City instead of island hopping

Today we are leaving the 50th state of the USA after 4 weeks and are getting a little closer to home. The suitcases and backpacks are packed, the shuttle has been ordered, now it's just a matter of bridging the time from 10 a.m. to 7:40 p.m. Actually only until 4 p.m. because then we have to return the rental car.

To tide us over, we booked a brewery tour for 12:00. That's an hour that we don't have to worry about. But until then - what to do???

Shopping mall is a great keyword. You might also find a few souvenirs there. Google also tells us some in Kona with 4.4 ⭐️. Perfect. In the USA we got to know shopping malls that can be compared to the Ernst August Gallery.

The first mall had nothing to do with it. Many shops are empty, a supermarket, the post office and countless shops with food and health services (dentist, physio, dialysis...).

The 2nd Mall is nothing different either. Schahaatz drives around the area for 45 minutes and there is nothing to shop except Walmart. Where do they actually shop here?

The time has now come for our excursion into the world of Hawaiian beer brewing.

Frank, our bus driver, tour guide and pub landlord, introduces us to the history and operations of the Kona Brewing Company.

facts

Kona Brewing Company was founded by father and son, Cameron Healy and Spoon Khalsa, in 1994. She had a vision to reflect the spirit, culture and beauty of Hawaii in a collection of the island's local craft beers.

Kona Brewing has become one of the most popular craft beer brands. They have managed to stay true to their Hawaiian roots through innovation, sustainability and social commitment. Headquarters are in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.

When the original brewery became too small years ago, they wanted to find a way to expand without straining the island's homeland's precious resources. A brand new 30,000 square meter brewery will open in 2021 as one of the most sustainable breweries in the world. They generate 25% of their energy needs with solar. They recycle their water and thus reduce fresh water by 50%. With a state-of-the-art CO₂ recovery system, they produce 100% of the CO₂ they need. The annual capacity is 100,000 barrels. It is primarily filled in cans, but also in bottles, which are not made in Hawaii but are imported from the USA.

We start our tour with a small welcome beer called Big Wave.

After a short introduction to the history, Frank goes into the sustainability of the company.

They are not only sustainable in terms of electricity, water and CO₂, local farmers feed the pressed grain to their livestock and in return provide the meat for the pizza and burgers in the pub.

After the tour of the production, we go to the tasting. Four small beers refresh our throats and make our heads and minds feel a little dull.

Lemon sea salt, lemongrass ginger, burnt coconut

and passion fruit are the flavors. You see, most of them are pale ales with some sort of flavoring added. Only the Long Board is a “normal” lager.

Being half drunk is a waste of money

So we decide to have a beer and a poke bowl in the pub

and eat pizza.

We reach the airport on time. Something different than what we've had before. The airlines have small huts,

where to check in. At United they wanted to get weird for a moment because we had 1 lbs too much suitcase weight, but when they realized that we were German and weighed 23kg (the equivalent of 50.7 lbs), it was okay.

During the security check, the full program again. With all electronics out and shoes off. And then the departure hall awaits us.

The last time I had something like that was in Cuba in 1992.

For the 6.5 hour flight from Kona to Denver, we treated ourselves to a few seats with more legroom. At the emergency exit. And what happened next was really a disgrace. The entire plane had more legroom than us. We also had narrower and non-adjustable seats. With both of us humming along it was pretty tight and warm.

That will result in another complaint. It's a shame to take extra money for this.

We land in Denver at 6:45 a.m., a little hard but 45 minutes earlier than planned. 2 hours and 45 minutes later we continue to New York. I'm excited. Normal seats and on the 3.5 hour flight there was a snack and two drinks. We didn't get that on the 4.5 hours to Fuerteventura.

LaGuardia Airport near New York must have a very short runway. After a gentle touchdown, the brakes came to full stop, with a slight skid on the finish.

Another 2 hours and 10 minutes (we used to be in New York) we get to the last flight to Montreal.

A whole three-seater bench for the two of us - real luxury. The flight was anything but quiet. Almost like riding a rollercoaster.

And in the middle of the clatter of the plane, the stewardess begins the safety briefing, but we had already been in the air for 15 minutes. Do you know how I felt?

Thank God we reach Montreal unscathed and 25 minutes ahead of our planned time (4:55 p.m.). However, we spend it standing somewhere and waiting for a free snorkel. The actual one that was assigned to us had a defect, so we did a little lap around the airport.

Since we are entering from the USA we have to go through passport control. And in the words of Michael Manousakis from the Steel Buddies, “catastrophe”. You wouldn't believe the masses of people who arrived here. And how much was due upon entry. Craziness. It took us about an hour to complete the formalities.

After a while we no longer had to wait for our suitcases because the luggage belt was already put down with our suitcases on it.

At 6:39 p.m. we finally sit in the transfer bus from the airport to the city.

We end the evening with another beer with fish and chips in the Irish pub.

What a day.