Our Last Day in Paradise

We knew that the fun had to eventually come to an end.  It was time to say good-bye to our rain forest cabin and make our way back to the town of Hilo.  Our flight out was late at night so we were able to get a few last sights in.

We had a liquid breakfast at the Big Island's only winery.  I'm still thinking about that Symphony Mele wine (we brought a bottle home...but it didn't last long) made from symphony grapes and infused with fruits like lychees.

Christopher was like a kid on Christmas morning in Atsuka Orchid Gardens - they had hundreds of different varieties of orchids...some that even smelled like chocolate!  And of course, you know we came home with a few.

Before heading into Hilo, we discovered a few more waterfalls, Rainbow Falls and Pe'epe'e Falls.

We still had some time to kill before heading over to the airport, so we parked at the Bay.  We took a car nap, walked along the bay front on the black sands, and found our first Hawaiian geocaches!

When it was time to have our bags checked by the USDA, Christopher had to quickly eat the last of our fruit stash.

After a long red-eye and getting stuck in Chicago for a L.O.N.G. time, we made it home to our boys.  We were happy to be home to them but sad to leave our paradise.  We talk about Hawaii almost every day and comment about how we miss it so badly.  I saw a "visit Hawaii" commercial today and it made my heart break.  It was an amazing place and I am so happy to have shared that with Christopher.  There are many other places on our list to visit, but I am pretty sure we will make it back to our Hawaii one day.

Hawaii-The Volcano, Part 4

The first picture is extremely zoomed in on the hillside where the current flow of lava is (you can see some steam).  Again, the hike was too far and treacherous to get up close and personal to it.

This little brown house is the sole survivor of the multiple lava flows that wiped out this neighborhood.

If a house if taken out by lava, they still own the property but cannot set foot back on it for 10 years.  The few homes that you see here have been rebuilt after that 10-year waiting period.  They are completely off the grid and get their power from the sun and their water from rain caught in a catchment tank.

Hawaii-The Volcano, Part 3 (The Big Show)

I cannot put into words how beautiful the glow of Halema'uma'u Crater was. We spent several chilly, windy nights just sitting and staring at the glow in complete awe. How something this beautiful exists on Earth is a true testament to our Maker.

Hawaii-The Volcano, Part 2

Sulphur Banks, a pretty stinky phenomenon, was an amazing sight (and smell) to see.  Hydrogen Sulphide gas and steam meet and form sulphur, gypsum, and hematite deposits on the ground.

There were also many steam vents where rain seeps into the ground, is heated by Kilauea, and is pushed back up as steam.

Hawaii-The Volcano, Part 1

The Big Island is most famous for Kilauea Volcano.  We visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park many times over the last few days of our trip.  It was raining the first day so we saw lots of good steam action but couldn't get clear pictures.  We went back another time for the clearer pictures.  And we visited a few evenings to just stare into the glow.

In the park, there's a road that drives around Kilauea Caldera (think big bowl) called Crater Rim Drive.  Inside the caldera are a few craters, one being the Halema'uma'u Crater, which is full of hot, red lava and is said to be the home to Madame Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess (Hawaiians don't mess around with Madame Pele!).  This lava is just sitting in the crater, steaming and glowing.  Part of the road around the park was closed due to high amounts of sulfur dioxide gas.  Then, there's Chain of Craters Road which extends from the Crater Rim Drive down to the shoreline and passes by and through many older lava flows.  There are a few craters and vents scattered off of this road, including Pu'u 'O'o Crater, which is where the current lava flow is.  We weren't able to get close to the flowing lava as it was a L.O.N.G. hike over treacherous lava.  Chain of Craters Road abruptly stops as it is covered with about 3 different lava flows.

Below is Kilauea Iki Crater, which once was a lake of magma as it filled from a nearby eruption that lasted 36 days and reached record-breaking heights!  It took 60 years for this to harden and cool enough for people to hike across and still boasts molten lava only a few hundred feet under the surface.  In the background, you can see the steam from Halema'uma'u Crater (more on that coming later). 

We also hiked though Thurston Lava Tube where we could see how lava travels through its own plumbing.

We passed by and through many different lava flows from the many years of eruptions as we made our way to the coast on Chain of Craters Road.

Ancient Hawaiians carved their history into lava rock all along the Pu'u Loa Petroglyph Trail.  This is the largest petroglyph field in the state.  The many holes that you see are where parents bore these holes in order to place the umbilical cords from their newborns for good luck.  This was such a peaceful place.

This sea arch, the Holei Sea Arch, was formed by the ocean undercutting the rock.

And this is the end of Chain of Craters Road.  Road Closed...  (LOL)

Hawaii-Exploring Puna

The last few days of Hawaii ran together a little for me.  Perhaps it was exhaustion, perhaps it was dreading the end of our trip, perhaps it was the fact that we went back and forth to many of these sites multiple times. So I don't know what day this was...somewhere in the last 3 or 4 days of our trip, but it was a good day.

We explored Puna, the most eastern point of the island.  We stood there and took a deep breath.  Since the winds come from the east, this part of the island (the easternmost point) is said to have "virgin air" as it has drifted over the landless Pacific Ocean for weeks.  This air is considered pristine and is analyzed by many countries and used as a benchmark.

After a few good long deep breaths, we set off (in the wrong direction) looking for a natural lava swimming pool called Champagne Pond.  After a L.O.N.G. walk on this black lava terrain, we decided to head back and move on to our next spot.  It was a beautiful "stroll" down the coastline.

The next stop was to discover the vast inter-connected tidal pools.  Some of the Kapoho Tidepools are volcanically heated and serve as the east coast's beach.  It's a far stretch from the NC beaches but fun to walk through to discover many beautiful fishes.

We soaked our feet in Ahalanui, a large volcanically heated pool.  This pool has a man-made wall and an inlet separating it from the ocean but allowing the ocean to feed it. The Kapoho eruptions of 1955 and 1960 reworked the plumbing so that this pool is volcanically heated to a toasty 91-95 degrees.  It felt soooo good.

We hung out for a while at Isaac Hale State Park and watched the locals surf.  We found a tiny (about 8' x 14') warm water pool set in the vine-covered jungle just a few feet offshore, but passed it by as it was occupied by 5 locals.

Then we visited this spot on the shoreline that is know for it's spectacular display of waves hitting the cliff.  As large waves hit the cliff, spray would travel down the coastline like dominoes.  It was amazing but terrified me.  Christopher will tell you that I am freaked out by rogue waves.  I remember watching this special on TV years ago about a very young couple on their honeymoon.  The girl was posing for a picture when a rogue wave came up behind her and swept her away into the ocean.  On our trip, I would walk yards off the shoreline and was always keeping an eye out.  Christopher teased me very badly.  This spot we were at was known for huge rogue waves.  See that huge boulder that McFatty is hugging (yeah, he's an idiot)?  A wave tossed that up onto the cliff.  I took this picture from VERY far away with my amazing zoom lens.  There was NO WAY that I was getting close.  This man stressed me out to much that I had to go back to the car after a few pictures.

Hawaii-Day 7, Part 2

After leaving Akaka Falls, we made a pit stop by the open-air farmer's market in downtown Hilo.  Our senses were on overload - the sights! the sounds! the smells! the touches! and oh, the tastes!  We have never experienced fruits like these before.  After a local hand-whacked a young coconut open, we enjoyed coconut water.  I use the term enjoy loosely here...it was an odd taste; something I will probably never drink again.  But I can say that I tried it.  We also loaded up on some yummy fruits such as my favorite-white pineapple, Christopher's favorite-lychees, apple bananas, and some grape-like fruit (I can't remember what it was called now).

We made a quick stop at Mauna Loa mac nut farm and processing plant.

Then we drove down a tiny dirt road to our quaint, little cabin in the rain forest in Volcano, HI. It was so cozy and private.  A perfect place to spend our 10-year wedding anniversary!