Hawai'i Big Island - January 2012

Dolphinsong cottage is adorable.  It is a bit tinier than I expected but since we weren't around much during the day anyway, that wasn't a problem.  It's similar to the apartment we had in Kona in that it's just one room with the bathroom behind a folding door.  The shower is actually out the back door, but quite private - it's just chilly in the mornings and evenings.  The kitchen is very well equipped, with a better (but still small) refrigerator and a 2 burner gas stove.  The real lack was storage space.   There are drawers for clothes but no closet and  just a couple of shelves (no cabinets) for groceries. We put empty suitcases back in car.  The internet works, cell coverage is weak but there is a landline phone and the grounds are just beautiful (the trumpet flower bush smells absolutely lucious in the evening).  There are loads of towels, including beach towels, snorkle equipment, a small cooler - everything needed for day trips.  We were very comfortable here and enjoyed it very much. 

Starting about 5:30 PM we heard what we thought was birds beginning their evensong.  Nope - those are coqui frogs and they go on most of the night. An amazing serenade, but ear plugs helped me get to sleep!  

Sausage and veggie mix on rice tonight - we definitely eat well.

Sunday January 8

It was COLD this morning until the sun got up (sunrise at left) - jeans and jacket weather. We walked down to the coast and Kehena beach after breakfast – it's a very steep rocky trail down to the beach where there were about 5 people, some with, some without clothes. This afternoon as we came back cars were lined up on both sides of the road for half a mile!

After our walk, we went to church at Kalapana Maunakea UCC Church.  The church has an interesting history, founded in 1823, destroyed by a tidal wave, an earthquake, erosion and finally, lava flow.  The web site said the service was at 10:30, which really meant 10:45.   When we arrived about 10:15, Kahu Mike Warren and his wife, Angie, were the only ones around. They greeted us warmly and apologized for "Hawaiian time." It was a very small group – maybe 20? But enthusiastic and very happy to have guests.  We enjoyed their welcome and the music. 

After church we went to the Maku'u Farmer's Market  - a huge weekly flea market just north of Pahoa.  There was lots of fresh produce, but also prepared food, entertainment and every other kind of "stall" you can imagine including crafts, jewelry, clothes, tupperware and other distributors.

John had some vendor lunch, I had a piña colada smoothie to hold me til we got back "home" where I had a late lunch.   We then became "Sunday drivers" and just meandered down the Red Road to see what was there.  We even came to some of the old "red" part for which it was named.

We stopped first just at a pulloff along the road (pictured at left) and enjoyed the beautiful views, cliffs, rocks, lots of people fishing and the odd "bitten tree" shown at the right. Then at MacKenzie park we saw more cliffs (at left below) and rainbows in the ocean spray (center below). Finally, we stopped at the Kapoho tidal pools (below, right) down around mile 9. We walked out part of the way and saw lots of little crabs and fish even though it wasn't near high tide.  John definitely wants to go back during the week and try a snorkle. Coming back, without our sightseeing stops, it took about 25 minutes to go the 10 miles. The road is narrow and twisty but fairly safe.  John fixed a chicken curry for supper tonight.  Yum.
Monday January 9 It rained overnight but cleared up this morning so we went down to Kehena Beach - a nice, black sand beach walking distance from the cottage. A group of Japanese folks were doing a fashion photo shoot for a mail-order catalog (below left). It seems like a lot of trouble to me, getting all the equipment down the cliff to the beach, but it was interesting to watch. I just laid on the beach (center below) and read while John swam. THEN the nudists began arriving. Many, many of them in all ages and both genders. They were very friendly, sharing pecan pralines with us.  But, aside from those involved in the photo shoot, we were the only clothed people there! We were there about 2 hours then climbed back up (one last view looking back at right below) and walked home.


Next we packed lunches and headed to Volcano National Park after stopping in Pahoa for gas @$4.17 - that's what passes for "cheap" here.  Construction crews were working on roads in the park but it didn't slow us up too much. We stopped at the Visitor Center, used the restrooms and had lunch in the picnic area. Then we did the 4 mile Kilauea Iki walk across an inactive volcanic crater. It took us about an hour to climb down into the crater, 40 minutes walking across it and another half hour back up. DEFINITELY the preferred way to go is to start at the trailhead and go counterclockwise, down the steep side, coming back up the easier slope at the Thurston Lava Tube. At left is a view from the rim of the crater - you can see people walking across below.  At right is one of the steam vents - the white "powder" all around the area is from the minerals in the steam.

It was quite an interesting walk; down in the crater, it was very windy and sunny.   At left below are some of the plants that have pushed their way through the lava, beginning the process of reclamation.  At center is Barb: just to show I was really there!  And finally, inside the Thurston lava tube - a cave formed when lava gradually cools and hardens.  

  

I think too much sun, not enough water, maybe some of the sulfur fumes (though we were not aware of them) left John with a nasty headache so we didn't do anything else for the afternoon. We did stop in Volcano (the town) and get some coffee to see if it was a caffeine thing, but that didn't seem to be the problem this time. We stopped in Pahoa and grabbed a few groceries, picked up a Boogie Woogie pizza to go and went back to the cottage. He was better later that evening.

Tuesday, January 10

Today was Hilo day. We set out around 9 AM and visited several waterfalls starting with Rainbow Falls (left), Boiling Pots (rapids, not falls), Pe'e Pe'e Falls (Center) and Wai'ale Falls (Right).  

     

Then we went to the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Gardens where we also saw 2 more waterfalls: Onomea Falls (left below) and Alakahi Falls (right below) in addition to tons of fantastic plants. The center picture is of Twin Rocks - there is a legend about star-crossed lovers that were turned into the rocks so they could be together for eternity.  We spent a couple of hours there and it's hard to pick just a few pictures to share! (Remember there are lots more in the Pictures section!)

When we left it was almost 1:30 PM and we were starving. Fortunately, just over a mile up the road is What's Shakin (at left).  Best known for smoothies, they also have great wraps so John had Oni and I had avocado and we enjoyed a scrumptuous lunch; I even brought half of my sandwich home. On our way back we detoured down Pahoa-Pohoiki Road, Highway 132, and stopped at the Lava Tree State Monument (at right) where there are many lava "forms" from trees that were killed hundreds of years ago by lava. The tree deteriorated inside leaving these forms.  It's a small area so we walked all the way through it.

Next stop was an hour of snorkeling at the Kapoho Tide Pools (left) near the intersection of Highway 132 and the Red Road (aka Kapoho-Kalapana Road, Highway 137. Finally, a quick stop a little further down the Red Road at the hot pool at Ahalanui County Park (at right) – a public, naturally volcanically heated, hot pool. That was a nice warm up and left us about 20 minutes from home! I made a quick ground beef pasta dish tonight – using what was on hand and a box mix for the sauce and thickening.

Wednesday January 11 Today was a volcano (or Volcano - we did both!) day.We started at Fuku Bonsai in Kurtistown, on the way to Volcano.  It is owned and run by David Fukomoto a very interesting guy who's been doing bonsai for 50 years.  He has some absolutely wonderful specimens and happily shared his techniques.  In fact, he expressed concern that, partly because Bonsai requires so much patience,  it may become a dying art.  The bonsai banyon at the left took many, many years!  We also stopped at Akatsuka Orchids – there are lots of nice flowers there but it's really just a large store (right) and only took a few minutes to walk through.  We had lunch at the Lava Rock Café in Volcano.  The service was mediocre (they were very busy and staff responses varied widely - from grousing about everybody to apologizing for delays); the food was pretty good. John had a burger and I had a turkey/cheese wrap. We stopped to browse at Volcano Garden Arts where we saw a huge variety of "art."  They have bonsai, various kinds of masks, sculpture, paintings, etc. as well as a café featuring natural and organic foods. We also met a nice goat in his own backyard compound (left).   

Then on to Volcanoes National Park again.  This time we drove down the Chain of Craters Road, descending 3700 feet from the entrance down to the coast in 20 miles; it ends where the 2003 lava flow went over the road.  We walked on lava fields (one at right), saw lots of fissures, craters, and formations.  The Hōlei Sea Arch near the end of the road, was formed from the surf pounding at lava flowing into the water - it's very impressive.   Below are a view of the coast from one of the lava fields along Chain of Craters Road, the Sea Arch and where the OLD Chain of Craters Road met a lava flow! As sunset approached, we drove back up to the Jagger Museum which was interesting in its own right, but we really wanted to see the glow from current lava flow deep in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater that becomes visible after dark.  It was definitely worth staying for!  At left is steam from the current eruption seen from a distance; center is the current crater in late afternoon and finally, the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater after dark.

We didn't get back to the cottage until almost 8 PM and it rained about half way back. John whipped together a yummy chicken teriyaki combo for supper. I started feeling a cold coming on so took some meds and went to bed early in preparation for a strenuous day tomorrow!  

Thursday, January 12

We headed off to Waipi'o Valley this morning, first stopping briefly at the Star of the Sea Catholic Church (at left) on Highway 130 very near our cottage.  The church was built in Kalapana in 1927.  It is known as the "Painted Church" because of its gloriously painted interior (at the right).   Father Evarist Gielen originally painted the upper section;  in 1941, George Heidler, an artist from Athens, Georgia, painted the lower panels to complete the church interior.  It was moved to its current location in 1990 because of encroaching lava flow.

We stopped for a break just beyond Hilo at Papaikou  at a garage that doubles as  Baker Tom's (aka the Cheesecake man).  We used the rest room and bought some scrumptuous malasadas (filled donuts) for snacks.

There were several sections of Hwy 19 that were one lane due to construction, as well as work on removing fallen rock from the road but we still got there by about 11:30 AM. There are about 10 parking places at the lookout area and they are limited to 30 minutes, so if you want to hike down you have to park along the road!  It was a beautiful place but a VERY long hike. The grade of the road is between 20-40% with an elevation change of 900 feet in that mile.  Once you're down, the additional .5-.75 mile hike on FLAT ground out to the beach is a piece of cake! We had our picnic lunch and explored the beach (north view from the beach in the picture to the right) a little.  

On the left below is the view to the south and a small waterfall; in the center is the view from the beach facing back into the valley.  It was an overcast day which was probably healthier for us but it means that the pictures weren't as spectacular as they might have been.

Before the hike back up we walked back towards the valley a bit to see the 1450 foot Hi'ilawe Falls (the right falls in the picture on the right).  Hakalaoa Falls, on the left, is apparently often dry so we were lucky to see them both!   The hike took about 45 minutes coming back up - I had to keep stopping to breathe.

   

Just as you leave the lookout point area there is a sign pointing to "homemade ice cream" down a small road into Kukuihaele.  We were hot and sweaty in addition to exhausted,  so we followed the sign a couple miles down the road to a cute little café.   This guy, who has a wood shop and sells some lovely pieces, apparently lets entrepreneurs use his shop as a meeting point for tours into the valley and he sells small tubs of Tropical Dream ice cream for $4 each. Oh, so very yummy - and timely after that long hike!

The construction crews had closed up by the afternoon drive, so we had time to stop at Akaka State Park and take a short walk to see the Kahuna Falls (pictured to the left), Akaka Falls with its 420 foot drop (to the right) and a couple of smaller, unnamed falls.  It was raining lightly but nothing very significant.

We let the GPS guide us to a giant KTA grocery store in Hilo where John found some fresh ono for supper tomorrow night.

As usual, there was terrible traffic around Kea'au Town.  I don't really understand it because it doesn't matter what time of day we come through – it is always backed up from Hwy 11 down Hwy 130 for several miles.  Two lanes do merge to one but it's hard to believe that it makes that much difference.  It takes 10-15 minutes to go 2 miles, then it opens back up after the lane merge.  

I used some ground beef, some leftovers, can of tomatoes, some green pepper, onion and a little bit of teriyaki seasoning for a casserole tonight.  

Friday January 13

We were both exhausted and decided to just hang around here, enjoying the plants and birds.   John went to Kehena beach for a while and did some housekeeping – sorting some of his collections – before leaving tomorrow for Captain Cook. I took a long nap this afternoon which is significant since I do not take naps, but spent most of the day sitting here (left) behind the cottage and relaxing!