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Published: September 10th 2014
The Big Island of Hawaii as we flew in
You can see the summit of Mauna Kea just above the clouds. And it was mid-April and there was a tiny bit of snow visible on the top!Hawaii. Yep! it has long been a dream of mine to visit all 50 states. I don't know if I will ever get there, but I do know that Hawaii was the one state I thought FOR SURE would be one I didn't visit! Or the last one I would visit. Why? Because it's so far away! And although it has attractions I would like to see, I was not passionate about wanting to go. Now before you cry "blasphemy", let me explain. I am not an island person. I like the beach, I really do, but I do not like water! And being on a small island surrounded by a vast ocean is not my idea of a relaxing getaway! I don't do any water sports, so aside from sitting on the beach and driving around, there is not much pull for me. And, it is sooooo far away! Holy cow! I think I flew to Europe in less time than it took to get to Hawaii! So if I ever had a hankering for something tropical, I would find something closer. (My poor husband! He is totally opposite! lol!) So why did we end up going then, you might
Flying in over Yosemite!
We had a layover in San Francisco and flew right over Yosemite National Park! Can you see Half Dome? be wondering. Well, my very dear friend, we'll call her Amy, decided to have a destination wedding, and that destination was the Big Island of Hawaii! So with Jeremy wanting so badly to see Hawaii (he is now addicted! Ga!), and me wanting to see the 50 states AND another National Park (another goal of mine), AND Amy going to be there with the fam for one of the most important days in her life....of course we had to go! No brainer!
So we left Virginia and headed west. Not gonna lie, I was super excited to have layovers in San Francisco! Unfortunately, on the way in the whole city was shrouded in fog so I couldn't see much. :/ We did fly right over Yosemite though! And I got to see Half Dome from my window! Yosemite is another park I have always wanted to visit and have not gotten to yet. It was so interesting to watch the ocean change from a dingy yellowish color to a deep deep blue as we kept flying west. That is one draw of HI over local beaches I guess....the water is crystal clear aqua-blue! Not like the brownish blue of
About to land in Kona...
It's actually name Kailua-Kona, but it goes by Kona :) Virginia Beach for sure! My first impression of the Big Island was that I was not impressed. That was because the area around the airport is an old lava flow, so is just some rock and a lot of sage brush. Boring! But the closer we got to Kona, the more green and lush it got! That's a crazy thing about this island...it has 8 of the 13 climate zones! There is a dry desert area, the lush tropical areas, rainforest areas, some prairie grasslands, and even a snowy tundra on the top of Mauna Kea! So if you ever get tired of the scenery, just wait.
Our hotel was in the heart of Kona....along the beach and within walking distance of the all the shops and restaurants on Ali'i Drive. We spent the whole first day (what was left of it) just exploring around our hotel. We found a place across the street to eat, Splashers Grill. It became our favorite place to eat....and to get Lava flows! Yum! As usual, I planned on cramming a lot of sightseeing into a short amount of time. I am an explorer by nature, so I have to see it all!
After I see it all, then I can dig deeper and hike or just sit on the beach. But first, I have to explore! Unfortunately, that is about all we had time for. We saw a lot, but didn't spend much time in each area. We saw the whole island, but some areas we just spent 10 minutes at. To me, that is fun! That is how I prefer it. Others maybe like to just chill on the beach for a few hours, but I find that to be very boring! I have to explore! So that is what we did!
In total, I think we visited about 10 beaches, of all colors, shapes, and sizes! Some were amazing, and some I could have done without stopping. Our second day there we explored the Kona Coast. We visited Pu'uhonau o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, which was incredibly interesting! It's dedicated to preserving the traditional Hawaiian life. There is much more info in my pictures. We also visited the Painted Church, which wasn't on my list but was recommended by Amy, and I'm so glad we stopped! It's a tiny little church, but is so incredible! More info in the
photos.
Amy's wedding was the 3rd day, so we started if off right with a girls trip of parasailing! (And J went snorkeling with the guys! Sorry no pictures of that...) OMG...me on a boat! In the Ocean! I wasn't going to go at all, but I didn't want to regret missing a great experience from letting my fear take over. So I decided to at least go on the boat. No way in hell was I going to parasail! I'm really glad I went though! It was a big step for me. The wedding was amazing and gorgeous, and we spent the whole night at Amy's rental house in the cloud forest. This is just up the mountain from Kona (still considered in Kona) As you drive up higher, the cloud cover gets thicker, the air is mistier, and the temps are cooler. This is called the cloud forest because the clouds (or fog) limit the sunlight and keep the air cooler so it creates a sub-rainforest environment for the forest to thrive. This is also where all the coffee farms are. Kona coffee is grown in Kona. We went to one of the farms to do a
tour, but they were closed. So we just brought some home instead. 😊
The rest of the trip was more exploring! I have been to the Southernmost Point of the Continental US in Key West, so of course I was going to go to the Ka Lae, South Point in Hawaii! It's the most southern point of the United States...period! Nothing but ocean between here and Antarctica! The Papakolea Green Sand Beach is also in this area. It's one of only 4 green sand beaches in the world, so of course I had to see it! It's a 2.5 mile (each way) hike on deeply rutted dusty roads, followed by a steep descent down the side of the mountain. Or you can pay a local $15 cash to drive you in one of their 4-wheel drive beat-up trucks, which is what we did. Rentals are strictly forbidden, and for good reason! I grew up driving rutted roads and I have never seen any as bad as there! It was worth the $ anyway because our driver was a local, so could tell us all about the culture and traditions. She told us of the story of Pelé, the Goddess
of Fire, and her sister, Nāmaka, the Goddess of Water. All the elements are weirdly female and have a goddess associated with them, and they are all the sisters of Pelé. Their mother is the goddess of Earth, and their father the God of the sky. I don't remember the specific story she told...something about Pelé and Nāmaka fighting over a boy. There are many legends of Pelé though. Some depicting her has the aggressor, and some as the victim. Most of the legends agree that she fled to the Hawaiian Islands after having a fight with Nāmaka (they did not get along!). Nāmaka followed at some point and they fought. Nāmaka tore Pelé limb from limb and threw her in Maui's volcano, which freed Pelé from her earthly body and allowed her to become a god. It is said that she lives in the Halema'uma'u Crater on Kīlauea, which is the active crater currently.
Visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park I was really looking forward to seeing some lava, but the road was closed. I asked our Green Sand driver about it and she said "Pelé took the road." So most of the Crater Rim Drive was closed due
to either lava flow, or high levels of poisonous gas in the air. Bummer! We still got to see Kīlauea's crater glow in the night, and that was well worth the trip!
The following day (Jeremy's Birthday!! 😊 ) we headed north from Kona and stopped at a few beaches, a National or State Park or 2, and up to the North Kohala coast where you could see the mountains of Maui towering above the clouds! Wow! The North Kohala area is more laid back and artsy. We stopped to look at the statue of King Kamehameha and followed the road to its end at the Pololu Valley Lookout. Gorgeous! But again, no time to dawdle. We had an important date with a little girl and a luau! The luau was fun. But I agree with most people who say you only need to go to one. I thought the dancing and story telling was the best part, and was so bummed that we missed the fire dance during our bathroom break. :/ The food was traditional Hawaiian cuisine and was just ok.
Day 6 of our trip we started the morning off with a submarine tour...underwater! Ha!
Me in a boat again! This is one for the record books! Once we got to the bottom (we went down 103ft) it wasn't bad, but being under the water and being able to see the top of the water really bothered me. After that excursion, we took the Saddle Road over Mauna Kea to Hilo. Mauna Kea's summit is 13,796 ft...and we started from sea level. They say that Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world if you measured it from the sea floor. At 33,500 ft from base to summit, it's almost twice as tall as Mt Everest. There is an observatory and astronomy center on Mauna Kea that I would have loved to go to, but again with the time constraints. The Hilo side of the island is more like a rainforest. It's very lush and wet! There are lots of waterfalls and crazy plants! Plus it's the side with the steep sea cliffs that you imagine when you think of Hawaii. We didn't stop at many beaches on this side. Again, we were short on time and I wanted to get to the Waipio Valley Overlook before it got dark, so everything was a
quick visit. The overlook overlooks the same sea cliffs as the Pololu Valley Overlook...just on the other side. Both are beautiful!
We spent our last day in Kona visiting with our friends, going to the Farmer's Market, getting tattoos (!) and watching the sunset on Magic Sands Beach. I will say I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Hawaii. The temperature really is right around 85° everyday, but there is always a nice ocean breeze to cool it off. The water is so warm, the air is sweetly scented from all the gorgeous flowers, and the people are insanely welcoming! It was like visiting a foreign country, but everyone speaks English! Well, English and Hawaiian slang! Would I go back? Yes, definitely! Would I want to live there? Eh...jury is still out!
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Kelly
non-member comment
Amazing!
Now I really want to go to Hawaii! Glad that Amy's wedding took you there and that they had such a beautiful ceremony. It looks amazing and there's so much culture to absorb. I'm also not a fan of being on/in the large bodies of water, but I could totally hang out on the beach and enjoy the breeze and smell of the ocean! The scenery looks amazing and it would be so cool to see all of the different climates. Oh, and the volcano thing kind of freaks me out and fascinates me all at the same time! Lol. That church and the murals look really pretty too. :) I didn't have much interest in Hawaii before reading your blog, but now I'm intrigued. :)