http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Hawaii , Big Island en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:34:07 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:34:07 UTC Hier ein paar Eindruecke von den Hunden auf Big Island an die ich mein Herz verloren habe oder zumindestens muss Hoku es sich mit ihnen teilen Uebrigens sind die alle sog. rescue dogs das heisst sie wurden aus verschiedenen Umstaenden und Situationen gerettet und haben jetzt ein liebevolles neues zu Hause gefunden... bzw. eine Zwischenstation bei Debbie Joe einem sehr netten Ehepaar http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kamuela/blog-350481.html hey bloggertjes hier nog een update dwij hebben een week verbleven in het hookena beach park wat echt wel super leuk was. wakker worden met het uitzicht op de zee met dus wel douche met water opgewarmd door de zon we konden daar dus snorkelen en hebben veel vissen gezien vooral de yellow tang en de schattige stripebelly puffer en de spotted eagle ray diegenie die finding nemo hebben gezien eagl http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-350212.html A week has gone by since we landed and Michelle has headed home. We had every intention of posting daily but by the time we got back to our room we fell asleep exhausted. Here are a few highlights of our days. Our first day was one of my favorite days. We headed to Huna beach one of the top 10 beaches in the world. We swam and after being sufficiently roasted headed up to the North end of http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-343287.html The big island of Hawaii the youngest in the Hawaiian chain is my least favorite part of paradise. It is probably the endless black lava landscape that runs counter to my vision of paradise white sandy beaches lush green hillsides and valleys waterfalls and streams running through towns. Did I say white sand beaches There is only one here in Waikoloa. The rest are black sand beaches th http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-336994.html Last days in Hawaii Monday 13th October 2008Our last few days here in Hawaii Big Island have been idyllic very relaxed and chilled out. We have done a lot of walking to various local rocky coves and beaches. The turtles decided not to grace us with their presence however we saw some pretty fishes. Perhaps wersquoll see some turtles in Fiji. Tomorrow Tuesday 14th October we leave here ea http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Hilo/blog-334043.html Seeing Jupiter I forgot to mention a most exciting experience. Whilst waiting to see the sunset on Mauna Loa volcano we got to see Jupiter. One of the rangers had a very powerful telescope and he let us have a look once he had set it up. First focus was on Venus and then on Jupiter. We could see the planet clearly with it's four moons in orbit. Brilliant http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/blog-333113.html Volcano Hawaii Friday 10th October 2008According to Hawaiian legend and tradition Halemarsquoumarsquou 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 worldrsquos 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 isla http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/blog-333099.html 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 onestorey airport planted with tropical flowe http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Hilo/blog-332468.html This is a little older Think Feb 08 sorry that it's taken me soooo long... When I looked at the map of the Big Island a few weeks before I flew across it kinda hit me straight away this piece of land is made for cycling. It'd been a while like 6 years or so that I had packed my panniers and attached them to a twowheeler. But something inside me was yearning for a little bit of a change. http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/blog-322062.html Dear Family and FriendsAh....Hawaii....other than the significant temperature difference we feel a bit as if we have come full circle. We started in Iceland driving through lava fields and we end in Hawaii driving through lava fields When we first started to plan this trip 4 years ago Ken knew he wanted to include Iceland for its rugged beauty and Kate knew she wanted to end with Hawaii a http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-317006.html Aloha from the Big Island. I finally feel to have arrived somewhere. Imagine eating papayas passion fruits and star fruits straight from the tree. To drink coconut juice swim with sea turtles and tropical fish a la Nemo in the warm ocean be blessed with abundant sun shine every day and you know where I have landed. The Hawaiian Islands consist of 7 islands of which the most southern and least d http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/blog-316193.html We had been going and going the first 2 full days so we decided to take it easy on our last full day in the Big Island. The hotel had its own tiny private beach our first destination in the morning. After a liberal application of sunscreen ...could the sun in Hawaii be that much worse than El Paso we found an area which had some shade and set up camp. Fortunately there were not a lot of http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-301634.html 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 allWe finally arrived at our hotel the Fairmont Orchid on the west Kohala coast just north of Kona at 8 http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-300638.html We arrived at our hostrsquos place in Hilo in the midst of a couchsurfing party where we met a bunch of great local people. On top of our ldquoTo Dordquo list for the Big Island was the Volcanoes National Park. Here we saw the remnants of lava flows that have shaped and continue to shape the landscape of the island. Seeing the toxic plume bellow out of a new hole in the Halemalsquoumal http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/blog-297264.html Last day on HI. I did not really have big plans just sort of chillin out my last day here. I have been here 4 days and had not been swimming yet. I went to a reconstructed ancient hawaiian site that was on the ocean. Pretty neat to learn about their ancient culture. I walked just down the beach and went snorkelling. It is amazing how brightly colored the fish are. The water was very clear a http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-277116.html Thursday was my 35th birthday. I spent it on the island of HI. That is not a bad way to celebrate another year. I spent the morning walking around the town of Kona. Every Oct triathletes from around the world come to Kona to compete in the Kona Ironman. The ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim 112 mile bike ride and then a 26.2 mile run. The race starts and finishes oceanfront in Kona. It http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-277114.html VOG what is that It is volcanic fog. More about that in a bit. What a difference a day makes. I actually feel almost human today. Sleep is a great thing. After breakfast this morning decided to hthe road. I loaded up the Dodge Caliber and headed off to see Volcano National Park. It is only 8590 miles away but what a drive. Reminds me of some of the highway 194 near Valle Crucis except http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-276394.html Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii. Day one was an adventure to say the least. An extremely long day of travel. Left Charlotte at about 8 am eastern time. I arrived in kona about 2 hawaiil time. Got my rental car and found my bed and breakfast that i am staying in. The Rainbow Plantation is very ecclectic. Not to bad except the peacocks were pretty loud this morning. Went to bed and died http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-276389.html We wanted to celebrate our first Valentinersquos Day after the wedding in stylehellip something differenthellip and the answer was Hawaii Volcano National Park It is the home to one of the most active volcanoes in the world Kilauea. This national park is located on the Hawaiirsquos Big Island.The Big Island also known as the Island of Hawairsquoi or the Big Isle is the biggest isl http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Hilo/blog-275236.html Today we were up and out of the house by 845 to head over to Chris' house. Once we completed the 3 minute drive over there we listened to humpback whales greatest hits the recordings of singing humpback whales that we recorded on the Hilo side. We listened to the different verses and themes of the songs. After that we took the pictures that we took last week on the Hilo side and compared them w http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-251819.html Today we were all up and about by 745 a.m. and we didn't even need to be up by 900 a.m We left for the shore station around 10 and spend about 2 hours there. At the shore station we did the same thing that we did on Tuesday. We used the theodolite and took the postions of all the vessels and pods of whales in the area. On Tuesday there was a lot of whales and only a couple of vessels. But today http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-251541.html Bright and early at 6 a.m. we got up and got ready for our long day. Yin and Chris came over this morning at 645 a.m. for some breakfast. The breakfast was from Chadd Paishon. He's a very kind man who does great wonders. At about 830 we met up with Chadd and Richard Kaniho before we headed up to Mauna Kea. The drive up the mountain was about 45 minutes more or less. When we arrived to the Puu http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-251251.html Today we was an exciting day filled with a lot of work. We woke up at about 700 and got ready for the day. We left at about 830 a.m. and went and met up with Yin and Chris at the Kawaihae Pier. We went down to the pier to work on the canoe Makali'i which means small eye with Chadd Paishon a captain and navigator. In 1976 Chadd and a bunch of others built a canoe Hokulea and sailed to Tahiti un http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-250930.html As usual we got up to an early start. The girls and Heather departed the doors at 720 a.m. Jan Straley left the house at about 7 o'clock with Chris and Yen to ride on the boat. They took a cruise around the ocean taking photo's of whales flukes. The rest of us drove to Weimea where the Hawaii Preparatory Academy School is to visit with Gary Jarvill. It is about a 20 minute drive from the house. A http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-250560.html Today we had an early start as usual. Got ready and out of the doors at 830 a.m. This morning it rained for the first time which is funny because it's the dry side of the big island. We drove to the National Park Service called Pu'ukohola Heiau to see and hear about the black tip reef sharks. We saw about 7 overall. After hearing Kat's and Lehua presentations of the sharks we walked along the b http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-250197.html Today was a mellow day. We woke up around 800 am and started cleaning and packing. We had to tie luggage to the top of the the van and it was like tetris putting the luggage and gear in the van. At 1230 we finally left the house to have lunch. We got some sushi and went to the park to eat it. It was a nice park with a waterfall and some surfers. Afterwards we started the hour and a half drive t http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Kailua-Kona/blog-249832.html This morning we got up around 7 a.m. We had a later start than usual. We left the house around 9 a.m. We headed to the Saturday Farmer's Market downtown Hilo. We spent a few hours shopping. There was lots of Hawaiian crafts and produce being sold everywhere. It was a hot hot day. At around 1215 p.m. we met up with Jason and his family along with Trisann and ate lunch at some Thai food restaurant. http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Hilo/blog-249491.html This morning we got up to an early start. Our group left the house at 715 a.m. meeting Lehua at Richardson's Ocean's Park to print designs on our Kihei robes for ceremonies. Using our imagination we created different patterns and sketched down our ideas onto our Kilei with the tools of nature's plants. After our Kihei's dried from the paint we ate lunch and drove to the cultural school. At the http://www.travelblog.org//North-America/United-States/Hawaii/Big-Island/Hilo/blog-249133.html