Big Island, Hawaii

I’ve not blogged for ages AGAIN! However, I now have something to blog about – we just returned from a week in Hawaii. This time, we went to Big Island (that’s how it’s known by most people – its real name is actually Hawaii, but it sounds odd to say you’ve been to Hawaii, Hawaii). Big Island is the “youngest” of all the islands – it’s still being formed by volcanic eruptions and is the only island in the chain that is still located over the hotspot and consequently has active volcanoes. In a few hundreds of thousands of years or so, it – like the others – will have drifted away from the hotspot and will be getting smaller as erosion takes its toll.

We began our trip by heading north from Kona airport (on the dryer, western side of the island) to the Kohala coast. We camped for our first night – at a really nice campsite by a beach. It was either that or pay $300 per night to stay at one of the very fancy hotels in those parts. The only downside was that the ground was rock-hard and we ruined half our tent pegs trying to hammer them in! It was actually the most pleasant night I’ve ever spent in a tent temperature-wise – as warm, if not warmer than sleeping in a cosy bedroom at home.

After decamping, we headed over the top of the island to the Waipio valley on the eastern side. This is one of the more scenic areas of the island, and one of the few that has the characteristic, vertiginous sculpted “pali”, or bluffs. However, we weren’t able to enjoy it as we’d hoped, because it was pouring with rain (the eastern side is the wet side), so we couldn’t do the hike down to the bottom. Instead, we headed back to the dry Kohala coast and had a lazy afternoon on one of the attractive beaches.

The next two nights were spent near Kealekekua Bay on the Kona coast south of Kailua. We stopped in the town of Kailua on the way down – it was actually a very pretty, historical little town with a lovely waterfront. I wished afterwards that we’d stayed in the town, because the accommodation we had near Kealekekua wasn’t great – pokey and situated right by a very busy road. However, we did enjoy the area. We rented snorkels and hiked down (once we found the trail – which was no mean feat) to the Captain Cook monument – a memorial right by the water, erected on the spot where Captain Cook was murdered in the 1700’s. Before you feel too sorry for him, it’s worth bearing in mind that he did kind of ask for it by kidnapping the island chief after some petty crime was committed against him by one of the islanders. When we arrived at the shore, a group of humpback whales was putting on a show on the other side of the bay – breaching, blowing and showing us their tails. I’ve never seen whales put on such a display (by comparison, they were very low-key in Alaska). Unfortunately, they were too far away for photos, but we got a great view with the binoculars. Afterwards, we went snorkelling in the water, which was fabulous. Admittedly, it was a little scary getting in and out, because we hadn’t brought flippers or sandals down with us and the rocks were covered in spiky sea urchins, but the actual snorkelling was incredible – probably the best I’ve done anywhere apart from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The coral and the sheer variety of tropical fish were stupendous. Later, while eating lunch, we were entertained by a few mongooses (I don’t think it’s “mongeese”) – but these are not so welcome on the island. They were introduced to Hawaii by westerners who hoped they would keep the rat population down. What the people didn’t take into account is that rats are nocturnal while mongooses are diurnal, so the scheme didn’t work and the mongooses promptly gorged themselves on the eggs of Hawaii’s native birds, causing many species to become extinct. After lunch, we headed back up the steep path in the shadeless heat, which was a bit gruelling, but fortunately not too long (the whole hike was just over 4 miles).

From the Kona coast, we headed to Volcanoes National Park, the site of the active volcano, Kilauea. On the way, we stopped at a black sand beach (formed by volcanic activity, of course) and happened upon a sea turtle among the rocks with its head under water. At first I thought it was dead, but when it moved I concluded that it was actually feasting on algae. When we arrived at the volcano area, we decided to do a hike straight away and set out on the Kilauea Iki trail, which takes you through rainforest (characterised by giant tree ferns), then down into and across a crater punctuated by steam vents. It was a lovely walk, and since it was much cooler up there, I found it a lot easier than the one we’d done the day before.

We stayed in a cabin in the volcanoes area, a decision which I ended up regretting, because it wasn’t heated and it turned out to be surprisingly cold, even though it was only 4,000 feet up and 25 miles or so inland. However, we ate and had coffee at the Volcano House hotel, which is perched on the edge of a huge crater and enjoys widespread views across it. Unfortunately, though, at least half the park was closed when we were there, because one of the craters was spewing a large amount of poisonous sulphur dioxide. The next day, we visited a museum which was just half a mile from said crater. While we were there, the wind changed and sent the sulphur dioxide in our direction, so we beat a hasty retreat (past all the signs that said “no at-risk people [including pregnant women] past this point”, which I had ignored a few minutes earlier).

Jon was very keen to see some actual flowing lava, so we enquired about this and were told that we’d have to travel some 40 miles outside the park to view it (you used to be able to see it from the 25-mile-long “Chain of Craters” road within the park, but the flow had shifted since then). We set off and enjoyed some more time at a lovely black sand beach backed by coconut palms along the way. The lava viewing area was managed by the Department of Civil Defence or something. In any case, it was heavily guarded and restricted. We drove as far as the old road went (until it got covered by erupting lava), then continued on a dirt track to a car park. Amazingly, some people had remade their homes (admittedly, mostly just shacks and trailers) on the barren black lavascape. We had to walk about half a mile across the lava to the viewing site, which we were told was another half mile from the active flow. Well, it looked a lot more than half a mile, and the flow was not what I would call active. It was extremely slow-moving, and the only thing to distinguish it from the surrounding rock was a little steam or smoke. When it started to get dark, you could pick out the odd faint pinprick of orange, but that was all. There was a lot of steam where the hot lava hit the ocean, but it was falling from a cliff that faced away from the viewing site, so all we saw was, in fact, the steam. In short, it was a huge disappointment and not worth the drive, although the surrounding area was very nice, which meant that it was not a wasted journey.

After two cold nights in the cabin, we headed back to the Kona coast and visited a coffee plantation there. We received a free tour (very interesting) and tasting. It was like visiting a winery, but for coffee. As well as coffee trees, there were avocado, papaya and orange trees, and we were allowed to take away whatever had fallen to the ground. Afterwards, we headed to a Hawaiian cultural site (a beautiful royal compound/religious site right next to the ocean). Most of these sites are a big disappointment because very little remains of the indigenous settlements and temples, but this one is actually the best preserved in the whole of Hawaii, so it was very pleasant to visit, not least because of its gorgeous setting. In addition, there were a couple more sea turtles on the beach there (this time with their heads fully out of the water and therefore more satisfying to photograph).

Our last night was spent on a small coffee plantation with beautiful gardens inhabited by jungle fowl, pet parrots and peacocks. It was definitely the best accommodation we had throughout the week. The next day, breakfast (included) was served on the lanai (balcony) with its splendid ocean views, and incorporated fresh fruit from the plantation. We were even visited at the table by a tiny but very colourful gecko. We had such a leisurely breakfast, that by the time we’d finished, we had to just pack up our stuff and head for the airport for our flight back to San Francisco.

Back in SF, I realized how much good the trip had actually done me. Work had been very tiring and stressful before I left, not to mention demoralising, since all pay raises and bonuses were cancelled as a result of the economic crisis and all talk was of slashing costs left right and centre. So, I think I derived a great deal from the holiday, even though Big Island can’t hold a candle to its older sister Kauai (which we visited two years ago) in terms of scenery, and even though it was horrifically expensive.