Wednesday, April 12, 2017: Day Six

We woke up to a cool, drizzly day in Hawaii.  That's to be expected on the Hilo side. They get about 200" of rain per year.  We weren't going to let the weather stop us. We prepared for the day with layers of clothing and rain gear, then headed back to the Volcano National Park to explore some more.  Keith and Jeff started their day by hiking the Kilauea Iki Trail.  This trail goes down into and across the Kilauea Iki Crater.

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the rest of us went to Volcano House for hot chocolate, then drove down Chain of Craters Road.  We saw many Craters and lava flows. 

 

 

We drove back to the trailhead and picked up Keith and Jeff. We had a nice lunch of hamburgers and Hawaiian pizza at Volcano House, then continued our tour of Chain of Craters Road.

 

The Chain of Craters Road goes through the lava fields, all the way down to the ocean. You can see the past flow of lava on the cliffs.

 

We kept following the road until it abruptly stopped.  It used to go farther, but lava crossed the road so they had to close it.  You can get out of the car and walk about 5 miles to see active lava flow but we decided not to since down at sea level, it was clear, sunny and quite warm.  The smoke/steam you see on the left is from active lava dumping into the sea.

 

What we really came to see is the Holei Sea Arch.  This Arch is about 90 feet high. The creation of the arch was within the last 100 years. Unfortunately, this formation has a limited life span. It will eventually crumble, but another will replace it as the cliff slowly migrates inland. It is a magnificent sight to behold.

 

After taking many photos of the Arch, we headed back up the Chain of Craters Road towards Devastation Trail. 

This short hike shows what lava can do to the landscape.  One minute we were walking through a lush jungle and then the next... well, you'll see.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite a contrast.  Our last stop at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was the Thurston Lava Tube.  We were ready to walk where lava had flowed.  The approaching darkness added to the mysterious atmosphere. We took a short hike, had our picture taken, then entered the Tube.

 

 

 

 

We emerged on the other side and headed back to our car.  

 

Our time at Volcano Park had come to an end, but our day was far from over.  We stopped at a local cafe for a quick bite to eat and to change clothes. It was time to bundle up because we were headed to the Mauna Kea Observatory Visitor's Center.  The Mauna Kea Observatories are a number of independent research facilities that are located at the summit of Mauna Kea.  The location is ideal because of its dark skies, low humidity, clean air, good weather, and almost equatorial location. The summit of Mauna Kea is 13,796 feet above sea level.  We went to the Visitor's Center at about 9400 feet above sea level.  Now you know why we had to bundle up! The temperature at sea level was 84 - at Mauna Kea, it was 44!  It was cold but very clear up above the clouds. And the stars!  I've never seen so many stars in one sky!  We watched and listened as the park ranger used his laser pointer to show and tell us interesting things about the constellations.  I wish I had a photo to show you but it's hard to shoot the night sky without a very good camera and a tripod. I had neither.  You will just have to imagine.  Finally, we took the long, dark road back down the mountain and headed to our rental house for the night.

Good night, Moon!

 

Tuesday, April 11, 2017: Day Five

Tuesday came and, alas, it was time to say good-bye to the Kona house and head for Hilo.  We packed up the car and hit the road. Hilo, here we come!

 

 

We had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us on narrow, winding roads with five people and a lot of stuff crammed into a car so we knew we wanted to make a couple of stops along the way.  Here is where research and careful planning pays off.  Jenny and I both agreed that our first stop had to be the Punalu'u Bake Shop.  (We've been waiting 16 months to try malasadas!) As soon as we got out of the car, we could smell that sweet cinnamony fragrance of fresh baked goods!

 

 

It was close to lunch time and we had a light breakfast so we ordered some sandwiches. The fresh-baked bread was deliciously sweet (Hawaiian rolls!). And the Maui Kettle Chips were good as well. 

 

 

But the best part was the malasadas!!! A malasada is like a Krispie Kreme doughnut (without the hole). The traditional one is covered with cinnamon sugar but you can get creme and fruit filled ones as well.  They had chocolate and vanilla filled or if you prefer fruit, you could get apple or strawberry filled.  Then there was taro, guava, Mango, or lilikoi flavored. (Lilikoi is a tangy, lemony fruit that we are quickly becoming addicted to!)  I had a Bismarck which is similar to a chocolate eclair. We bought a dozen to have for breakfast tomorrow, if they last that long!

 

 

After lunch we got back on the road to Hilo.  Though the road is narrow and winding, the scenery along the way was breath-taking. We passed macadamia nut farms and scenic ocean views.

 

 

Shortly, we made it to our next stop - Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. Yes, sand in Hawaii comes in more than one color.  There is even a green sand beach!

 

 

 

Of course we wanted to see a black sand beach, but we stopped here hoping to see sea turtles and.... yes!  There he is!

 

There went another thing off my bucket list! After watching Mr Turtle for a while we got back in the car and headed for the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. As we traveled we watched the temperature drop from 83 degrees at the beach to 63 degrees at the park. The vegetation is lush and a light rain was falling. This is the difference between Kona and Hilo.  When we reached the park, our first stop was the Visitors Center.  We watched a short film, gathered information and purchased souvenirs. Then we got in the car and started our tour on Crater Rim Road. We stopped at the Steam Vents.

 

 

Our next stop was the Jagger Museum. We went inside and checked out the exhibits. We learned about geological surveys, volcanic landforms, and seismic activity. 

 

 I particularly enjoyed the art of Herbert Kane. His interpretations of Pele, the Volcano Goddess were beautiful.

 

 

Next, we went outside to check out the main event - the caldera! Magnificent!

 

 

On the way back to the Visitor's Center, we checked out the Sulphur Banks. It was a smelly stop, but not as bad as I thought it might be.

 

 

Jenny and Bobby took the car, but the rest of us decided to walk back to the Visitor's Center.  We had a pleasant, short hike and saw lots of bamboo orchids.

 

 

We still had about an hour until our dinner reservation so Jeff and Keith took a short hike while the rest of us chilled at Volcano House.

 

 

 

Finally it was dinner time and we sat down for our best meal yet at a table with the best view yet!

Our view

 

The meal

 

 

It was incredible!  We were contemplating sharing some desserts but it was so hard to choose. 

 

Our waitress says, "I can bring you a Sampler Platter for $20" so we went for it.  Now we expected it to be small bites of each dessert, but it was one of everything!  Unbelievably good!!

 

All during dinner we kept jumping up from the table to go see the glow from the caldera, but we wanted a closer look, so we crawled out to the car and headed back to the Jagger Museum Overlook.  You remember the view from earlier in this post?

 

Well, this is what it looks like after dark!

 

It's not often you get to see the glow of an active volcano.  After admiring the view we got in the car and headed to our rental house near Hilo. Now you never know what you'll get when you rent over the internet. Sometimes the photos don't give an accurate representation of what you'll see. You just have to read the reviews and hope for the best. We loved the Kona house, but when we saw the Hilo house our jaws dropped!  Bobby said the Kona house "sucked" compared to the Hilo house!

 

The view in the front

 

The view in the back

 

 

As our Tuesday came to a close, we went to sleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. What will tomorrow hold?

Good-night Hawaii.