of these very impressive pieces of clothing. I could buy a "I Finished The Ironing" tee-shirt but that didn't quite carry the same kudos so instead, like every competitor that we have quite clearly identified, I am tonight spending an hour shaving off every bit of my body hair so that when we walk around town tomorrow other visitors to the Island will look at me and think, Ironman!
I think on that note I have written enough tonight and I hope that you enjoy this dispatch. An early night in anticipation of the 753 miles we are looking to cover tomorrow! Sarah, I am only kidding.
Cafe Pesto In Hilo - Yum Yum
Lava Tube We Walked Through
Southern Most Point Of USA
Linda Not About To Jump!
Damn, I Forgot My Swimwear!
Dangerous Or What?
That's How To Do It!
Coffee & Cake
At The Most Southerly Cafe In America
Rainbow Falls
No comments:
Post a Comment