Big Island

This past week the boys and I with my good friend, T, and her daughter, took a trip to the Big Island (another Hawaii bucket list place...Jason went a couple of years ago so he volunteered to stay home with the girls). We had 5 days and 4 nights and we pretty much covered everything we set out to see. 

Day 1 - We started off on the east side of the island in Hilo and took a tour of the Lyman Museum where we learned about the first missionaries to the island back in the 1800's and the work they did. After that we ventured down south to the coast in the Puna district and put our feet in the Ahalanui hot ponds...after reading about bacterial counts in the water we didn't really want to go for a swim. But the water is heated by underground springs that are warmed as they pass through hot rocks (from the magma underground).

We then drove on over and stayed at Kilauea Military Camp in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. That was quite an experience, not only to be at 4,000 feet elevation and have pretty chilly temps (you know for us wimpy mild weather people) but also to be within walking distance to an overlook where you could see glowing lava in the pit crater (Halema' uma' u) of Kilauea at night. Kilauea is the most active volcano on the planet and is something I could talk about for a long time...but I don't want to bore my few readers. I have never seen anything like it and am so glad we were able to take this trip.

Day 2 -We did about a 4 mile crater hike to Kilauea I'ki where a lava lake was created back in 1959. The trail started off in a beautiful forest and ended up on one side of this old "lake". The path went right down the middle and we hiked back up the ridge to the top again and ended in Thurston lava tube. You can see Halema'uma'u steaming in the distance.

My good friend T.

Part of the lava lake. Don't worry those cracks were only created by gas pressure under the surface.

A steam vent right in the middle...too close and it can burn you. All I can say is amazing!

We then drove down Chain of Craters Road where we saw the most amazing landscape. Old lava flows after old lava flows down the the coast where the road ends because of lava covering the road. Amazingly these lava flows reach the coast and dump into the ocean which creates new land.

This is all you could see for miles.

Holei Sea Arch

Day 3- Steam vents...not a forest fire.

Sulfur Banks Trail...sulfur dioxide seeps out of the cracks with ground water steam.

crystals forming on the rocks

Lehua flower which has a great Hawaiian legend about it.

We then left Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and drove up the south coast headed towards Kona. We stopped at a great little coffee farm that makes world renowned Ka'u coffee where I got a bag of John Bull roast. The kids got to crack some macadamia nuts and eat an apple banana for a snack and we got to sample a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Jude and I sampled a coffee berry and then saw what the coffee beans look like before they roast them.

We then headed to Punalu'u black sand beach where sea turtles tend to hang out. We saw a few swimming around but mostly the kiddo's enjoyed playing in this eerie yet beautiful looking sand...and boy does that stuff heat up when the sun comes out. I learned quick that you can't walk on this beach barefoot.

And then to complete our day we did another 5+ mile hike to Papakolea green sand beach (one of two in the world) which starts out on the southern most tip of the United States. We followed jeep trails through pasture lands until we saw this cinder cone formation and then did a short climb down the steep bank to the beach. The olive sand is created from a mineral called olivine which is a semi-precious stone created from volcanic stone.

Day 4 - After all those hikes and driving we were ready to enjoy the resort at Hilton Waikoloa Village. We spent the day swimming, water sliding, snorkeling and resting. We also got to see a whale splashing his tail in the ocean off the coast of the resort.

Day 5 - Our last day there we ventured back into Kona and toured Hulihee Palace, which was a historic vacation home for Hawaiian royalty.

Across the street was the first Christian Church, Mokuaikaua Church, built in the islands in 1820.

We ended our visit at the Kona Brewing company where I had the best fish tacos I have ever had. So many great memories and such amazing scenery!