Hawaii Day Eleven – Travel to Volcano Park!

After breakfast at our hotel (it is included in our ‘package’, try the poi pancakes topped with macadamia nuts and coconut syrup!…) we decide to ask the concierge at the resort about things to do, such as helicopter tours, travel plans to Volcano Park, etc. We received information about helicopter tours (we’ll think about it….) and we also receive maps and written directions to Volcano Park. We are told that without stopping, it would be about a 2 ½ to a 3 hour drive (one way). Eh? Because it’s on the other side of the island and there are no roads that cross the middle of the island silly. Light bulb goes on….Ah that’s why it takes so long to get there…. Highlights of places to see along the way are pointed out to us by the concierge as well. Just in case, we decide to bring jackets and jeans along for the trip. You never know with this group just how long we’ll be out today….

So we load everything into the car and head out. Our first stop is at a scenic overlook on route 19. Look! Blue water, clear skies and white gentle waves roling in. Click, click goes the cameras. Ok, everyone back in the van.

We travel down the road a bit. Dave notices on the map a note about water falls. We all agree to check it out. There is also a botanical garden to walk through. Pam and Linda are delighted, the guys, um, not so much. But we need a break anyway, too much coffee at breakfast. After using the port-a potties (we’ve used more of these on this entire trip then one wants to admit), we walk through the gardens. Click, click goes the cameras. Okay, enough time spent here. Time to load back into the SUV and head to the water falls. The name of the falls is “Umauma Falls”. In total, the height of the three falls is about 140 feet. Nice falls. Click click more pictures (hey, there are four cameras in this group of, um, four people….). Okay, back in the car so we can head to Volcano Park at a reasonable hour…..

Look! Signs for the Akaka Falls are ahead! Shall we take the small side trip and stop? We read the description from the map. These falls are over 400 feet tall….much more impressive then the last one we saw. Ok, let’s stop. [keep in mind we’re already 2+ hours into the drive and we’re only ½ way through the total trip…. Oh dear] Gorgeous falls! Click, click….pictures for all! !

We meander back to the main road to once again head to our original destination….the Volcano Park. We travel down the road and realize that we’re hungry and thirsty.

So we stop at Hilo for lunch. After all, this is the spot where we get off of highway 19 and go to highway 11 to climb the elevation to Volcano Park. And we were told by our hotel concierge that we could purchase box lunches here for our day at Volcano Park. Forget the box lunch idea. Everyone agrees to stop here for a bite to eat. But where? With no recommendations from anyone, we trust our instinct and come across a little corner bar called “Cronies”.

Hmmm, somehow it sounds fitting for this group. Most of us had Hawaiian brewed red ale beer and one of us had a tropical drink and we all agreed the food was great! Even the pork and pineapple personal pizza is delicious. And yes, the sound of click, click of a few of the cameras could be heard. Hey,we needed pixs of this great place! :o)

So much for our original time line, we are now over 3 ½ hours into our trip and only inching our way to the original goal….Volcano Park. Keep in mind that it’s now 1:30 p.m. and the visitor center at the park closes at 5:00 p.m. Ah but another question comes up… Do we stop at the lava fields first and chance getting to visitor center after 5 p.m.? Sure, there seems to be plenty of time to make it before 5:00 Or is there? Stay tuned….

The lava fields “open” at 2:00. We get there about 2:15 p.m., get a decent parking space and head to the back of the car for the water we picked up on the way, applied sunscreen and hats and with cameras in hand, head to the lava field. What we see is incredible. We heard that the day before the active lava flow was much more visible. But I think I captured a wee bit of it using the zoom lens. See what you think….

The ‘smoke’ you see isn’t smoke but steam coming out of vents from the lava flow down below the earth’s crust. Amazing. And even more amazing is how ferns and small florals start to grow between the cracks of the black lava. When you think about it, it’s incredible how the earth can literally start over after having hot lava cover everthing….

We pile back into the SUV and get back to the main road to finally head to volcano park. With any luck, we’ll just barely get there before 5:00.

And we do. It’s 4:45 but we do get into the visitor’s center in time to learn that ½ of the roads in the park are closed due to the higher level of sulfur dioxide in the air. And brrrrrr, the air is chilly, no, it’s more like cold. The wind is really whipping! We are now over 3000 ft above sea level. Glad we brought the jeans and jackets along!

After we changed into our jeans and put on jackets (in Hawaii, who’d a thunk it?) , we again pile into the SUV and go back towards the entryway of the park. The map tells us there is a right turn just inside of the park that takes you on a path to see a glimpse of the volcano and a chance to explore an actual lava tube (inactive of course) that goes under a section of rain forest. Joy. I hate tunnels, how will I survive a lava tube?

But we all decided it would be best to do this first while it is still daylight. Remember, there is no such thing as daylight savings here in Hawaii. At our first stop we get a glimpse of the barren area that actually has an active lave tube with steam rising out of it. Looking at this area feels like a scene of a sci-fi movie. Huge lush ferns (about 5-6 ft tall) surround the barren area. It makes one feel like a Lilliputian, everything is huge! Click, click—cameras capture the scenes. Ok, back in the SUV to our next stop, before we loose daylight…..

We come upon another scenic spot, the defunct lava tube. It involves a short walk and yes, they did add lights inside of it but it’s still a tunnel. I’m the only one in the group who is really doesn’t like tunnels but it may be a photo op so with camera in hand, we all go through it. It’s a very tall tunnel, er, tube and everyone can stand up straight without any problems. Oh did I mention it was well lit? Good thing it was because none of us had flashlights.

It’s a short tube and the end of it brings you deeper to the rain forest. At the entrance of the tube, there are no signs telling you which way to head so we stay on the path and take, hopefully, the correct turns to get out. When we reached the end, we discovered it was a big loop. Click. Click. Click. Click. Each of us takes pictures before heading back to the car. As we walk to our car, we discuss if we should stay on this road as far as we can or turn around now and see what is on the other side. Remember a portion of the loop was closed off due to fumes.

Since there is still some day light, we decide to turn around now and see what is on the other side. As we pass the now closed visitor center, we start exploring the other direction around this rim of Volcano Park.

The next stop takes us to huge steam vents that appear to go on for miles. With the steam rising, trade winds blowing and the sun low in the sky, the scene has an almost mystical feel to it, again something you’d see in a sci-fi flick. And yup, you guessed it … click, click…more pictures are taken.

Although the sun is kind of low in the sky we decide there is still enough daylight to keep going (see a theme here….get as much in as possible!) We haven’t a clue what lies ahead but we noticed that the traffic is picking up and heading in the direction we have not yet explored. We decide to follow. On our left, we came upon a parking lot next to a museum we were told was closed. Up ahead, the road is closed, end of the line. Everyone is parking in the parking lot and the museum seems opened. How odd, we were told it too closed at 5:00. Hmmm, we wonder what’s going on.

So we park and walk around. There are people all lined up around the fence of the active volcano tube. Ah ha! We finally made it. But why are there cameras everywhere, ranging from pocket size to ones with huge lenses on top of tripods? What have we stumbled upon? What is so special about this scene that there is a ranger with a telescope and folks with cameras waiting to take pictures? As we over hear the ranger say ‘it’ll be about 15-20 minutes”, the mystery continues…. It’ll be dark by then…. And colder ... As the sun starts to sink lower in the sky, we noticed the lighting of volcano’s lava tube start to change. It begins to “glow”. As the sky becomes darker, the lava becomes more visible. Suddenly it’s not a mystery any longer. The darker the sky, the brighter the lava flows. We tried to capture the spectacular scene on our digital ‘film’ but without a tripod, it becomes difficult to capture the vividly glowing lava with having blurry pictures. This is the best we could do….. It just doesn’t do the scene justice though….

Before leaving Volcano Park, in the cold and dark, for our 2 ½ to 3 hour drive back to our hotel, we stop at Volcano House to warm up and have dinner. We were glad we came!

Hawaii Day Ten – Off to The Big Island!

One last breakfast at the B&B: poached eggs swimming in onions and red & green peppers, bagel with smoked salmon and capers, french toast smoothed in maple syrup! Yum! After that, we load up the SUV and hit the road for the airport … arriving in plenty of time to get through security. (Pineapple update: After being thoroughly searched, they made it through security, too! They are allowed to go to the next island with us! What happens next? We’ll keep you posted…)

All goes smoothly at the airport and with the flight, arriving on-time in Kona. But, wow, what a difference from the lush environments of Oahu and Maui. On both sides of the road, miles of black lava rock as far as you could see. It was almost disconcerting, the devastation of this place. There appears to be what could only be explained as graffiti on the black lava rock. We noticed, however, it’s not paint, but white ‘rock’ that is used to spell out names and/or advertisements.

Passing the resort areas, we see that the lava is in large patches with more typical terrain (grass, trees, etc.) in between.

Our hotel, the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows is a large complex of shops, golf courses, a spa, and the hotel … it reminds you of being on a cruise ship …. very nice!

We are greeted with floral leis (more fragrant flowers for around the neck, wow…) and a small juice at check in. We walk around the atrium with all of the guest rooms surrounding it and find an indoor tropical garden and large ponds that have additional "guests" like this one living within.

While getting our bearings on the place, (and waiting for one of rooms to be ready) we have lunch at the Ocean Grille.

Then, we walked on the beach and took pictures … first of a sea turtle and crabs … then later of the sunset on the beach. Oh, yeah … there was a short nap in there too. J

The lunch was so good (and there were so few dining options), we go back to the grille for supper. We have wonderful salads: Lobster Salad for Pam and Tom, Barbecue Shrimp Salad for Dave and Linda. And … along the way, we convinced this outdoor dining area to add Canadian Club (for CC & 7’s ) to the stock at their bar.

After that, alittle more walking, then bedtime to get ready for an early (??? This word is used way too often for a vacation trip!) start for Volcanos National Park in the morning.

Hawaii Day Nine – ZipLine and a Final Evening on Maui

Back to waking up at an unreasonable hour … for some of us.

Pam and Tom heard their alarm clock go off at 4:00 AM. This was needed if they wanted to make it to the start of their EcoTours ZipLine Adventure by 6:45. (but I’m NOT a morning person exclaims Pam!) Dave and Linda slept in today (lucky them!).

We sign all of the typical legal papers and initial all of the line items that confirm to EcoTours that we understand we may be injured, mamed, or die as a result of ziplining and we can’t sue them (sigh….what did we sign up for…). We get our souvenir water bottle, fill it with bottled water from cooler, so we attached to our “gear” when we go out. But now we wait. We’re waiting for two more people. The phone rings….they’re lost. The folks from EcoTours stand out side to wave them in…..a car shows up with two elderly people and a 11 year old. Clearly this can’t be them….. Ah but it is! Grandmom decided it would be fun to take her grand daughter zipping. The grandfather stayed behind. The granddaughter proceeds to tell me she’s afraid of heights….. Like the rest of us waiting to start this adventure, neither of them have ever zipped before.

The plot thickens…. A 12 passenger van shows up, covered in red mud. Oops … no one told us we shouldn’t wear nice, clean white sneakers for this trip. We all look at our shoes and then at each other with some concern written across our faces. Oh, well … too late now. We meet other folks from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington. We’re all here to fly across chasms on a ¾ inch steel cable, hanging by two nylon web straps, in a harness that goes around the waist and each leg (like a seat), and attached by a stainless steel trolley. And none of us have ever done this before. Fun!

Time to get rolling! We load up and start driving up the mountain. The roads used to be sugar cane plantation roads, but they haven’t been maintained in years. The bumping and swaying of the van is amazing … can’t see how the van survives this day in and day out. With the amount of mud from the day before rain storms, I would have predicted we couldn’t possibly climb the mountain in this thing. But the driver is good … navigates switchback after switchback to get to the “gear shack” to meet our guides and get our gear attached to us. These guys are like surfer-dudes turned zippers … an interesting crew.

The first thing they tell us is, nice white sneakers. They chuckle…. (did I really pay for this adventure???) They get us hooked up, store our remaining valuables (I guess in case we die), and take us the rest of the way up the mountain to the first cable. Wow! A wooden deck at each end (takeoff via steps, land via ramp) and a steel cable hanging between the two. They comically demonstrated (trying to soothe our nerves I guess), gave us warnings, and said “who’s first?”. The first person was alittle slow to raise their hand, but as soon as the first went, it was all excitement and fun from there (or so Tom says…) The first two were about 350 feet long, one with a waterfall underneath. Everyone started to get the ‘hang of it’ with the excpetion of one person: Pam. Seems she always ended up going across backwards. Sigh.

She says she is trying to steer but learned after the fourth zip (which they tried having her go backwards from the start) that perhaps she was holding on a tad too tight and should relax and let the cables do the work. After learning the other folks were taking bets as to how quickly she would turn around on the zip and travel backwards, she decided to heed the advice of the guide and found it actually worked!

By this time the runs started getting longer and faster as we worked our way back and forth across the valley as it got wider toward the bottom. Eight zips, with the two longest taking nearly 30 seconds to get across! All you had to do was “steer”, that is, try to keep yourself aimed forward so that you could hit the landing ramp running. (If you were out of control, the guide on the receiving end would catch you, but they really didn’t like the probability of injury from flailing elbows, feet, knees, etc.

For the last one, the longest and fastest, they had to catch us, so they said to forget the steering and raise our knees to our chest to get the most speed possible. Wow!

After our return to Lahaina, we joined up with Dave and Linda, who had taken a taxi to Kaanapali Beach Hotel to explore the beach and get some sun. They had had it within about two hours and got back to the hotel shortly after Pam and Tom. From there, we went back to Cheeseburger-In-Paradise for drinks. The drink of the day was a pineapple smoothie complete with rum (way too much rum that day) and lunch. Basically, this was the first time we met our goal of the bar bill being BIGGER than the food bill!

The girls took full advantage of the guys level of drinking and worked us over in one of the many jewelry stores (this is a cruise ship port), each achieving a jewelry purchase of a level relatively rare for either of us.

Last stop of our stay in Lahaina was a restaurant that featured French Cuisine Fine Dining within our Bed and Breakfast, named Gerard’s. The food was excellent, dining on the front porch of the plantation style building we were staying in. Except for some new folks moving in who were loud and obnoxious, the evening was wonderful and we were prepared to move on to the Big Island.

It was the perfect ending to our stay on Maui. Next day, onto the Big Island! Oh and those pineapples we picked at the pineapple plantation….. we still have them….