Getting There
We were reluctantly up at 4AM to allow time to get to our 7:30AM flight. The computers were
down for US customs and they had to make do with laptops??? A novel approach
was being used that cleared folks through customs in the order of flight time.
(so why don't they always do this?) The line up for US customs
pre-clearance was well into YYC concourse D. Agitated and harried ticket agents
and a jovial US
customs representative walked back and forth along the line reassuring passengers
that we were "all in the same boat"? Then magically, when our flight
comes close to departure time, we all moved efficiently to the front and into the US pre-clearance
area. (which incidentally had no obvious large lines whose presence may have
caused unnecessary stress for US Border Security staff). We were efficiently processed and
onto the scanners and the West Jet flight. The flight leaves only a few minutes
late, but we still land in Maui on
schedule, no need for panic I guess….
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| Only outrigger canoe under the sun (that night) |
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| Surfing is a big thing |
Apparently spring break, for at least some in Calgary,
runs into April.... The plane has a number of small children aboard that made
the noise cancelling headphones cheap at 10x the price. I drifted in and out of
consciousness for the next 6 1/2 hours, disturbed by the attendants only to get the
included in airfare price water/soft drinks and diminutive bits&bites
package(how can they actually package this few items in a bag). As well as offered
a chance to buy an overpriced/under delicious looking sandwich from the
efficient flight attendants/sales folks. The airline business has morphed
substantially since Ward Air served economy passengers delicious meals complete
with wine and silver ware in the 1980's. Who knows what services they may have
received in First Class at that time??..... To be fair, a 1983 $ is now worth
about $2.50 I paid $800 to go to Europe in 1983 and about $1100 to go to Maui
in 2013, the flights are of similar length. I guess we are getting the $450
worth of service we paid for....
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| Kona Coast |
The transfer at Maui
airport is extremely efficient. We quickly retrieve our luggage, get checked in
and only have to backtrack once to trade an incorrect boarding pass meant for a
gentleman bound for JFK for Elaine's to Hilo,
once more a chance to flirt with the TSA agents as they fondle me prior to a quick flight to THE BIG ISLAND.  |
| Rental Warrior |
Accommodation
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| Redhead Cardinal |
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| Seawall at Keauhou |
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| Sure Servpro.... Like it never happened |
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| Clearly it Happened |
And again the next day with Servpro on the job....
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| Kona Sunset |
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| Magnificent Foliage on Surf/Racket grounds |
Activities
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| Keauhou Blowhole near Condo |
A few pics and comments follow about the activities and adventures that we undertook
on the Island of Hawai’i.
Polol’u
Valley and Beach
It’s a 60 mile, maybe 1 ½ hour drive from Kona to Polol’u
Valley overlook. North of Kailau-Kona the belt road crosses lava flows for the first
half that give way to pasture lands and then into rainforest jungle. 
The
overlook is very impressive, located at the end of a Highway 270, the highway
interestingly enough has no turnaround at the end. Drivers have to reverse
about 100 feet and turnaround in a private driveway?? There is some
perpendicular parking off road, but many vehicles line the road. 
The view from the lookout is spectacular, the trail to the
beach beckons. The trail drops steeply to the beach 400 feet below in about ½ a
mile. Once at beach level it’s a pleasant walk in open trees. The ocean is not
really that inviting to play in here, huge waves are continually crashing onto
the beach. 
There is an open forest just behind the beach which is very pleasant.
We see an aging hammock between some trees with an apparently content occupant, as well as numerous ropes hanging to swing
from, no doubt remnants of many bygone and possibly future camping parties. 
The adjacent land is private
and signs warn you that you are not really welcome up valley. A few cows are
seen grazing up valley through the occasional light mist. Polol’u beach is a delightful place to hang out for
an hour or so and enjoy a snack in an amazing setting.Snorkeling
Hawaii has
some of the best snorkeling and diving areas in the world, the water can be
exceptionally clear. There are many fish species in abundant numbers, turtles
and other sea life living just offshore that can be easily viewed.
- Kahalu’u
Beach State Park near Keauhou Surf/Racket condo
A great snorkeling area as well as popular with surfers, we
visited twice. The entry is very easy from the shore, and the reef is very
close in. The water is very clear with many different fish, amazing coral and even
turtles. That and it’s a 5 minute walk on pavement from our VRBO rental Condo.
Excellent.
- Honaunau Bay ‘two
step entry’
About a 15 minute drive south of Kona. The area is located
near Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. The water was a bit murky on our visit and the
entry/exit are more difficult than at Kahalu’u. Some risk of getting bashed into the steps
from larger waves while entering and exiting. That said, still lots of interesting
coral features and fish to observe, worth the time if in the area.
- Kealakekua Bay Captain Cook Monument |
| Kealakekua bay |
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| Very colourful Coral |
We arrived at the monument around 9:00AM and
there were only a few people around and a couple boats off shore. By the time we exited the water at 10:00AM there were hundreds of folks
that had arrived by commercial boat. Go early, this is absolutely the best
snorkeling we experienced. 
The place has some interesting history as the great circum-navigator
Captain James Cook also breathed his last at Kealakekua
Bay. Apparently he got in a dispute about a life boat, and during same the locals figured out he really wasn't the god Lono after all. They slaughtered him and in the honourable fashion of the day, baked him, cleaned his bones, ate his heart and kindly gave his crew a portion of the remains for burial. A large white monument and a death marker are located on
the shore near where he died. These reminders of the past imperial glories reside
on the only British soil on the Hawaiian islands.
Mauna
Kea
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| Mauna Kea Summit - Canada owns a piece of Scope on Right |
We met a family of 5 on the summit who unfurled a banner commemorating their 43rd high point in the US, a cool goal, the family has seen many places together! The summit area is home to some 13 massive telescope installations. Earthlings watch and listen to the distant past many light years away hoping to find encouragement and inspiration to write papers and receive grant extensions so they can continue to live in Hawaii and watch the stars.
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| Crowds gather for sunset |
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| Enough like the moon that Apollo Astronauts trained here |
Mauna Kea sunsets are very highly rated The sunset was
pretty good and a good crowd gathered to observe, I may have rushed us off the
top a bit early as the after glow looked pretty fine as we descended (oh well). There is a visitor center at about
3400 m on the south side of Mauna Kea. It
is advised that you stop there for a ½ hour or so on way up to acclimatize.
They also have telescopes out at night for tourists to look at the stars and volunteers to help ‘interpret’ the sky. We stopped for awhile on the way down and indeed the stars were very good (Payne Lake and Bryce canyon still a close second). Jupiter and its moons were very clear though the powerful scopes. Pleiades on other hand still looked like a few stars, just a bit little bigger through the telescope as one guy said. A volunteer noted several times with some enthusiasm that Pleiades is about 500 light years away, so I guess not surprising it isn’t magnified much. The 1 ½ hour drive back down mountain and the Saddle Road to Kona was not quite as much fun in the dark with the many turns and narrow bridges on the west side.
They also have telescopes out at night for tourists to look at the stars and volunteers to help ‘interpret’ the sky. We stopped for awhile on the way down and indeed the stars were very good (Payne Lake and Bryce canyon still a close second). Jupiter and its moons were very clear though the powerful scopes. Pleiades on other hand still looked like a few stars, just a bit little bigger through the telescope as one guy said. A volunteer noted several times with some enthusiasm that Pleiades is about 500 light years away, so I guess not surprising it isn’t magnified much. The 1 ½ hour drive back down mountain and the Saddle Road to Kona was not quite as much fun in the dark with the many turns and narrow bridges on the west side.
Volcanoes National Park
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| Kilauea Caldera from as close as Parks allow |
The US Geological Survey has the Jagger Museum and Volcano Observatory about 10 minutes drive into the park, about a mile from the main Kilauea Caldera. It’s the closest one can get to the volcano. The National Parks Service has taken most of the fun out of this place by closing the roads/trails that are anywhere near the active caldera. Apparently a bit of SO2 gas is being emitted and has frightened the government lawyers into saving us from ourselves. During the day one can observe what appears to be steam emanating from the caldera, not exactly a compelling site.
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| Kilauea Iki Crate |
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| Steam Vent Kilauea Iki Crater |
Trail markers recount how over 750,000 people traveled to the edge of the crater to watch the fun in 1958. They note that no one was injured despite folks being at the rim of the erupting volcano. I am sure it was an awesome show, and the folks that witnessed it were fortunate that government risk management had not yet evolved to today’s level or more likely the entire island would have been evacuated. The walk through the crater takes us by steam vents and surreal landscapes that remain from the eruption. A few plants are taking root but it’s a very barren landscape. The loop trail climbs back to the rim and concludes with a very cool walk though a lava tube that is the best thing in the park you can get close to.
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| Thurston Lava Tube |
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| Kilauea Caldera after Dark |
The crowd thins out, an hour after sunset only a few people remain hoping for something interesting to happen, when we left nothing had….
We try to get a snack at the village of Volcano, but its Saturday night and most things close by 8:00PM. The 2 ½ hour return drive took only 2 hours as was easier to drive faster in the dark when you can't see the hazards, less traffic also.
Whale
watching Pu Alil’i
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| North Kona Coast from Pu Alili |
The ‘summit’ of the hill is an excellent vantage point to take the binoculars or spotting scope and watch whales surface, spout, breach and sometimes leap right out of water. Well worth the drive and the maybe 10 minute it takes to walk to the top.
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| Manini'owali Beach at Kua bay |
Manta
Ray Snorkel
Had heard and read that the Manta Ray snorkel is near the
top, if not the best, guided activity on the big island. For $95 (including tax)
per person, we are outfitted with wetsuits and snorkel gear, we get to sign an
onerous waiver releasing everybody and anybody from responsibility and are then
ready to board a 36 foot boat with 15 other folks to dive and snorkel with the
Manta Rays.
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| The water got rougher.... |
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| Humpback Whale Surfacing |
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| The dive/snorkel site |
The number of Rays sighted on recent evenings were reported on the tour company website as anywhere from 10 to 34. Elaine caught a glimpse of 1 when she jumped in, I saw 4 while I clung to the pipe and scanned the depths. After about 30 minutes of being tossed around in the waves, eyes straining to see the mighty mantas it got a bit tiresome, but we soldiered on for a further 15 minutes, saw a few fish, and the divers on the bottom through murky water. Thoughts of letting go of the raft and just drifting away gently into that good night (and then violently into the rocks) passed though ones head…. and were quickly dismissed.
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| Underwater world |
The divers had planned to go out again for a ‘black water’ dive after the snorkelers were dropped off. By the time we got back to shore all those with further diving plans for that evening had replaced them with land related activities, seems the enthusiasm for the sea had been diminished. To be fair, our experience was probably unusual, only a few Manta Rays, very rough water, I’m sure there are much better experiences to be had viewing Mantas based on the Trip Advisor reviews, the water was described by our guides as abnormal winter type conditions, maybe better to try in June rather than April?
Wiapi’o
Valley
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| Wiapi'o Valley Beach |
The road into the Wiapi’o valley is one of the 2 paved
roads the car rental company restricted from use in our contract. Getting there
requires you to go through Honokaa.  |
| World Famous Tex Drive-in Malasada's |
The guide books note the "World Famous" Tex Drive-in is also located at Honokaa and is a must stop for a special snack. Tex’s has purportedly been serving the best Portuguese Malasada pastry on the Big Island since 1969. They were very delicious, we didn’t see any other evidence of these being sold elsewhere on Hawaii, so can only say they were the best that we found.
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| Upper Wiapi'o Valley |
There were
also 2 wrecks that had apparently tumbled from the road above to their current location beside the lower beach road, rusting testament to some pretty poor driving. Once to the beach there is parking and it’s a fabulous black sand beach,
the best beach we saw on the Island. The
beach is about ½ mile long and is lovely fine sand to walk in, a crossing of
the river is necessary, but not a problem, shoes recommended for the crossing
as rocks are slippery. Not a lot of folks on the beach, particularly on the far
side of the water crossing. Very secluded, we saw some folks that had forgotten
their bathing suits….. It is also reported that the valley inhabitants fiercely
protect their seclusion and privacy, apparently not recommended to wander onto
the adjacent private land. At the far end of the beach there is a trail that
heads into the backcountry to the Wiamanu Valley,
about 6 miles away. Supposedly a good backpack or a fine long day trip….maybe
another time. 
We walked a few hundred metres up the trail where the trees open
up and provide stunning views of the most magnificent valley on the Big Island. From
here, one has time to carefully observe the steep hill that will require
climbing back up to exit the valley. On the way back a herd of wild horses
grazed near where the trail meets the beach… a (not so) wild horse hung around
the parking area looking for handouts…. The climb out on the steep road is a
pleasant uneventful walk.
Kalapana
Refuge Poke a Stick Lava Walk
I had also read on Trip Advisor that the “Poke a Stick” tour
was one of the best ones on the Island. In
a frenzy of phone calls on Monday I had booked the Manta rays, the Lava tour as
well as a, ‘doors off ‘, Hughes 500 heli tour. I had headed fully to the dark
side of guided (rather than self-guided) adventure travel.After the Manta Ray excursion I was somewhat wary of the internet trip reports. I called the guide Cheryl prior to leaving Kona for Hilo to confirm our date. Cheryl confirmed we would be heading out at 4:30PM. She mentioned that the surface lava flows had been spotty the last week but that the sea entry was still very good. We drove to Hilo and checked into the Dolphin Bay hotel (supposedly the best in Hilo). The check in clerk on hearing we were heading to see the lava flows advised us that it was not very good anymore… We considered bailing out but finally decided to do it regardless. On the advice of the same Dolphin Bay clerk that it would be “more scenic” we drove out on Highway 132/137 to Kalapana. It turned out to be more than twice as far as if we took Highway 130 and yes it had a few interesting views of the sea and overhead tree canopies, but not worth another 45 minutes of my life to get there. We finally arrive at the County roadblock at end of highway 130 and the guard directs us to Cheryl’s house just past the road blocks.
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| Lava flow map 1983 to 2013 |
We arrive just in time at 4:30 to find Cheryl waiting with
6 other Canadian customers, 4 from Okotoks and 2 from Ontario. It
takes another 15 minutes for the unbalanced Australian Nathan to make an
appearance. Cheryl owns 23 acres of land that is partially covered by recent
(after 1983) lava flows. The land ownership and a good relationship with local
natives that have land adjacent to hers provides access over private land to
where the lava is currently flowing. Cheryl’s ‘new’ husband Scott (they got
married in March) arrives just as we are heading out and says he will catch up
in a few minutes, later I am glad he did. The walk over to the volcanic
activity is in daylight.  |
| Red and White hot |
We get close enough to actually poke sticks in it, they burst into flame on contact, absolutely awesome. We hang around for maybe 20 minutes poking the lava with sticks, taking pictures, Nathan solicits bets on whether he can walk on hot flowing lava, no takers….. One gentleman with another group unsuccessfully uses a whisk duct taped to a stick to try and get a hot lava sample, one of the few times I have seen duct tape as the weak link in a process. All are very happy, it’s a carnival atmosphere.
The video link below leads to a short clip of what can be seen on the Kalapana Poke-A-Stick lava hike.
Poke-a-Stick lava viewing
The sun has set and lava ocean entry has been inspected
sufficiently, we fire up the headlamps (our own) and flashlights (supplied) and
head back for a last look at the above ground lava breakout. We get a little
higher upslope and find the upper part of the breakout. The surface is very hot
underfoot, probably was molten a few hours before, we are happy to have Scott
lead us through and around the flowing lava to cooler surfaces.
Hughes
500 ‘doors off’ Lava with Waterfalls Tour
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| Hughes 500 with our trip companions |
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| Pu'u O'o crater lava Lake |
Still cool though,
particularly when the pilot tilted the machine to give a closer look….The
extent of the lava flows is astounding, many square miles covered in lava, a couple
subdivisions destroyed with little trace. We fly over the active vent at Pu’u
O’o, where a small bubbling lava lake has formed, downslope we see some new
breakout lava flows and many steam vents…. Incredible natural forces at work.
Remainder of the trip visited a few waterfalls, and overflew Hilo. A
marginally interesting trip, but it doesn’t compare with the Poke a Stick in it
lava walk.
To sum up, the Island of Hawai'i is an outstanding place to hang out, lots to do, sitting on the lanai watching the sunsets and the waves crash very high on the list....
