Thursday: Hilo!

Thursday was our day trip to the east side of the Big Island, to Hilo. Known as the wet side, it gets just over a hundred inches of rain annually. It's a drive of just over two hours each way. Along the way you see many changes in climate, from tropical to prairie to rain forest. It's truly amazing. Here's the view a few minutes outside of Keauhou, where our house is located:

Half an hour later we're in the middle of a prairie:

  

Waimea for a pit stop:

Through the Hamakua Forest Reserve: 

And over gorges:

Our first stop was Rainbow Falls:

That's a lava tube behind the falling water:

This is a banyan tree on the hill next to the falls. Reminds you of Home Tree from the movie Avatar:

The view from the top of the falls looking downstream:

After lunch at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, our next stop was the black sand beach in the heart of Hilo. Beautiful fine-grained sand, formed from lava: 

Next stop was the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut farm where the famous macadamia nuts are grown, roasted and packaged. We have been waiting over a year to return to this place and have some of their incredible macadamia nut ice cream: 

Of course, we bought a few boxes and bags of macadamia nuts from the visitor center.

Next up was the Akatsuka Orchid Garden. A greenhouse renowned for the many varieties of orchids you can buy. Sadly, we can't ship any home to Canada without the required permits from the Canada Border Services Agency. Oh well, it was wonderful to explore the place.

Finally it was time to head home to Kona. We drove back the same way we came, around the north shore of the island. These are monkey trees in downtown Hilo:

Downtown Hilo:

There's a noticeable difference between Hilo and Kona in terms of the age of the buildings. Hilo looks older, and clearly there is less money in their economy compared to Kona.

On the drive back we saw Mauna Kea illuminated by the setting sun. Look real close and you might be able to see the astronomy observatories on top:

Back home at our rented beach house in Keahou, it was the end of a long but exciting day. We saw nearly everything this time as we did on our cruise 14 months ago, and we had much more time to gawk and explore.

Tomorrow: more diving.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Hangin' Out in Kona

Tuesday and Wednesday we took it easy. Tuesday began with a leisurely breakfast on the lanai:

Then we headed out in search of the local retailer for Blu Kicks canvas shoes. Their website pointed us to a store called Seaside Luxe about a half hour drive north of Kona. Well, that turned out to be on the property of The Four Seasons Resort at Hualalai, site of the PGA Champions Tour tournaments a couple weeks ago. In the eyes of a golf enthusiast, his course was to die for: 

We returned to Kona and wandered around the downtown market area.

Wednesday was a trip to the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm on the north edge of Kona, near the airport. This is a for-profit operation that aims to preserve the various species of seahorses by raising them in tanks. They release some to the ocean, and others they sell to responsible owners. It was a fascinating educational experience.

We took the tour where a biologist explains the whole process. Near the end we had the chance to hold a seahorse. Actually, they hold you:

Back to Kona for lunch at the Kona Inn:

And what vacation in Hawaii would be complete without some shave ice:

Here are some pictures from the downtown area of Kona:

A beautiful sunset in Keauhou Bay closes out the day:

Yeah, paradise.

Monday: Scuba Diving and a Luau

Monday started early with our first two dives of our vacation. We drove from our house to Honokohau Marina in Kona to meet the crew from Big Island Divers. We were pleasantly surprised they gave everyone a full concierge treatment. They unpacked our gear and set it all up for us. Of course, once we got on board we double-checked everything. But talk about great service.

Our first dive was at a site called Garden Eel Cove, just off the . As its name suggests, eels are known to populate the area. I saw one big one, about four feet long. Dona, Tim and Jody saw three others. I was suprised to see so many sea urchins down there. The coral was more rocky and the colors more subdued than what we saw in Bonaire. Of course we know nothing can compare to Bonaire, but nevertheless it serves as a point of comparison for us.

Dive two was at a site called Turtle Pinnacle, near the marina. Though the sea turtles have moved away from this site since it was so named, there are two pinnacles under there that are spectacular. Plenty of fish life there too. We even saw a scorpion fish, though we were careful not to touch it because it does deserve its name.

Back to the marina, and the good people of Big Island Divers live up to their reputation again. They told us to leave our wetsuits, BCDs and regulators on the boat, and they'll rinse them and have them ready for our next dive. Talk about great service!

Back to our house to get ready to go to the luau. It was at the Sheraton, right across Keauhou Bay from our house, so it only took a few minutes to get there. Wow, what a spectacular show:

Your intrepid travelers at the luau:

The highlight was the fire dance. Amazing: 

Then it was back to the house for a good night's sleep.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Sunday we visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. To get there from Kona is a two-hour drive that that took us around the southern portion of the island to the southeast side where the park is located. Some of the most beautiful vistas are along Highway 11:

$10 per vehicle for admission (cheap!), and we were in. Though Dona and I had been there one year ago during our cruise on the Grand Princess, on this occasion we had more time to gaze in wonderment at the huge Kilauea caldera, and the magnificent desolation around us. It is said Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire, lives in the Halema'umu'u crater in the centre of this picture:

Jody striking a pose at Kilauea: 

A lone tree among the devastation. Life finds a way:

One of many steam vents in the park. Hot magma heats underground water to produce steam that escapes to the surface. The Hawaiian people believe the steam to be the breath of Pele: 

Here is Kilauea Iki (Little Kilauea). Yes, you can hike across the crater:

Part of the national park is the Thurston Lava Tube. You descend a trail through a lush tropical rain forest, until you get to the entrance. 

 

Keep in mind this tube was formed by lava flowing at 2,000 degrees F:

We drove down Chain of Craters road toward the Petroglyphs. All around us were lava fields from flows that happened 20, 30 years ago. What was striking was not just the sense of desolation, but the absolute silence. No birds at all:

You can easily imagine the hot lava oozing and flowing across the landscape, destroying everything in its path and beginning the process of renewal:

Driving down to the petroglyphs. Hawaii has 11 of the 13 world climates (pure desert and arctic tundra are the exceptions). In ten minutes you can drive through three of them:

The Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs is a sacred site to the Hawaiian people. Ancient carvings tell stories of families, their births, weddings, and deaths:

And that wrapped up our visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We came away with a send of awe, of amazement, of humility at the sight of what nature can do.