Waikoloa Village, HI - Day 5
Wednesday, April 7
Traveling in Hawaii during a pandemic has been pretty close to “regular” times. All the stores, restaurants and grocery stores are open here, as well as state and national parks grounds, beaches, and farmer’s markets. Masks are required in all businesses and on federal property, and some restaurants take your temperature before they’ll seat you. We’ve also seen some grocery stores (especially the smaller ones) limiting the number of people inside the store. For the most part, it seems like everyone (locals and tourists alike) comply with the policies and are working together to keep Hawaii safe & open.
One thing that is different about traveling during a pandemic is that most museums, tours and organized activities are closed. Resorts, in particular, have not resumed events and activities on their properties. Andi and I were pleased to see that Paniolo Greens Resort, where we are staying this week, offered yoga classes on Mondays & Wednesdays. Andi and I signed up to go this morning since Janie was willing to stay back with the kids.
Truth be told, Andi and I were moving a little slow after our date night last night. But, it felt good to meditate and stretch this morning in a shady patch of grass between two of the resort buildings. The best moment of the yoga class was when two large male turkeys strutted by Andi’s yoga mat. We were all laying on our backs, eyes closed, stretching our hamstrings when I heard something. I opened my eyes to see two turkeys slowly waddling by, so close to Andi’s mat he could have touched them. I looked at the yoga instructor, to Andi, and over to the two other ladies in the yoga class & everyone was laying on their mat as instructed with their eyes closed, completely still and in the moment. It took everything in my power not to laugh! I wish I could have snapped a picture.
After yoga, the five of us drove to the nearby town of Waimea to the Parker Ranch Farmer’s Market held on Wednesdays at the historic Pukalani Stables. This is one of the biggest farmer’s markets on the Big Island and we’d heard great things — Andi and I were excited to check it out.
Waimea is the biggest town on the north side of the Big Island. It’s located at 2,500+ ft elevation along the extinct Kohala volcano which means Waimea experiences cooler temperatures and more precipitation than nearby towns along the Kohala Coast. The area is beautiful with lush, green, rolling pastureland.
There was so much to see & experience at the farmer’s market. Andi, Janie and I were like kids in a candy store at the sight of so many vendors selling produce, Kona coffee, handmade crafts, and food.
I purchased a hand-painted ornament of a Hawaiian hula dancer for our Christmas tree. Janie bought Tory a pretty hand-painted necklace with a starry scene. We also bought fresh salad greens, strawberries, beets, carrots, and homemade fig goat cheese.
This root vegetable is called taro, which is an important food in the Hawaiian culture. Taro can be steamed, cooked, boiled, or fried and is generally eaten like a potato.
Even though Hawaii has a warm, tropical climate all year round, there are growing seasons here. In the spring, most vendors seem to offer salad greens, beets, carrots, tomatoes, citrus (oranges, lemons & limes), papayas, loquats and longan fruits. Many farms also have pineapples, though we’ve heard the best variety are called white pineapples only available in May.
Tory and Aden recently wrote about the many Hawaiian fruits we’ve eaten during our month-long stay on the Big Island. Aden is the big fruit lover in our family & has really enjoyed eating loquats which taste similar to an apricot. Janie likes the papayas best.
After the five of us wandered around the market for an hour, we were all hungry for lunch. Andi ordered several different lunch plates from a Hawaiian BBQ food truck for us all to share while I ordered banana chocolate crepes for Tory and Aden. We sat under a tent in the grass and ate lunch together while holding on tightly to our plates. It was so windy!
Next, we decided to go for a short, easy nature walk through a Waimea park. It’s so strange to be in Hawaii wearing sweatshirts and pants! The weather was sunny and comfortable in the low 70’s. The five of us walked along the path looking at all the interesting trees and plants along the way. Higher elevation and more rainfall make this area of the island much more green and lush than the beachy Kohala Coast just 20 minutes away.
After our walk, we returned to our condo at Paniolo Greens in Waikoloa Village so Tory, Aden and I could do school & Andi could be on a call scheduled for 2:00pm.
Andi and I decided to take everyone to a new-to-us beach called Anaehoʻomalu Beach tonight to watch the sunset. This spot is located right next to the Lava Lava Beach Club and the parking lot was packed at 5:00pm. It was also really, really windy outside which made sitting on the beach less than enjoyable. Boy, does that sound whiney to say — how can sitting on a beautiful Hawaiian beach be anything other than wonderful?! — but when the sand is flying around and pelting you in the face, it’s not really that fun no matter the view. These are fake smiles on Andi, Tory and Janie as they were wrapped up in beach towels for wind and sand protection.
Twenty minutes into our sunset beach experience, And and I were ready to pack up and go home. But, Aden made a friend and was having a blast boogie boarding in the waves with another little boy. We all decided to tough it out so Aden could play. He had a blast.
Back at the condo, Andi grilled pork chops for dinner. It took forever to cook them because the wind kept blowing out the grill. Nevertheless, we ate the pork with fresh salad greens from the market and watched an episode of Heartland together on Netflix before bed. Today was a fun, low-key day in Hawaii.
