Day 4: Hilo-Hamakua Heritage Drive

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August 29, 2010

Today was designated as the road trip day. There is a 50-some odd mile route (one way) on Highway 19 that wraps around the north side of the island, offering pull-offs for walking, vistas, and tourist traps. When driving on the Big Island, be aware that there are no courtesy signs saying "Destination X 1/4 mile ahead." When it says "Destination X" with an arrow, you had better be ready to make that next turn, even if it is only 50 yards ahead. One sign said "Destination X middle lane." There was only the lane that went straight and a left turn lane. Technically, I suppose the left turn lane was in the middle of the outside lanes, but to a reasonable person, middle lanes are only when there are three lanes in one direction, not three lanes total. We found our destination, but with some remarks about Hawaiian street signs.

Akaka Falls
The first stop along the way is at Akaka Falls State Park. It is well-marked and a destination organized tours also. The turnoff at Highway 220 takes you through the little town of Honomu. It looks like a rundown strip mall, to be honest. Some buildings are painted in pastels and are maintained, but their neighbors leave you feeling depressed.

At the park, the 0.4 mile loop trail actually takes you past two waterfalls. Kahuna Falls is 400 feet, but partially obscured from view due to all the growing shrubbery. Akaka Falls is about 442 feet tall and is well-seen from the trail. It is really impressive to see how the cliffs have been carved over time by the water. The loop trail itself is really nice. We saw huge bamboo and a wild banyan tree. It looked like the kind of place the movie "Avatar" used as a model. Well worth the visit. The parking area also has public toilets. Also, bring your bug spray! I have huge mosquito bites on my legs and arms from those little devils.

Laupahoehoe
This town was the center of world news in the 1940s, when a tidal wave claimed about 20 school children and teachers on the beach. While the town area itself has moved on with the times, a pull out overlooking the bay shows before and after pictures. There used to be much more beach than we see today. Mom and I took the turnoff to go down to the beach, where there was a memorial for those lost. The sea is violent and wild there, splashing high against the rocks. Surprisingly, there is a boat ramp, though I cannot imagine what boats are launched here. Even with conditions, locals were still swimming here. The waves at the boat launch made for their own private wave pool, though I do not know how I would feel about being knocked against concrete walls constantly.

Honoka'a Town
This is advertised as the Big Island's old west town, aparently Hawaiian cowboys live in the area. Exit off to Highway 240 to continue following the coast to access the town. We stopped at the drive-in restaurant for lunch at something which resembled a little burger joint, like Crazy Erik's in Bremerton and Bellfair, Washington. Their menu was huge compared to what we expected. For the bargain of $11 plus change, we had two drinks, fries and burgers. It hit the spot. We also checked out one of the nick-knack shops. Some of the work was interesting, but nothing that was a must-have. Being a Sunday, most of the other shops were closed, but it would have been a fun place to cruise up the short main street and window shop.

Valley of the Kings
Not to be confused with the place with the same name in Egypt, Waipio Valley is called Valley of the Kings because it is where the Hawaiian royalty used to reside. And for good reason, it is beautiful. The valley is flanked by steep 1,000 foot walls, all covered in lush green rainforests. The valley floor is green with fields that extend up to the beach. To access the valley and beach, however, you need a 4-wheel drive vehicle and the guts to make the drive down (and back up) a 25%!g(MISSING)rade road. The drive is only a mile, but you are on a switch back road that descends the 1,000 feet to the bottom. People who did this said it was well worth it, but our little rental Kia was not the car for this experience. You also have the option of walking down, but with Mom's bad knee and my infrequent exercise, we skipped it. Still, the view from the overlook was gorgeous and worth the drive, I think.

I saw online there are some excursions that will take you into the valley, if you do not want to rent an expensive vehicle for your trip, or if you would rather have someone else do the work. One that looked very fun was a donkey-pulled wagon tour. If I visit the Big Island again, I would probably do that.

Kalopa State Park
On our way back, we veered off to see the Kalopa State Park, just after Honoka'a at mile marker 38. Online the park website said there was a 0.7 mile loop through the upland rainforest. Upon arriving, we cruised the park, which had a unique camping area. There are little concrete cabanas where you set up your tent site. The area is surrounded by a lawn, but apparently they do not want you camping on the lawn. The grass is not real grass, however. It is a sort of a bushy weed that is cut down to grass length. So although your tent is on concrete, you do have shade and cover from the rain. In Washington we don't really worry about these things though - if you don't do it in the rain, it'll never get done.

As we continued our drive through the state park, we kept looking for signs pointing us to the loop trail advertised online. There were a handful of signs pointing to trails, but all we saw were the equivalent of deer paths winding into the bushes. Nothing said "loop trail" and nothing looked like it would be a good idea to follow. I've seen deer paths in the woods, they wander aimlessly and you become hopelessly lost. Considering we were supposed to fly out the next day, this did not seem like a good idea. After little deliberation, we gave up and headed back to Hilo.

Home Sweet Home
Though it was still afternoon, we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for an early dinner. Mexican food is not the same in Hawaii, and I should not have been surprised by this. The food was good, however, and I was happy we chose something "main stream" for our last dinner in Hilo. The restaurant is right nest to Cafe Pesto (say no to fusion) right on the main drag downtown.

Back at home, we slowly assembled our suitcases as we finished our mai tais and wine. Did I mention you can buy liquor in Safeway here? One stop shopping, wine for my mother and hard liquor for me. She still managed to drink more than I did, go figure. It was really nice to have a relaxing evening with no schedule. We fell asleep listening to the rain and Hawaiian cricket songs.

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Photos

No Swimming
Laupahoehoe boat launch

Jeep Trail
Kalopa State Park. The sign is pointing to the right, but the trail, or deer path, is to the left.