Our wonderful trip to Big Island for Thanksgiving

 

Our wonderful trip to Big Island for Thanksgiving

Why Big Island in Hawaii is a vacationer’s paradise.

 

It is unique in that it is home to many of the world’s climatic zones in one place and therefore provides an opportunity to see varying landscapes in continuum. Within a few hours of driving one could see gorgeous beaches, black lava fields, semi-arid vegetation, cold snow-capped mountains, volcanic mountains, tropical climate, dense rain-forest foliage interlaced with beautiful small streams of crystal clear water, all in a stretch.  The island was originally formed by 5 volcanoes which continue to intermittently spew lava and re-shape its landscape.  While driving we could see remains of some old roads which were submerged and run over by lava

Tourists from all over the world visit this place to, among other activities, enjoy surfing on the huge Pacific waves, snorkelling among the multi-hued fish and bright coral, and diving to explore the diverse ocean life including sighting whales and dolphins and turtles.

We had a marvellous 8 day trip and managed to cover almost the entire island by road. In the following pages I have written a small blog on our trip, trying to include much of what we did during this trip, including where we stayed, which places we visited, and the food we ate, interspersed with pictures that vouch for the glory of the places. Every spot on the island is picture perfect and makes a great backdrop for a quick pose and pic. The excitement of being there is visible on all our faces in every pic.

As I am writing this after some time lapse, it is possible that I may have missed out describing some tourist spots that we visited and some that we could not visit for lack of time.  

 

 

 

DAY 1 : 24-11-2021

Full excitement!!! ALOHA HAWAII!!!We boarded United Airlines flight from San Francisco at 7 pm and arrived at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole at 10 pm (Hawaii is 2and ½ hours behind California). At Kona we hired a Hyundai Elantra car from AVIS car rental services (located at the base yard off the airport terminal, which is served by continuous shuttle from the center median located across the street from baggage claim areas A and B of the airport).  

                                    Dinner at SFO airport lounge

 

Outside Kona Airport

We checked into Holiday Inn Express & Suites located in Kailua-Kona around 8.5 miles from the airport, which is a 15 minute drive away. We stayed here for 3 days during the first leg of our trip covering west, south and north of Big Island. It’s a great place to stay, centrally located, well maintained, serves yummy complimentary breakfast, has spacious rooms with a nice backyard pool and to top it all is budget friendly and close to most tourist places in Kona.

DAY 2 : 25-11-2021

After a breakfast of Bagel, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fruit and juice, we drove to Snorkel Bobs’, which is a quaint water sports equipment rental service in Kailua providing masks, fins & snorkels for sale & rent. We hired masks, fins and snorkels for the four of us and then drove to Hapuna /Kahaluu Bay Beach Park to try our hand at learning to snorkel (two of us being pretty amateurs)

Breakfast in Holiday Inn

Ready to leave to Bob’s Snorkel

 

                                           While at Snorkelling

After spending few wonderful and amazing hours at the beach learning to snorkel (we as beginners) and the children practicing and improvising their snorkelling skills and contented having sighted many shoals of yellow cornetfish, black, grey and  other coloured fishes and corals, we proceeded from the beach

 

Triumphant smiles after snorkelling at HAPUNA

We had a lunch of peanut butter and jam sandwiches and fruits and snacks brought from Safeway, at a picnic spot at Spencer Beach Park as most eateries were closed for Thanksgiving.

Then we drove around the city seeing the vast landscape of black and brown lava fields at Puako, which actually felt like being on some other planet, or on the rugged surface of the moon. Although the lava rocks seem to be soft and crumbly from a distance, they are quite hard to feel

                            In the midst of the endless lava fields

In the evening we enjoyed a great supper of Mediterranean Burger, rice and shrimp at the historical Papa Kona Restaurant, while feasting on some amazing sunset views along the open waterfront of the restaurant

 

 

At Papa Kona’s waterfront restaurant

 

DAY 3 : 26-11-2021

On Friday we spent the whole day at Magic Sands Beach, playing in the water along the beach relaxing and feasting on tortilla wraps, while children went to Captain Cook Monument for the next led of their exciting snorkelling tour.

Soaking in the magic at magic sands beach

All fun At Captain Cooks Monument

Later we visited Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park, located on the west coast of Big Island. The historical park preserves the site where, up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who broke a kapu (one of the ancient laws) could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge or puʻuhonua. The offender would be absolved by a priest and freed to leave. Defeated warriors and non-combatants could also find refuge here during times of battle. The grounds just outside the Great Wall that encloses the puʻuhonua were home to several generations of powerful chiefs

It’s a beautiful park, well maintained with so much history attached and a repertoire of many sites of historical significance. We saw lazy green turtles basking in the sun light and also saw shoals of yellow fish swimming close to the shoreline around the park

                                    The royals in the Royal Gardens

                                        Lazy green turtle sunbathing

Checkers like game board, made of stone and wood used for recreation by the early settlers.

DAY 4 : 27-11-2021

On 27^th we visited Kohala Forest Reserve and the Lapakhi State Historical Park

Malasada doughnuts, fresh and hot

Enroute at Waimea we tasted the famed Malasada doughnuts from a food truck. The doughnuts were hot and freshly baked, right out of the oven and lip smacking. I could easily go back only for them!!!

 

Lapakahi State Historical Park is a large rugged 262- acre Oceanside park area of ruins from an ancient Hawaiian fishing village in North Kohala. Visitors can learn about traditional Hawaiian culture through the partially restored remains of this ancient Hawaiian coastal settlement. It’s a great place for sight-seeing. It has low sea cliffs from where one can see adventurous divers diving into the ocean for a swim and some others trying their hands at fishing.  

By the wooden bench from times of yore

            Awesome lunch at Bamboo Restaurant in Hawi on Akoni-Pule Hwy

At the Pololu Valley Lookout

                                 From a look out point – mesmerizingly beautiful

Kohala Forest Reserve is located on the north side of the island of Hawaiʻi in the districts of Hāmākua and Kohala. The reserve was first designated on October 13, 1913, by Governorʻs Proclamation, and currently consists of approximately 17,826 acres. It has breathtakingly beautiful look out points into the valley below.

 

On our way back stopped at this cute quaint beautiful Farm Stand with great views of the scenic Polulu valley. Here you can listen to live music while gorging on their fresh local produce. We had the lovely pineapple flavoured shaved ice

The mouth-watering shaved ice

Later at night we went for the Manta Ray Night Snorkelling Trip in Manta point  located in Keauhou Manta Ray Night Snorkel in Kailua-Kona,   Kauna'oa Bay, which is on the north side of the Kona coast. It was quite an adventure riding a ferry that takes you several miles inside the ocean, over the rough bouncing ocean waters at night in pitch icy darkness. Children went into the water and hitched onto the custom made light board set up for watching the manta rays

                        Manta Ray snorkelling at Kahaluu Keauhou

The board floats in water and shines a bright light into the water which attracts phytoplankton which in turn attract the manta rays

DAY 5 : 28-11-2021

                                            Black sand beach

After covering important places on the west, south and north of Big Island, on 28^th we checked out from Holiday Inn Express Suites and proceeded on our second leg of the trip towards Hilo on the East. On the way we  visited the Punaluu Black Sand Beach  Located on the southeastern Kau coast, Punaluu Black Sand Beach is one of the most famous black sand beaches in Hawaii. Located between the towns of Pahala and Naalehu in Kau, Punaluu Black Sand Beach's jet black shores are an unforgettable sight. Coconut palms fringe the upper edge of sand and you may also discover large honu, (Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles), basking on the beach. Also visited Naalehu scenic view point, and south point, the southern most point of USA.

Upon reaching Hilo in the afternoon by road, we checked into a beautiful serviced cottage apartment at Hale Mauna Loa. The cottage is located deep in the woods amidst dense rainforest foliage. Absolutely serene and such a heavenly feel. There we feasted on some tasty Thai food brought from a Thai food truck close by. In the evening we played several rounds of Snooker.

 

Tempting Thai food

                                    Trying a hand at Snooker

 

 

Later in the evening we went for a drive into the Hawaii Volcano National Park and visited the Kīlauea Caldera (Hawaiian: Kaluapele), officially gazetted as Kīlauea Crater, is a caldera located at the summit of Kīlauea, an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. It has an extreme length of 2.93 mi (4.72 km), an extreme width of 1.95 mi (3.14 km), a circumference of 7.85 mi (12.63 km) and an area of 4.14 sq mi (10.7 km2). It contains Halemaʻumaʻu, an active pit crater near the caldera's southwestern edge. One can see smoke rising from the crater rim

The walls of the caldera consist of fault scarps that have formed as a result of down-sinking of the caldera floor. Much of the caldera floor is covered by lava flows erupted since the 19th century. The Kīlauea Caldera and neighboring Kīlauea Iki are circled by Crater Rim Drive, an 11 mi (18 km) long paved road that provides access to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The Hawaiian Volcano  Observatory was established on the rim of the Kīlauea Caldera in 1912.

                                Smoke from the caldera during day time

DAY 6 : 29-11-2021

 

On 29th we visited Thurston Lava Tube , the Mauna Ulu Eruption Trail, the Devastation rail which is the recovering landscape that was buried by falling cinder from lava fountains of the 1959 Kilauea Iki eruption, drove around the Kilauea Iki crater rim and saw many beautiful scenic points. Also visited the Akaka (which is a 422 ft water fall) and Rainbow Water falls (that cascades over 80 ft over a lava cave) close by. The vegetation in many parts is very dense with huge tall trees that are lush green, being the rainforest climatic zone that receives continuous rainfall almost throughout the year. The intensity and lushness of the vegetation is seen to be believed.

Inside the lush green scenic rain forest

The lava tube is located in a Tropical forest area featuring a long, subterranean cave formed by ancient flowing lava. It is located 1.5 miles (3k) past the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, south on Crater Rim Drive. We took a walk in the dark through this 500-year-old lava cave located at an altitude of 3,900 feet on Kilauea Crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Lava caves like this are formed when a river of lava gradually builds solid walls and a ceiling. When the lava flow stops and the last of it passes downhill, a cave is formed. These caves can be a few feet high and only yards long, or they can stretch for miles with high ceilings. There are several lava tubes you can visit around the island but Nahuku is the most easily accessible and is a fantastic example of a massive lava cave.

Lit by electric lights, Nahuku has a flat rock floor and a ceiling height of more than 20 feet in places. The 600-foot-long cave is a great introduction to lava tube geology. The solidified drips and waves of once-liquid lava rock clearly show the molten forces that created this cave. Our flashlight reveals beautiful shapes and colors of minerals leeching from the rock. After strolling the short, lighted section of Nahuku, there’s another segment past the steps leading back up the trail that’s completely dark with an uneven floor, so don’t venture there unless you are sure-footed and have a strong flashlight. But for the able-bodied adventurer, a walk of 50 yards or so into this part of the lava tube will give you an intense experience, especially if you turn off your flashlight. A tropical rainforest awaits at the far end of Nahuku.

 

At the entrance of the Lava Tube

People can be seen walking on the lava trail down below

Ho’lei Sea Arch formed from weathering of the rocks

In the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park located three miles north of Historic Kailua Village (Kailua-Kona) you can find many mysterious petroglyphs scattered throughout the 1160-acre park. We went on this trail which is a 2 mile loop and requires walking on some small rock formations to the get to the site.

 

Beside the Rainbow Water Falls

 

Akaka Falls State Park

Awesome lunch

Another meal we feasted on

Later in the evening we weathered the icy winds and the rain to enjoy this majestic night view of the glow of the lava deep in the crater

 

 

DAY 7 : 30-11-2021

We bid a teary farewell to the cute little cottage we had almost fallen in love with and drove back to Kona where we were scheduled to take the morning flight on 01-12-2021 to California. On the way we visited some gardens and parks in Hilo.

At Kona this time we stayed at a beautiful little ranch style home , which was a raised ranch viz. a two-story house in which a finished basement serves as an additional floor, with a flight of steps to get to the main living floor. It had a large living area with huge French windows that let the sun in giving a beautiful view of the ocean and the sunset. We were treated to ranch grown juicy sweet oranges.

 

Stayed at the cute little Aeolin Ranch style home

Soaking in the sunlight at the ranch house

In the evening we pleasantly discovered this amazing South Indian food outlet Swamy’s Dosa Grill at Kona.

South Indian food outlet – Surprisingly

 Dosa with chutneys and sambar and biriyani with raita - Feel of home

DAY 8 : 01-12-2021

On 01-12-2021 we checked out of the Aeolian ranch home, had a breakfast of banana pancakes and syrup and drove back to the airport, a distance of 5 miles, and after depositing the rented car, took the shuttle service to the airport and took the flight back home, with a promise to definitely get back for more of Hawaii sooner than later.

 

ALOHA BIG ISLAND!!!

Banana Pancakes with Maple syrup