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Published: July 16th 2008
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Welcome reception from Fairmont Orchid
We got lei\\\'d upon our arrival at the hotel. Beautiful orchids are placed in each room. Reflecting on this wonderful trip so far, it certainly seems that the 4 days here on the Big Island of Hawaii are flying by! Though Henry has been to Hawaii on many occasions, he has not been to this island. It's my very first trip to any Hawaiian island, so we have wanted to see and do it all!
We finally arrived at our hotel, the Fairmont Orchid on the west Kohala coast just north of Kona, at 8:40 on Saturday night. Our day of travel was long, starting with a flight from El Paso to Dallas, then to Maui, then to Hilo, ending with a 2 hour+ drive along the coast to the hotel. I have to admit that while Henry was driving an unknown highway, I was thoroughly enjoying the view from the passenger side. The foliage along the west coast is stunning! We arrived at the hotel exhausted (almost 1:00am El Paso time), and had a beautiful dinner at Brown's Beach House. Our table was lovely, overlooking the water with torches lit around us. Our charming French server, Michel, gave a us a tour of the night sky after dinner--Scorpio is easy to see!
Our first
Ka'upulehu Beach
My first Hawaiian beach experience. day began with breakfast on our floor as Henry and I perused the local magazines, maps, and tourist publications. We did not make any official plans prior to the trip, and we needed to decide on an agenda. After discussing with the concierge, we decided to drive to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park along Highway 11. Kilauea, a very active volcano, is putting on quite a show these days, and we knew this attraction was not to be missed. As we drove, we were immediately struck by the "black desert" of lava rocks and little plant growth. We stopped along the coast to search for sea turtles in a popular spot, and though we did not see any, I did get my first walk along a Hawaiian beach! The sand felt wonderful and the water was stunning--I couldn't help myself...I had to take my shoes off! We continued south to the southern most point in the United States...yes...in Hawaii! It's called Ka Lae, or South Point, and it is even further south than the most southern point of Florida. Again, the black and white rocks make it a beach unlike any I've seen. We continued on the winding highway on
Kilauea Caldera
Sulfur dioxide from the caldera can be seen from miles. to the volcano, and as we approached Henry noticed from a distance a heavy, dark "smoke" rising. As we came closer, it became obvious that it was not from a fire, but from the Kilauea caldera. We entered the park, but not without some reservation after reading the warnings of the toxic sulfur dioxide gas pouring from the caldera. Though much of the driving route was closed due to the poor air quality, we were able to view the caldera well from the Volcano House, once the site of the original Kilauea observatory. Now it is a visitors area, with a small hotel, cafe, and gift shop. We drove to a viewing area along the steam vent lines and then on the museum and new observatory site. It's actually quite an ominous sight to behold, as the sulfur dioxide gas continued to billow from the caldera. Though we could go no further into the park, we decided to continue along HW 11 until HW 130, a route which we were told would take us to a location from which we could view the lava flow. Upon arrival, the hike to the flow was, to our surprise, along hardened lava itself.
Lava meets ocean
Lava flows into the ocean at the end of HW 130. Many people were already there, with necessities to stay until after dark, when the flow is most visible. Though the steam from lava entering the ocean was easy to see, the lava itself was not so obvious. Henry took pictures (of course), and we began our hike back to the car, as we did not want to have to drive all the way back to the hotel in complete darkness. As we walked, shimmering in the distance along the steam vents leading to the ocean was, to the best of our knowledge, the lava flow! Henry took more pictures which we studied carefully--we couldn't imagine what else would glow like that, and we guessed that at night, the red color is probably much more vibrant. How exciting--well worth a long day in the car! By the end of the day, we had circled the entire island! That evening, we ventured to the nearby Mauna Lani shopping development for dinner at Tommy Bahama's Cafe. It was another delicious meal.
On the second full day, we decided to visit the much talked-about Waipi'o Valley. Though the concierge had warned us of the difficulty of the hike and suggested we not attempt
Waipi'o Valley Lookout
View of Waipi'o Valley! We walked down to the beach but Henry had to practically crawl up. to venture into the valley unless we were in a 4WD vehicle, we thought we'd see for ourselves. The Waipi'o Valley is widely advertised as one of the most scenic areas of the Big Island. We drove north through the ranching town of Waimea and eventually reached the lookout point for the valley. It was spectacular, and there were many people there taking pictures as well as a bicycle tour group just returning. The road into the valley is clearly marked for 4WD vehicles only, and no rental vehicles are allowed under any circumstances! We decided to head down the road - on foot, not technically difficult at all, but very steep...we couldn't help but think (...worry?) about the return trip! At the bottom of the road, a right turn lead us along a beautifully covered (and flat!) trail to the ocean. How spectacular it was. The black rocks and black sand to the perfect turquoise water was all so picturesque, and the view into the valley form the coastline was amazing. There were a few people, locals it seemed, surfing and relaxing in the shadow of the cliffs. After lots of pictures, we began the return trip along the
Waipi'o Beach
Black sand and clear blue water of Waipi'o beach trail, noticing the mangled cars along the side of the cliff as we walked...perhaps those unfortunate drivers and vehicles prompted the 4WD and no rental cars policy! The walk up the road was, mildly put, painful. The gradient was particularly steep at the bottom and the sun was shining directly onto us. As we hiked up, we encountered many on their way down, including a German family of a woman, her husband pushing a stroller with a toddler in it, and 2 small children on foot! Seeing our faces, they asked if the road did not become somewhat easier, and we replied with an emphatic "NO!" We explained the difficulty of the road to the best of our ability, told them of the beautiful trail to the stunning beach, and wished them well...they continued down, though neither of us could fathom how they would walk back up with all of those little children in tow!
We stopped in Waimea for a quick lunch at Yong's Kalbi Korean restaurant. It was the only restaurant at that shopping strip which seemed to have visitors at 2:30pm. Very hungry, we enjoyed our short break and Henry was happy to have a chance
Waipi'o Valley
Admiring the beauty of the valley and sadly looking up to the top of the cliff where our car was parked. to refuel. We then continued on to HWY 250 towards Pololu Valley Lookout. This is the other side of Waipi'o Valley and the view was lovely as well - but not quite as stunning as Waipi'o Valley. We were told by the locals that the hike down was only about 1/3 of Waipi'o Valley. We walked down a little bit and the walking trail was much more slippery. We decided that we'd done enough hiking for the day. We got back into the car, stopped at Kapa'au to see the status of King Kamehameha and headed straight down HW 270 to return back to the direction of our hotel. There were some other stops that we wanted to make. But the police diverted traffic on HW 19 due to a fire and as it started raining, we just decided to go back to the hotel.
After 2 full days of sight seeing, we stayed at the Luana Lounge (lobby bar) and ordered white wine while we waited for our first Hawaiian sunset. Other hotel guests were busy all around us - attending a formal party, changing their dinner reservation due to the rain outside, discussing upcoming wedding parties. Once
Endless ocean
Black rocks and clear blue ocean - I love Hawaii! the rain stopped, hotel staff was busy drying outdoor furniture, wiping the floors on the outdoor patio and lighting up the torches. We were simply glad to be in the Big Island with each other without having to rush to do something other than writing our first Hawaiian blog.
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