Hawaii Day 4 - North west Big Island

We had a big day planned with a tight schedule! Our first stop was to be Umauma falls and the Zipline experience there, but we had some time to kill before that so we went off to look for Akama falls. Unfortunately, Google maps directed us to some private property with a clear "no trespassing" sign. So that idea was bust!

Heading back we noticed a different sign pointing us to the falls but we were out of time!

Umauma falls is on a private property that not only has the ziplines, but is a working fruit and cattle farm.

There were a total of 9 ziplines, the longest being over 600m! The first four were dual ziplines, where you could race together, and the remaining 5 were single ziplines.

The views were cool and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They were a bit lightweight and a number of times didn't make it to the end of the line and had to be "towed in" by one of the guys who had to climb out then run like a spider back to the end, towing our kid.

A cool suspension bridge that we had to hook onto (weird considering we have similar bridges back home that look way less safe and we don't hook onto those)  that went over the river and a lava tube.

It was a nice day out, hot but fun. It was easy too - we didn't have to do anything, just jump and zip! The guides did all the hooking on and putting on of our gear and made sure we made it safely across each zipline.

We had to rush off straight after to make it to our lunch booking, which was at Merrimans in Waimea. Merrimans restaurant was the first restaurant venture of chef Peter Merriman, who was known as the pioneer of regional Hawaiian cuisine, and using local produce to create great dishes.

Ahi Poke with Maui onion and Molokai sweet potato chips

Kalua Pig and sweet onion Quesadillas

Island Fish sandwich

Island Fish Tacos (Mahi Mahi)

Pork Saimon with Togorashi spice Noodles and Kauai prawns

Service was outstanding and the kids were made to feel welcome. We even got a free soup for having to wait a bit longer than usual (Brocollini and cheddar) which was quite nice.

After that a drive around the North West coast, where we went to Pololu valley where there was a beach at the end of a steep 10 minute climb.

There's a beach down there?

Oh THERE it is

This was the easy stretch!

On the drive back, you could see Haleakala on Maui from the north west section of the freeway!

Phew! That night we had a simple dinner of fast food (Maccas, I think!) where a different thing on the menu was Taro pie (instead of apple pie). I liked it but nobody else really did...