Today we ventured out onto the Manana Trail to see the Waimona Falls. Although eating was not part of this hiking experience, there was a delicious lunch for us at the end of our adventure. This picture doesn’t quite give you the truth about the “path” we hiked on. Yes, at first there was a wide and easily walkable path, but this quickly turned into a twisted gnarly maze of roots, rocks, and trees. Enthusiastic for the challenge, we plowed forward, ignoring the thought that every down-hill step promised an up-hill one on our return trip. Here is a more accurate version of the majority of our hike:
Yes, those are puddles . . . of mud. One particularly treacherous part of the path required substantial trust in the trees lining our path. Luckily their trunks were sturdy.
Clearly, we had some initial doubts about our success on this hike.
Finally, we made it down to the view that those who passed us on their return route described as “definitely worth it.” See for yourself.
After all this hiking, our stomachs were growling. Well, to be honest, Christine was hungry before we even got out of the car to begin our hike, and I became hungry soon after we stepped onto the trail. But the point is, AFTER the hike, there was absolutely nothing on our minds other than lunch. With only four days left in Hawaii, we knew we had to prioritize how and where we wanted to spend our meals. I had been craving pizza since before our trip, and pizza had always been an option for a night of eating in. Christine found great reviews on Trip Advisor for a place called Pizza Corner, which I realized was right across from our hotel. As soon as I pulled up the menu online and saw poke pizza as a featured item, I knew we had to go.
We actually ended up ordering the Kalua Pizza. However, there was no disappointment in our order. This pizza was made fresh and arrived on our table at the perfect temperature – not too hot that your burn the roof of your mouth and can’t eat comfortably for days, but perfectly warm. The kalua pizza was a white pizza with kalua pork, mozzarella, fresh mango salsa, mango chutney, green onions, red onions, green peppers, and cilantro. We couldn’t quite tell the difference between the mango salsa and the mango chutney – my guess is that the chutney actually was under the mozzarella.
As you can see in this close up, all the ingredients were extremely fresh and created a beautiful visual experience in addition to the one on our taste buds. The combination of the sweet mango with the onions and of course the pork was divine, and definitely just the type of meal I had been craving on the hike. The crust was also just the kind of crust I like – thin in the middle and crisp, but not too thin that you can’t pick it up, and chewy and puffy on the rim. I can honestly say this ranks as one of the top 5 pizzas I have ever had in my life.
After lunch we were in the mood for dessert. We stopped at Two Scoops, the ice cream parlor across the street from Pizza Corner and all enjoyed a scoop of Hawaiian Mud Pie (Kona coffee flavored ice cream with crushed Oreos and chocolate fudge).