06.02.2020 - Day 43 - Hilo, Hawaii/USA

This morning we flew in the "First Class" of Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu to Big Island Hawaii. After about 40 minutes, the flight was over and we landed at Kona International Airport. This is probably the funniest airport we have ever seen. The entire airport building consisted of small, cute wooden huts and even the luggage belt was more or less outdoors 😊. After picking up our suitcases, a shuttle bus took us to our car rental, where a very nice young man served us, who spoke not only English but also French and pretty good German. We rejected the first car due to its condition (it was really dirty!), and as a result, we got a brand new Jeep Wrangler Sahara that had only 80 miles on the odometer 👍😀.

Unfortunately, Big Island greeted us with really bad weather. It was pouring rain ☔️🌧☔️. After a little detour to Harley Davidson Big Island in Kona, including the purchase of two T-shirts, we drove through the unreal-looking, huge lava fields of Hualalai on the west coast, across the plateau in the center of the island to the deep green rainforests on the east coast to Hilo, where we are staying for the next 5 nights at Orchid Tree, a 5* Bed and Breakfast.

Steve and Ann, our hosts, also recommended us to go to Pineapple Restaurant in downtown Hilo in the evening. What a refreshing difference to Honolulu. Here in Hilo, the largest city on Big Island with a population of 40,000, the sidewalks are rolled up at 9 p.m. The Pineapple Restaurant was pleasantly calm, the food was very good, and there was great live music. And all this at a relatively affordable price compared to Hawaiian standards. For us, it was a good feeling to find a much quieter and more relaxed place after the colorful hustle and bustle in Waikiki, which we also enjoyed very much.