Along the Hamakua Coast: Hilo, Honoka'a and a beautiful Airbnb

On the way north along the East Coast, we stopped at Mauna Loa Macademia Nuts Company (one of two large macademia nuts-producers), located in the middle of a huge nut tree plantation, before we drove into Hilo. Hilo is the capital of the Big Island with approx. 45,000 people. Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Koreans, and Portuguese came as contract workers on sugarcane plantations in the early days, and, many stayed in Hilo. Thus, the city is colorful, with lots of cultural diversity and cuisine. 

The city's bayfront (photo below) was twice destroyed by tsunamis and volcanos are a constant threat. Situated on the rainy side of the island makes the Hilo district tropical and lush, with (rain)forests and waterfalls like the Rainbow Fall on the photo further down. Hilo is also considered the Orchid Capital of the world thanks to its climate. 

Hilo is not your typical tourist town, it doesn't feature huge hotel/resort complexes as other Hawaiian cities, it isn't plastered with beaches and touristic offerings. There are some souvenir shops, plus, some nice boutiques and shops came up along the oceanfront promenade. Hilo is, in general, a much more "authentic" Hawaiian (/Asian) than Kona - a little run-down, but somehow with its own unique flair. Its historic buildings, mostly from beginning of the 20th century, like  The Palace Theater or the Koehnen Building still show the former wealth of the city, when sugar milling was important .

Hilo Farmers Market is a must-see in Hilo downtown, mostly, farmers from the countryside selling their produce for great prices! Though market is much larger and diverse on Wed. and Sat, we got cheap fresh papayas and pineapple . And, for what a price!!! 

 

We went for a walk on Coconut Island and Queen Liliuokalani Park (photos below) - a nice and lush public  garden - before we headed north, with a stop at Rainbow Waterfalls, a bit out of town.

 

Honoka'a, further north and inland, is a little town - but, the county seat - with a prominent main street and home of Hāmākua Sugar Company from 1873 to 1994, with some historic buildings, souvenir shops and nice little restaurants and cafés:

 

About 5 mi. west of Honoka'a, in the wooded back country, higher up (about 2,200 ft/700 m), and, therefore much more pleasant climate-wise (temps dropped from 90+ deg F ( C) and VERY humid in Hilo to a "normal" 75 deg F and good air quality. Wonderfull AirBnB, perfectly furnished and equipped, nothing to complain about. Glad about that, since in the early evening, it started to rain, out of buckets. 

Huge grounds with lots of plants and flowers to discover as well as a firepit on the lawn (which we couldn't use due to rain, but, we had a large covered patio area.