Life and Thoughts on The Big Island

Another car trip but this time going north.
We always practice English in the car.Every day we can practice English for many many hours. My students tried very hard and they improved their English very much.
We drove along route 19 and passed through Waimea which is a small town that often has rain.
It was raining during the 10 minutes that it took to go through the town. After crossing over to the East side of the island, we went to Waipio Valley. It was nice and sunny but suddenly a big wind came and it rained for a few minutes. There is a grand view of the area from the scenic point.We could see where some scenes of the movies Jurasic Park and Waterworld were filmed!
After that, we went to Tex Drive-in which is a local restaurant and very popular with local people. We had lunch and then Malsadas, which is a Portuguese donut.Yum Yum Yum!

From 7 AM to 7PM we went south to Kilauea Volcano and then Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.
After an hour of driving we went to Hana Hou restaurant to have breakfast. They have yummy food and the atmosphere is relaxed with a local feeling. We were warmly greeted and we sat down.
I had one of the specials which was a spinach omelet with corn bread.
I had told my students that Hana Hou is well known for its baked goods.
Oh yes!!! The corn bread was fabulous! The husband had a coconut cake and coffee and his wife had a salad. We all tasted the cake and it was heavenly!
During our meal, a woman came over and and said that she had flown on the same plane as my students.She was from California but has relatives who run a restaurant in Kona!! Lucky! She invited us to her restaurant!
Next, a woman sitting at the table beside us stood up and introduced herself. She was visiting Hawaii from Canada. She was a teacher who taught Japanese language. She had been to Japan a few times and wanted to express her interest in Japan to us.
We could meet many people every day! We could make nice friends too!

In the afternoon, a lovely family flew in to Kona.
They came to study and experience English in a natural setting.
They brought a 14 month old baby. He is really cute and always smiling!
We stopped at the scenic point on the way home.It has a super view and I could show them where things were from far north to the south.
After introducing the things in the house and how to use them,
(of course all in English!) we went to The End of The World and saw a wonderful sunset and then had dinner at a nearby restaurant called Drysdales 2.

Up the hill to the village of Holualoa is where the festival takes place.It is a casual festival where we can meet friends and walk around the different art galleries up and down the main street.
The shops are also interesting and the people who are working in the shops are very friendly and they often have lots of food and drinks that we can experience for free.
Hulualoa is known as being a village of people who are artistic.
There are many interesting works of art.
There are also 3 stages along the street that have great music during the festival.
You might also see Santa! He is very nice and you can chat with him and tell him what you would like for Christmas!

This morning,I spoke with a friend who is a boat captain and she told me a funny story.
Yesterday, a cruise ship was docked in Maui but the waves and wind were so strong that the cables connecting the ship to the dock were breaking so the ship cut the cables and sailed away.
There were 700 people who were left on the pier and they could not return to the ship! They had to scramble and get hotel rooms!Panic!
The ship went far out in the ocean and kept safe for the night.
This morning the cruise ship could not come to Kona because the waves and winds were too strong.