Today was a relocation day from Hilo to Kona. Of course there were lots of stops along the way. The first of which was Waipio valley lookout for some photography. We hit it lucky and got some nice photos. Then the clouds came and the photo session was over. Today's photo is of that valley.

We drove up to the northern end of the island to see what was there and continued on to the Pololu Valley Lookout. Unfortunately it was overcast and the picture taking wasn't good.

The highlight of the day was a visit to a vanilla farm. There was a tasty lunch followed by a trip to see the plants. Vanilla comes from an orchid which blooms for only one day during which it needs to be hand fertilized one bloom at a time. Then you wait and the vanilla beans appear. There is quite a bit of post processing involved. As with so many things in Hawaii, the beans are very expensive.

Last stop was the Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site. This is where King Kamehameha I built a big temple then proceeded to unite (conquer, really) all the Hawaiian Islands. The big stone structure of the temple is there, but can't enter it because it is sacred.