The BIG Island - Waterfalls and Volcanos

We just got back from a little weekend trip to the Big Island. If we can, we'd love to visit a new island every year and this seemed like the best time to book a trip to the big Island of Hawaii. (much easier with a baby in the belly than out :) To live up to my reputation, I took a billion pictures. And this post is taking way longer to write than it should. Somehow I messed up the formatting and pictures keep disappearing. So, as long as this post is... it could have been longer. :) Now... on to the trip...

I had to laugh at myself with the packing. I started off packing an "airplane bag" - you know, stuff to keep kids occupied so they don't drive everyone around them insane - and then I remembered, this was a 35 minute flight! Ha! Both ways were the easiest flights I can remember. That is my kind of flying. :)

Also, looking back I realize that this trip was really more for George and I than the kiddos. We saw a lot of cool stuff, but the kids didn't care that it was lava rock or whatever. The fun part was the climbing, jumping, throwing rocks, etc. They were really quite the troopers as we hiked and drove in the car - A LOT. All of the hikes were easy (one mile or less) but we did at least 6 of them in two days. So, not bad, I'd say.

The first two days were spent on the Hilo side, hiking to waterfalls and visiting Volcano National Park. We arrived around 9am Friday morning in Hilo and started to make our way up the coast. Our first stop was the hike down to Onomea Bay.

We saw some whales from a distance and some sea turtles and enjoyed the scenery. Favorite part for the kids: throwing rocks in the bay. Austin especially was sad to leave.

Next stop: Akaka Falls State Park. This was a great half hour hike with a view of Kahuna Falls midway through.

The water falls 442 ft - beautiful!

-----------------

After a delicious passionfruit juice shave ice and lunch, we drove two hours up the coast to Waipi'o Valley. George thought the drive wasn't

totally worth it, but isn't that pretty? And the kids slept the whole way up... bonus!

Back in Hilo, we hit Rainbow Falls.

Anuenue= "rainbow" in Hawaiian

The view of the falls is actually beautiful from the parking lot, but we ventured up the trail a bit and the kids played in the trees and vines. This was George's favorite waterfall (it drops 80ft), but I think he was mainly talking about the playtime afterward which included real vine swinging.

VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK

We entered Volcano National Park around dusk. The first thing we saw were these steam vents. It looked like the valley was filled with mini-fires.

Afterwards we stopped at the Jaggar museum and checked out the volcanic activity. Cool! Sadly, the picture isn't really cool, but you'll have to

trust me on this one.

We looked around the museum (kids liked spinning the earth and trying to figure out how to get the dollars out of the donation box... great!) We also saw the moon rise which was as red as the volcano. It was cool too but I didn't get a photo.

The military runs Kilauea Military camp - these little cabins inside the park and they were great! Sadly, we've all turned into wimps and were freezing in the morning. It had two rooms so the kids all slept in the same room, but snuggled with us in the big bed when they woke up. Then back to the blankets after breakfast.

Our first stop of day 2 was the Visitors Center and Volcano Art Gallery (really neat stuff, but way too pricey to actually buy anything). Then we drove the Crater Rim Drive and stopped at some crater overlooks along the way. This one is Kilauea Iki.

My favorite hike was the Thurston Lava Tube (behind us). Lava flowed through it several hundred years ago and now it looks like a big long cave. Afterwards we hiked through a rainforest-looking trail and saw lots of pretty flowers and trees and birds.

Next up was Devastation Trail. This is one we probably should have skipped. Not sure why the name didn't clue me in on that. But it was paved the whole way so we took the strollers.

Another cool crater

This was one of the Mauna Ulu lava flows on the Chain of Craters Road. Everything looked so smokey and slightly creepy.

The end of the drive takes a steep drive down the mountain to the ocean. Man, could we feel the rise in temperature! We had a picnic by the ocean and were all sweaty before we'd even started our hike.

This is Holei Sea Arch. It is 90ft tall. Quite amazing.

The arch is at the end of a now barricaded road. In 2003, lava flow covered part of the road so you can hike down the road to see it. Wish we would have brought the strollers on this one. Elise was worn out and not happy to hike any more.

Once we got there, it was really quite incredible and the kids loved climbing around on the lava rocks.

We jumped in the car again for... lots more driving. Kids were sweaty and exhausted but Elise woke up when we stopped at the Macadamia Nut Factory. This WOULD have been a good stop... except the factory explanation videos were broken, the workers weren't working, etc. Oops. The nuts were good though.

And next stop... more hiking. :) We drove about two hours from the park along the east side of the coast to see current lava flow. It was on private property so there was limited access.

We walked along this road and I could not believe there were houses built on this land!!! The one Lucy is standing in front of is for sale for $90,000. Killer deal for Hawaii...any takers? According to the public employee working there, during the 1990's, lava covered their land and houses. About ten years later, the property owners wanted to come back. The government wouldn't provide any services (water, sewage, etc.) and charges $25 a year for property tax, so they took the risk. Now lava flow is starting up and some have lost their houses again. Isn't that crazy?

At the end of the half mile road, we gathered on the old lava and watched the new red lava coming down the mountain. When we arrived, we could see red specs and smoke. The employees told us a bunch of stories. One of them crossed the barricades about 30 feet and dumped a quart of water. It instantly turned to steam. Wild.

The old lava has ferns growing in it. The new lava is where the steam is. The guy told us that 30 days ago, the "parking lot" was where we currently stood and people hiked a half mile past where we were standing to see the lava. It was quite incredible how much lava flow there had been.

Of course, the kids just played in the rocks. Great "L" find by Lucy.

According to Elise, these are "baby rocks." They built houses and towers and whatever else. We left when it was dark and we could see red flow on the mountain (in the distance, of course). We needed flashlights for the hike back and the kids had a great time with those.

The next two days were spent on the south and west side... stay tuned.