We started out our week on the Hilo side by exploring Hilo (big surprise, I know). A small town next to a big bay, Hilo was inundated by the tsunami of 1960 (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Sit on the Tsutnami). Since it’s on the rainy side of the island and the island is a young volcanic one, there are a ton of waterfalls nearby because the water doesn’t soak into the ground. We visited a couple of falls right outside of Hilo: Rainbow Falls and Pe’e-Pe’e Falls.
We hit Rainbow Falls at just the right time, in the morning and just before a load of tourists in a big bus. We saw the rainbow at the base and Josie got a great shot of it. Pe’e-Pe’e Falls is upstream from Boiling Pots, a series of waterholes that look like they are boiling. We walked around them and took some pictures. There was a Hawaiian hawk sitting on a tree branch watching us for most of our visit.
Lunch was at Cafe 100, supposedly the inventor of the loco moco, Ted’s favorite Hawaiian dish: 2 scoops rice, a hamburger or spam patty, two fried eggs, covered with gravy, available at all times of the day.
Then we strolled the Hilo waterfront, window shopping and picking up a few souvenirs. The Hilo farmers’ market had a lot of fresh produce and we visited a little marine center where Josie worked the robot arm in the submarine mockup.
We finished up with shave ice at Wilson’s by the Bay (very good) and bought some chocolate covered sunflower seeds (recommended by our guide book). They were also very good, but I don’t think they are covered with chocolate, maybe it’s carob.
Check out the photos in our Rainbow Falls - Hilo photo set.