Big Island 2

We just love our stay here at the Avocado Tree House!
It is S. of Hilo, on the wetter, and lush side of the island. Near rainforest, and lava fields, which means few tourists, as most people like the nicer beaches on the west side.
Pahoa is quite the hippie hang out, and Craig read something about FBI fugitives..
Breakfast is included: the best papaya ever, bunches of bananas (shorter, tastier than at home, and might be of the Lady Finger variety per Craig. In Maui, we had Apple Bananas from our host's smaller farm), all the avocados you can eat, oranges &tangerines, star fruit, their own eggs.. Whole grain bread + coffee.

More pictures: Big Island 2 link

The Big Island of Hawaii. 1

It's a drizzly morning, but we could not care less, and our hosts said they need the rain.
We are on an 11 acre organic farm, have total privacy, and the house is by far the most interesting place we have ever stayed at!
Tonight we'll go to Uncle Roberts, very nearby. An evening farmers' market, with food, and music, and several hundred people per my quick google result.
Tomorrow at the latest, we hope to ride around here.
Link to Avocado Tree House pictures

More from Maui

First: we are happy to hear June & Nick, and Roger are OK in Orlando! We feel a bit guilty having fun when the storm hit them. Hope you get the power back very soon!
We leave for the Big Island of Hawaii today,  after spending a nice week here.
The previous post details our bike ride up Mt. Haleakala - which deserved its separate write-up (we admit to having caught summit fever, which can be dangerous). The only picture from that day, is the wet one of Craig on top, already posted.
Will now include a link to the Maui pictures - we are getting better, but I decided it's too complicated to rearrange the order, when I messed things up, so the pictures are only mostly chronological.
Maui pictures

Our Mt. Haleakala Cycling Experience

Haleakala is a 10 023 ft (3055 m) volcanic peak that dominates Maui. We started at 7 am, at 1726' to be precise (which means we cheated c/w the official annual ride here).
30 miles of riding for us.

San Juan pictures

We are still on the learning curve as far as managing the pictures on the IPad, and getting them on to the blog.

San Juans photo album

Clicking on this link, should give you sharp pictures; they may show up in a funny grid format. If so, just click on the first picture (a few times?), and they show up sequentially, full screen size.
You should be able to zoom in to see more detail, as I still haven't learned how to crop them.

We continue to visit with friends, first in Victoria, BC, and now in Seattle. The weather is just perfect, and Craig wants to move here for the summer months.

Off to Hawaii Tuesday.

Addition to THANK YOU post

Here is the 'bouquet' of 8 I wanted to send:

Our San Juan experiences so far

- no pictures yet, Britt, as the internet is so slow that even Craig can't get them uploaded.
- the weather is perfect! Bright blue skies, sunny, 50's to 60 overnight, 70's daytime with no humidity. The locals tell us this is the norm, and that September will be even better, as it's warmer.
- we have seen lots of young deer, rabbits, seals and sea lions today, gorgeous views of islands, evergreens, rocky sea shores, touring cyclists, and hills.

THANK YOU!!!

To Everyone who helped us get this far!

 - To Lotten & Mark, Bob & Kimberley, Phil, Doreen & Michael, and especially to Kim & Chris, who all help store our stuff right now.
- To Muffy, and Elsa &Tom for all your advice, and suggestions on travel.
- To all who helped move furniture...

You were supposed to get a bouquet of road side flowers, and early foliage leaves, but Craig thinks the very slow internet connection here on Orcas, in the woods, up a hill, prevents us from including them today.

We are lucky to have such wonderful friends, and hope we can help you out at some point!
Ann-Marie & Craig

New tenants

Our tenants moved in Monday.

They are three grad students from the University of Connecticut who were looking for a quiet place way from campus. We are glad to have our house being looked after by such nice people.

Itinerary (so far)

 

This is our itinerary so far

= Depart Boston Aug 23

= Puget Sound

     - Seattle Aug 23

     - Orcas Island (San Juan Islands) Aug 24 - 31

     - Victoria, BC Sept 1 - 2

     - Seattle Sept 3 - 4

= Hawaii

     - Maui Sept 5 - 11

     - Big Island Sept 12 - 20

     - Honolulu Sept 21

= Samoa Sept 22 - Oct 13

     - American Samoa (Tutuila) Sept 22  - 24

     - Apia, Samoa Sept 26 - 27

     - Savai'i, Samoa Sept 28 - Oct 3

     - Apia Oct 4 

     - Tutuila  Oct 4 - 5

     - Ofu Island (American Samoa) Oct 5 - 12

     - Tutuila Oct 13

= Australia
     - Sydney Oct 14

     - Brisbane, SE Queensland Oct 15 - Nov 15

     - Hobart, Tasmania Nov 16 - 29

     - Launceston, Tasmania Nov 30 - Dec 5

= Thailand Dec 6 - Jan 4

     - Bangkok Dec 6-7

     - Chiang Mai Dec 8-18
     - Thoeng Dec 19-21
     - Pua Dec 26-30
     - Chiang Mai Dec 31 - Jan 2
= Laos
   - Luang Prabang Jan 3-6, 11
   - Muang Ngoy Jan 7-10. Trekking from Lattanavongsa guesthouse
= Thailand
   - Hua Hin Jan 12-17
   - Chiang Mai Jan 18-28
= Cambodia
   - Siem Reap Jan 29-Feb 4
= Vietnam
   - Hanoi Feb 4-5
   - Nimh Binh Feb 5-
   - Ha Long bay Feb
= New Zealand
   - Christchurch & South Island Feb 16-?
   - Havelock North Island Mar 27 - April 6
= Bhutan
   - Han valley trek April 24 - May 4
= South Africa
   -  Madikwe Game Reserve Jun 8-13

That's far as we've planned in detail. We want to be in SE Asia through February as that is the not-so-hot time of the year there. Then we'll head to New Zealand in March/April. We are looking into Bhutan in late April/early May, and we have to commit by the end of December. After that, we're thinking about South Africa and maybe Namibia.

Itinerary

Itinerary August 23, 2017 to July 7 2018