Blogs from Hawaii, United States, North America - page 153

Volcano, Hawaii Friday 10th October 2008 According to Hawaiian legend and tradition, Halema’uma’u Crater on Kilauea volcano is the home of Pele the goddess of fire and volcanoes. Pele is responsible for the fiery eruptions of this, the world’s youngest and most active volcano on land and so is both feared and revered as the bringer of disaster and the giver of life as the island continues to grow. The soil on Big Island, so lush and tropical is continually enriched by the lava flows. Mauna Loa, an older volcano, also active and spewing forth steam from its vents towers over Kilauea to the north. To stand on the rim of Halema’uma’u whilst it billows forth steam and ash, whilst the sun sets, seeing the glow from the vent redden as the sky darkens is a ... read more

Hurrah for Hilo! Wednesday 8th October 2008, 10.30 a.m. Yesterday morning our flight left Honolulu at 9.20 a.m. and by 10.05 we were banking sharply down over crystal clear seas, fringed by rain forest to the old town of Hilo on the east coast of Hawaii, otherwise known as Big Island. We got off the plane in high humidity and heat at a pretty little one-storey airport planted with tropical flowers and surrounded by palm and banyan trees and we just knew that this was going to be good! Hilo is known as one of the wettest places on earth. It rains roughly two out of every three days; warm rain, cleansing rain, life-giving rain and we love the green lushness of it all. This is Hawaii, unspoilt and friendly. We have been here just twenty ... read more

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii Monday 6th October 2008 Hanauma is very scenic, as our photos show, however the marine life isn’t as colourful or abundant as the travel guides indicate, or at least wasn’t yesterday. The coral is dull and the green turtles and parrotfish were elsewhere. We saw some nice fish though and John spotted a sea snake. The weather was glorious and despite being a Sunday the bay wasn’t crowded so it was a good day out. One annoying thing was that we were unable to rent fins (or flippers as we Brits like to call them); we took our own masks and snorkels so we just managed without the flippers. This meant that we didn’t venture too far out on the reef, in case of strong currents, but according to others we didn’t ... read more

“Hawaii Five-O”or is it “Hawaii O-no“? Thursday 2nd October 2008 Waikiki, Oahu I know that we are spoilt, living in Spain close to beautiful big sandy beaches and that last week we were on the stunning Pacific coast of California, but to say that Waikiki beach is a disappointment is an understatement. Due to overdevelopment and hotels built too close to the beach, what is left is narrow, overcrowded (and this is ’low season’) and now has imported sand from the Philippines!!! Having driven 2,821 miles across California and in to Nevada and Arizona, we got here on Tuesday expecting some “chill time” by the kind of tropical beach that we chilled by in the Caribbean last year. On arrival Tuesday morning we were greeted by “Chill out! You are in Hawaii!” We are still awaiting ... read more

Today we decided to find a new beach to play on! We headed along the east coast this time and came across Waimanalo Bay. It was a perfect beach with plenty of space to play and also some shade for Ollie so that he didn't burn. We spent the afternoon messing around before getting bored around 4pm and driving back to Waikiki. We had spent the last 5 nights in and as it was the weekend, we deciced to spend some money and experience Waikiki's nightlife. After dinner, we hit the Fijian duty free hard to save money and then made our way into downtown Waikiki. Mark was back to the hotel within minutes to put on some appropriate shoes so that he would be allowed in Zanzabar (our club of choice for the night!). Mark ... read more