Friday Jan 13.

Drive north to Pololu Valley, stopping for coffee in Hawi.  No pictures from Pololu cause of the sun location and misty air would not capture the beauty.  You should just go see it yourself. We picked up a pair of young hitchhikers who spent the night in the valley.  The young lady was bitten twice by a centipede, ouch, heard they hurt here.

Stopped in Kappa park, under construction, going to look real nice when its done.  The ocean view and crashing waves on the rocks were amazing to see after all the beach and calm seas. 

 

we stopped off at a Chinese cemetery on the way out of Kappa Park.   

We drove to the Waipio Valley viewing spot.  Both of us were tired so we did not hike down to the valley floor.  There was also a potential backpack trip but we bagged that too due to laziness, unpreparedness, and the extreme difficulty of the terrain we would be crossing.  

 

We stopped off at the Kalapa St Rec area, where the air was colder (low 70's) with ironwood trees and fern lushness.  We did a short hike to the rim and detoured up a creek, taking Blue Gum trail back.

We pushed on to Laupahoehoe Point beach park. This place is very beautiful with green grass, large trees and palms, and lava rock shoreline.  The waves were crashing on the jagged rock. 

This area was struck by tragedy in 1946 ago when a tsunami wiped out  an entire school house of children.  The local fishermen brave the rough seas and fish from the rocky formations.  Local residents also have late night bbq parties.  Aside from the donuts in the grass, the party was of no consequence and did not interfere with my evening.  Spagetti dinner, yummy yum yum.

Saturday Jan 14

Gotta move on from Laupahoehoe, pretty place but heading south of Hilo today to MacKenzie .  Drove the Pepeekeo scenic drive.  4 miles of amazing tropical jungles with flowing streams.  I enjoyed seeing the lush plants, relatives to the pathetic ones I attempt to keep alive in Idaho. 

 

Reacquainted myself with the presence of rambutans.  yummy, a treat I was exposed to in Australia but have not seen since, even in Mexico.  So upon arriving at the Hilo farmers market, my quest to find rambutans paid off, 3 for a dollar or a bag for 3 dollars.  Also picked up ginger root, garlic, and lemon to fight off this cold that I have been carrying about.  

We met up with the Bruno family again and enjoyed a monsterous cheese burger and Kona Pale Ale at some south end place.  

After the late lunch, Todd and I drove down to MacKenzie State Recreation Area.  It is supposed to be haunted.  We’ll see for our selves.  Todd slept most of the drive.  The park os on a rocky cliff with no beach nor ocean access.  The area is a grove of trees with pine needle understory, no veg.  One awesome feature are collapsed lava tubes that have filled in with vegetation.  One was easy to access and connected via a cave to the other.  The sunset was amazing and the stars were superb.  Todd and I had a brief conversation about what is Romantic, such as in what makes a place “romantic”.  The ability to obtain closeness with one another in a setting.  The Brunos joined us here as their projected camping spot fell through. 

Sunday Jan15

The next morning we all moved out early.  Todd and I went to IsaaccHale Beach Park to shower before heading out in search of lava.  We drove to where we thought one could access lava and it was a strange end of the road hippie tourist trap.  I was feeling super tired so we pulled over in some lava and I napped in the car while Todd read in his chair. 

Todd saw the Brunos again and they told him how to get to the lava.  When my nap was over, we drove out to the lava.  It began to rain while we were viewing the lava,, and boy did it ever begin to rain. I was sopping wet my shoes were squishing.  But this did not deter us from checking out the steaming volcanic formation that covered a town in 1985 and blocked the southern highway. 

After the wet lava walk, we proceeded to Volcanos National Park to see about camping.  Luckily for us it was free weekend at the park and did not have to pay to enter.  Found a spot to camp, at Kulanaokuaiki near the desert.  Set up camp and it began to drizzle rain.  Todd and I crawled in the tent as the rain began to increase.  We both read a little bit and took a nap.  Upon awaking to a wet tent, water was coming up from the floor, rain was coming in from above, we are nearing the point of saturation.  What to do?  We made a plan to exit, I grabbed my sleeping bag jumped out of the tent into a pool of water over 1 foot deep!  We were so drenched by the end of the evacuation, that we drove near naked to Hilo and got a hotel room at Uncle Billy’s.  After laying everything out to dry, taking a hot shower, we ate pasta and opened a great tasting bottle of wine, proceeding to drink the whole darn thing.

Monday Jan 16

We return to Volcanos NP to see the flooding damage.  To the untrained eye, one would never had known there were rivers running across the trail yesterday!  Not a sign but one puddle on the road in.  Most of the hikes we wanted to do into the crater and the drive along the crater rim road were closed due to high levels of sulfur gas.  We went to the Jagger Museum, saw the big steaming crater, great seismic displays at the museum, and some photo ops. 

  

 Hot coffee at the steam vents and off we go, away from Volcanoes NP. 

Next we stopped at Black Sands beach, another tourist stop, small, and not personal.  And then on to Whittington, by far the better of the campspots.  We chilled and greatly enjoyed our rest there.

Tuesday Jan 17

Today we traveled to South Point and Green Sands beach.  On the drive out we passed a defunct wind farm.  A new one further in the distance is up and running.
 South Point is the southern most point of the United States.  I can't not believe people still launch boats from the high cliff.

To get to the Green Sands beach we had to hike in the heat for about 1.5 hours with no break from the sun but it was worth the effort.  The beach had green sand and beautiful blue water with an enjoyable break.  Fun and laughter, my favorite place to swim yet.  There were plenty of other tourists there but we did not let this bother us.   

There was plenty of trash in the coves along the beach, sad and painful to walk by them.  The locals who are driving all wbout the dunes should take better care of the area. 

After the hike we went out for beer at the southern most bar in the US.  No need to stop, it was not anything special.  The beer was medioche.   
Another fine night at Whittington.

Wed Jan 18, through Friday Jan19

Wednesday Jan 18.  Gotta leave Whittington today, we both are moving slow as we both really like the vibe here.  But by noon we push on. Stopping off at a local market where Todd enjoys communicating for over 20 minutes with a cockatiel named Ki.  We bought delicious cookies from the lady.   

Today’s adventure was a hike to Podue Bay..this is what was stated in the Lonely Planet:  serenity.  After a nearly 3 hour hike on lava, we arrive at the beach to find a jeep, two tents and six or more adults.  The beach was small and shade scarce.  Not real inviting.  So we push on to the next beach.  Unfortunatly this was not a beach but an interesting inlet of basalt river rock and ponds.  Oh well, it was a place to sit in the shade, relax, and anticipate the hike out.   

The lava in this area was phenomenal, to get up close to the small craters and collapsed lava tubes, find a skeleton of a wayward goat in the shadow of a basalt overhang.

   

Back out and on our way to Hookena beach.  I have heard this is a nice place and dolphins come there.  After a long drive and hot day in the sun, we arrive to Hookena and there is a massive party going on, no place to park, let alone quiet to set up tent.  So we tuck tail and drive north to Spencer again, but it was closed for maintenance.  Sticky, tired, and hungry we trudge on to Mahukona beach Park.  Only to discover another party, but this one in the later stages.  We sit on the rocks, enjoy a cheap beer and contemplate what the options are.  Finally we commit to staying there, Todd looks for camp, and we eat dinner, crawl into the tent and sleep, not so soundly.  Cats! everywhere.  The next morning as we were packing up to leave, some guy came by to tell us the cats have ringworm! 

So, to get out of the cat stink, we headed south to Mauna Kea beach and relax there, enjoying the warmth, some surf, and rest.  I took a good long nap.

We went back north for lunch, it was okay at the truck.  Drove south to Uncle Billy’s hotel.  I do like Uncle Billy's accommodations.  It is cheap, great location, and reminiscent of a time ago when fruity drinks and big parties were everywhere (think 70's and 80's).

We flew out Friday and I thought it would be nice to have a shower before flying home and we both did not want to sleep in cat piss.  After a shower and organization, we went to Kona Brewing Company for beer and pizza.  A good and relaxing last night on the Big Island Hawaii. 

Travel out was a bit delayed thanks to heavy snow in the Seattle area, but Alaska Air treated us well, we stayed the night in Portland, complimentary,  and returned to Seattle about one day late.

Return to the grind

Hello All who care out there!  I have returned from over a month of travel to family in Illinois, Seattle, and adventure in Hawaii.  Stay tuned and I will have postings and pictures posted for your enjoyment.