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Published: July 16th 2006
Last time we all spoke was the infamous day where the big (more like quite little) accident happened... Well anyway the following few days went as per follows:
On Tuesday the 11th of July we woke up early to head out to what is known as 'The place of refuge', a National Historical Park. After taking a wrong turn (of course Chris was directing again) we eventually made it there. It was a very unusual place where we discovered that it was a place where former Kings of Hawaii had spent time in the 19th century. Chris was overjoyed as she finally saw another turtle in the wild and attempted to take as many photos as the camera would allow.
We left the refuge and headed over to Akaka Falls near Hilo on the other side of the island. It was a short walk (fortunately) and there were two falls on the same walk. The first 'Kahuna Falls' you only see from a distance however 'Akaka Falls' (as can be seen in the photos) was much more impressive. Shane pondered over the thought as to if someone could go over the falls and survive.
As we left Hilo
and headed towards the Volcano National Park (again) Chris panicked as she thought we were about to hit a mongoose, however due to Shane's excellent driving skills the mongoose's life was saved. We entered the Volcano National Park with Chris snoring in the passenger seat and Shane still trying to maintain his laughter over Chris only recently realising that 'Ped Xing' sign posts on the side of the road meant Pedestrian Crossing and not some form of Asian Characters.
We visited the Lava Tube (where Shane was laughed at for his accent) and the devastation trail and took the turn off to go and see Kilauea's lava flowing into the ocean. We parked the car at about 5:00pm and started hiking to get a view of the lava. The lava is best viewed at this time of the day as it glows in the night when it hits the ocean. The track consisted of walking up and down lava rocks for what seemed like ever to finally reach the end of the trail. By this stage the rain had started and it was well after sunset. We tried to take as many photos as possible but were worried about
the camera's getting wet and the pictures were not that clear. The red hot lava flowing into the ocean was amazing to watch. Kilauea has been flowing since 1983, longer than Chris has been alive. It was by far worth the long hike however we had been sitting down taking in the view for less than 10 minutes when the remainder of the poeple sitting near by decided to leave. Due to the difficulty of the walk (and the fact it was pitch black) we decided to join them on the track back to the car. Chris managed to position herself directly behind the guy who managed to let out 6 huge farts with her following closely behind him (and just for the record, no it was not Shane, however he did find it amusing of course).
The farting guy then fell down a 'fissure' and sliced his leg open. Fortunately Dr Doogie Howser was part of our small group and patched him up. We finally made it back to the car (and definately not too soon) , after listening to the American woman ahead telling everyone to be careful of the 'fissures, cracks and steps up' every few
metres. Fortunately we both made it back to the car unscathed (besides Chris's stack resulting in her hand bleeding).
It was now 10:10pm and as we left the carpark, it took Chris about 13.4 seconds flat to fall asleep and about 2hrs later we arrived back at the hotel both ready to fall asleep to the waves breaking metres from our room.
We woke up early the next day and headed to the airport to get our flight to Kauai. We arrived in Kauai and caught the nearest taxi to our new home for the next few days, Kauai Palms Hotel. After killing what seemed to be Hawaii's total population of ants in our bathroom Chris had an afternoon nap and Shane went exploring for the internet, hire car and of course FOOD. The remained of the day was spent relaxing and checking out Lihue.
On Thursday the 13th of July we awoke to the lovely sounds of a rooster sqwarking outside the hotel. It was at this stage that Shane pondered on the thought of where a bb gun could be bought in the States. We spent the day checking out the local shops and chilled
back at the hotel. We found a hire car company and made a booking for the following day and went about setting the plans for where we would drive to. We found root beer flavoured ice-cream, however neither of us were game enough to try it. After dinner (which looked good but certainly didn't feel good afterwards) Chris ordered her now favourite Snow Cone. It has been determined that this will definately be a purchase upon arriving home.
On Friday the 14th of July we awoke to not only the rooster again but some weirdo singing 'its hard for me to say im sorry' at the top of his lungs at our dooryway. Chris awoke to the peaceful melody thinking Shane was serenading her, but Shane was at the door ready to throw a rotten banana at his head. We managed to get back to sleep and woke up about 2hrs later. We walked to the hire car company and took control of a sporty looking 2 door Chevrolet. As we left the car park, Shane was drooling too much over the car until we noticed a car driving on the wrong side of the road, woops, it was
Shane who was on the wrong side of the road. Chris panicked and Shane swerved to miss the monster truck and gain his composure. After the near miss we headed up the coast to tour the island. (Just for the record to this day there have only been two scenerios where Shane has driven on the wrong side of the road, he thinks he is doing well but with that and the accident Chris is quite concerned) We went to Kilauea Lighthouse where we saw some Nene's (Hawaiian Geese) and saw a popular breeding ground for humpback whales in the winter months. We continued the drive further up the coast
We reached the end of the drive up this side of the island at the Na Pali Coast. We put on our hiking shoes and took off on what we thought would be a short walk to a nice waterfall. Gee werent we surprised when every person walking in the opposite direction was covered in mud from their knees down. The first 1/2 mile was to a great lookout where we composed ourselves (more so Chris) and took a few photos. We continued along for another 2 miles and
reached the stream and a partially deserted beach. Along the way we saw a few spooky signs, one being a tidal wave warning and the other showing how many people had died swimming at the beach. Shane managed to then wash his hands in the stream water (and avoid Leptospirosis) as earlier on the walk he slid on his arse covering his hands and backside in mud. Chris not wanting to be outdone managed to do the same some 20 minutes later. Chris once again craved a snow cone and had already spotted a shop on the way to the Na Pali Coast so she knew where to stop on the way back.
We headed back to the hotel and then went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. We decided we would make the next day an early one to check out the other side of the island.
We woke up this morning at 6 and packed our maps and headed to the Southern side of the island. Our first stop was Po'ipu Beack where Chris harrassed some poor chickens trying to take their photo. We jumped back into the car and drove to Waimea Canyon. After what
seemed like a 20 mile drive up to the lookout we finally made it to the top just in time for Chris to avoid being car sick (mainly due to Shane's erratic driving). The view was amazing, we could see many waterfalls in the distance and could see to the beach which was over 30 miles away. Although it is nothing compared to the Grand Canyon it certainly is a must see.
We then dropped the hire car back and headed back to our hotel to pack our stuff for our flight back to Oahu. After trying to work out what to do for the next 5hrs, we decided to try our luck and get an earlier flight. Fortunately we were able to check into a flight that ended up leaving 3.5hrs earlier than our scheduled flight. Upon arriving at Honolulu we were greeted by a limo taxi to take us to a hotel that Chris managed to book us into just minutes after arriving.
We checked in and went to an 'all you can eat' (woohoooooooo) place for dinner.
Tomorrow morning our flight for San Francisco leaves Honolulu at 7am where we have accommodation booked for
the first 6 nights and plan to organise our motorhome whilst there.
Thanks to everyone who has been leaving messages for us, it is great to hear from everyone. We have added a few extra photos this time.
Speak to you all again soon.
Shane and Chris
xoxoxo
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Shane K
non-member comment
Sounds like you two are having a lot of fun. Shane "All u can eat", I am sure they regretted letting u in there.. Keep the updates coming and when u get the Motorhome remember its drive on the right side of the road!!!