Big Island

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Been awhile since Court and I have been abroad. So our time was due. We agreed upon Hawaii months ago, mainly for the long list of landscapes, fantastic natural sights and pleasant weather. I purposely will not use the word vacation at any point of this blog as a lot of this trip never felt vacation-like. The travels began by sitting in an Air Canada plane on the tarmac for an hour only to be delivered back to the terminal. A 7 hour wait, rerouted to Toronto then arriving in Vancouver 30 minutes after our original Honolulu flight departed. 23 and 1/2 hours later in Vancouver (we did get a hotel) we boarded our flight to Honolulu. Arrived around 11 pm local time and spent a few hours at the airport as our flight to the Big Island was at 5 am.



By 6:30 am I was driving aimlessly into my first Hawaii morning. Rental company upgraded us to a large SUV, so I was driving a Nissan Armada. I told them I would be back in a few hours for something smaller. Tired, somewhat jet lagged and driving aimlessly with no map. Sounds like a plan for disaster, right? Well before I could stress, we found a plaza with all kinds of shops. After breakfast and collecting some groceries and supplies we headed with the flow of traffic back to Hilo town. We stumbled upon a beautiful Japanese gardens, drove to a few nearby beach parks to just watch the waves crashing. The moist morning air was feeling good on our tired heads. Back to the car rental agency, they didn’t want to give me anything else. Eventually I did leave with a Hyundai Tuscon, that was a much better size vehicle for us.



That morning we drove south, amazed at the great condition of Hawaiian highways and secondary roads. Stopped at Lava Tree state monument followed by bison sausages from the sausage guy parked at the nearby intersection. The rural roads were amazing. They turned, dipped and narrowed around trees. The light sparkling through the overhang of the large trees that neighbour the road. Spent some time watching a few surfers at Isaac Hale Beach Park. We did a lot of driving that first day. We had time to kill before we could collect our keys to the AirBnB house we booked. The weather was nice around low 20”s C and the back roads were fantastic. Grand old trees with branches hanging over the road while sunlight peeked through, the sweet floral air entering the car. It all felt a long way from home and today that was a great feeling. Later that day and after the GPS took us the wrong way, we drove past vast lava fields, past a “Entering Tsunami Evacuation Area” down a dirt road and into the circle driveway with coconut trees. The hexagonal jungle house. Now the backstory. We wanted to stay in some unique places and also wanted to keep the budget in check. This place was a location near many sights we planned to see and also budget friendly. We marvelled at the numerous fruit trees on the property, bananas, star fruit, jack fruit, guava, coconuts and maybe some I could not identify. Showertime followed by a nap. We had been up for more than 30 hours and were somewhat jet lagged. I awoke, it was dark. The calmness of the afternoon had yielded to a very noisy evening. I knew about the Coqui frogs but there were many more noises than frogs. I could not fall back to sleep, Court was having the same problem. Something fell onto the roof, something ran under the house and what was the cat who lived there knocked a bunch of stuff over causing quite a racket. Now to be fair, lack of sleep and jet lag do not add too create great rational thinkers. We had met and seen some rough looking characters that afternoon, we had no phone, no internet and the house would be easy to break into. My tired brain and the weight of all these factors above got heavy. We had a serious chat, we didn't feel safe. So we took off to find a hotel. Turns out not we were not meant to be in the jungle.



Reason number one for the trip to Hawaii was Volcano National Park. I have really wanted to see a volcano, lava, lava rock and anything else that may go with it. We had booked a sunrise lava boat tour. These boats get you as close to the lava flow as possible, as the lava exits the lava tube and into the ocean. If you read any reviews most mention rough seas and possible motion sickness. We were to meet at Isaac Hale Beach Park at 5:15 am. We arrived early, parked as instructed and waited. I was fearful of the motion sickness as I do not like boats very much, or rough waters. I took a couple of pills to keep that problem at bay. More people showed up but nobody for the company. We waited and chatted 5:30 came and went. The weather had been bad recently, 10 to 15 foot waves the last few days, winds and rain. At about 6 am we all agreed the tour was cancelled and left. My new goal was to get to Volcano National Park and view the Kilauea Crater before it got too bright. By the time we got there it was bright, but the crater was active and nobody else was there. Looking through the telescope you can see the lava boiling hard. Amazing to see. Remember those motion sickness pills? Well, now they were in full action. I could barely keep my eyes open. Had breakfast with loads of coffee, still suffering from wanting to take a nap. Decided to just get moving, so we did some hikes. We started with a couple small hikes then opted for the 4 mile Kilauea Iki trail. The Kilauea Iki Crater is a solidified lava lake that last erupted in 1959. You hike through the rainforest and descend down into the pit crater. Follow the Ahu (stacked rocks) across the crater floor while steam still rises from cracks in the crater floor. Between the mist, steam and the colourless landscape if felt very moonlike.



The Chain of Craters road is a 30 km road in the park that leads down the east rift zone and along the coast. The road has been closed and reopened a few times due to lava flows. Currently it is a dead end. It is a spectacular drive past volcanic cones, rainforest, lava flow zones, with the beautiful Pacific ocean in the background. At the end of the road waits cliffs, palm trees blowing in the wind and a large volcanic plume in the distance. A much warmer temperature than up at the top of the road and an increase in wind speed. The drive is fantastic with the many changes of scenery. It is a real standout in an island of spectacular drives. In fact one of my favourite drives of all time mainly cause of its beauty and the fact that it is unlike anything I have ever seen.



As our boat tour was canceled and we didn’t want to risk another cancellation, we decided to go to the lava viewing area that evening and skip the boat tour. Once again to the end of the road, the 130 this time, rent a bike and bike the 4.6 mile gravel road through the lava fields to the viewing area. I don’t bike much making this inbound trip a struggle. Mainly my backside was numb plus I had been up since around 3am. Even with the excitement of seeing the volcanic plume growing larger as we got closer, it was still a grind. Now the main event, the lava flowing into the ocean. A short walk across uneven lava fields to join the mob of people already present. The plume was huge and as the sky darkened, a lava tube collapsed creating lots of noise, flying debris and an increased lava flow. When it got dark and the plume cooperated you could clearly see the end of the tube with the lava rushing down the cliff side and into the water below. Now, I have travelled plenty in my life, I have seen plenty of natures beauty but nothing is like watching the red-yellow glow of lava, the ever changing plume, the flying debris that shoots out of the water. I was in a moment in my life where time stood still. I was lost just amazed at what was in front of me. We spent about 2 hours out at the viewing area. I could have stayed longer. Then the bike ride back. I felt better on the way back, somehow charged from what I had witnessed. This time Court was struggling, so we took our time, walked back some of the way. Time didn’t matter we were accomplished this day.





Our first few days on the big island island were spent driving some the best rural roads I have ever driven on. We spotted a baby boar, lava fields, jungle, beautiful farms and just breathtaking scenery in general. Our goal was to spend time in Volcano National Park and see some lava. We survived the first big storm of 2017 with hard rain, strong winds and a surge warning. It was time to leave the rainy side of the island and head to Kona. So far great success.

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Photos

End of Chain of Craters Road
End of Chain of Craters Road