Ocean giants

As my lovely friend Kayla had mentioned prior to me leaving for this trip... the likelyhood of me collecting an assortment of bracelets along our travels is not only likely but garanteed. You'll be lucky if you can see the skin on my arms by the time we come home. ;) Although, no bracelets have jumped out at me yet, as the perfect first bracelet.. until, one particular bracelet just happened to literally fall at Mike's feet. It must have been stuffed into Mike's bag when we were staying at my sisters house prior to leaving. What a nice surprise Leala. Thanks my little angel. So here you have it, my first bracelet. Don't worry Kayla, I am going to collect bracelets for you along the way and I expect you to wear them forever and ever and ever. 

                   

Day 8- We couldn't resist starting our day off with a delicious coffee and treat so we stopped off at Tin Shack to satisfy us once again. 

Once our buzz kicked in we hit the road again, this time we drove through the center of the Big Island. We drove to a beach that locals gave us directions to. Down a hidden driveway and along a rocky road, the beach emerged. The heat was on another level this day! It didn't matter what sunscreen concoction we used, we both roasted in the sun. 

While we were swimming in the ocean, we both got spooked by something large coming towards us.... we backed out slowly to try to see what it was... I backed out a little quicker than Mike. Turns out it was our favorite ocean friend, the turtle. Here he is coming up to say hello. He wasn't alone either, he had many of his friends exploring the ocean with him. 

               

This beach also had a hidden treasure along the treeline. Caves along the earth filled with ice cold fresh water, no more than 15 feet from the beach, called Queens Bath. You could actually swim from one cave to another. They were pretty impressive.

                 

From here we headed to an activity that we had been trying to arrange since we arrived on the big island. Diving with manta rays. It is ranked as the number 4 dive in the world.  About 30 years ago, a bunch of divers were diving near the airport in Kona, which is located right off the coastline. When they were diving they noticed that the lights put in for the airport were attracting loads and loads of plankton. What eats plankton? Manta Rays. Huge ones. Once these divers figured this out, they exlpoited it and have been brining people there to see this amazing phenomenon ever since. 

On our way to the manta ray site, we were lucky enough to play with some spinner dolphins in the water. Our captain made waves for them and they played in them like a couple of kids playing at a pool. 

Unfortunately, our water proof camera broke hours prior to this.... and Mike's gopro was out of batteries. Luckily, we chatted up a nice mother and son and they promised to send us their gopro footage. This is the only image we managed to capture before our gopro died.  

The experience was insane. The manta rays were bigger than you'd expect and they would do flips right next to us to ingest as much plankton as possible. At one point we had three fighting for their share. Definetely worth the money spent. We went with a company called Hang Loose, they were amongst the first discoverers, 30 years ago, and weren't overpriced like most other companies. 

Day 9-  This was our last day on the big island.  We woke up early to do the crater hike at volcano before the sun got too intense. It is a 4 mile hike that has a 400 foot decline and incline. That faint line in the center of the crater is the trail we took. 

If it wasn't for Mike the crater would have closed in on us. Phew, thank goodness he's so strong. 

We were also able to walk through a real lava tube formed at one of the more recent eruptions. As you can see I get very excited when I see a good lava tube. 

                     

After our day at volcano we were dehydrated and hungry. We went to a natural foods grocery store in Pahoa that made fresh and healthy sandwiches on demand. I was in sandwich heaven. 

                 

     

Simple pleasures

Day 6- This one began with one of the best cups of Kona Coffee I've ever had. Our guesthouse host took us to one of his local spots called the Tin Shack in the town of Pahoa. I haven't taken a photo of it yet but it has everything that would make a local coffee shop hangout cool. First off, it is a tin makeshift building with a random assortment of seating and tables, locals playing guitar while singing on the stage, the best coffee and sweets available and the most eclectic group of hippies I have ever seen under one roof. Photographic evidence coming soon.

After we filled our bellies with coffee and cinnamon knots we drove out to the Hawaii Volcano National Park, got an abundance of information from one of the guides at the visitor center and planned out our visit to the Volcano for the next couple of days. The park is huge and houses two active volcanoes. We hiked near the Kilauea volcano that has been erupting since 1983. As we walked through the park we could feel random heat pockets coming from the earth. These were steam vents, pressure being released from the volcano.

                           

The steam vents gave off enough heat that when your hand was over them, it felt like a kettle going off. 

Sulphur banks were also scattered around the active volcano and they gave off a strong smell of rotten eggs.

Our view of the actual volcano was quite clear. A smoke plume is always visible and the crater that make up the volcanoes floor is massive in size. 

Mike loves these cheesy photo optic illusions and he promises to take these photos everywhere we go. Here is his first one... ouch careful Mike don't get too close. 

The park guide told us about a more secluded spot to see the glow of the volcano after dark. After a short drive and a mile long walk, we arrived at the most barren empty place in the park. This part of the park was closed to vehicles as the last eruption 4 months ago flooded the area with lava. Today all that is left is black lava rock frozen in place. This made for a great place to watch the glow of the lava reflect off the smoke plume. Unfortunately there is no visible lava flow from the trails unless we take a helicopter at this time.

We sat at this one spot for some time while we waited for the sun to go down.... Mike and I could both see a certain figure in the lava... do you see what we saw?

A St. Bernard? or maybe a terrier? What ever it is, it looks like a dog. Made us smile.

Once the sun went down the show began and it was spectacular. 

After catching a good glimpse of the glow from this angle we headed back to our car to see it from the main lookout.  On the way back the sky lit up like I'd never seen it in my life. Unfortunately my photography skill level is only in the beginners stage so I was unable to capture it. Although it was almost better this way. We got to enjoy it and we had the best seats in the house. These are the simple pleasures we take for granted in our normal life. 

From the other side of the crater we were able to capture more photos of the red hot plume floating over the volcano.

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Day 7- We have officially been gone for 1 week. Yihaw.

Today we drove out to South Point. South Point is the most southern point in the United States. About 3 miles from there is green beach also known as Mahana beach. The 3 mile hike to the beach is over rocky terrain and clouds of dust but a 4 by 4 can be hired to drive people down there for $30 bucks round trip. This is one of two green sand beaches in the world. Once we arrived at green beach the scene was quite beautiful. The beach itself is in a cove surrounded by black cliffs and the sand is... yup you guessed it, a faint color green. 

Walking down for a swim.

We ended up paying a driver to take us back and we enjoyed the rocky road to our car. From here we returned to South Point. There are huge cliffs that make up this famous landscape. What do you do when life gives you lemons? You make lemonade. Of course... so what do you do when life gives you a giant cliff with water below it? You jump.

These are my people

Day 5- We set out to explore more of the east side of the island. First we hit up Akaka falls, which lies about 11 miles from Hilo. The falls impressive height at 422 feet is double the height of niagra falls in Canada. This excursion is more commercialized than Rainbow falls and the path is paved with guard rails. The falls were definitely worth the view but no more than a half hour needs to be spent here. 

                         

               

From here we set out to find the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Gardens.  In most cases this type of activity is not something Mike and I would schedule into our plans but we had multiple people tell us that it was well worth our time. One even said, "I'm not into gardens and it was amazing!"... we were sold! Turns out... it really was just a very large garden with a lot of interesting and foreign plants..... I'm going to be honest.... not that amazing. Unless you love plants... I would not say this is something to put on your radar if your heading to the big island. 

    

                     

A lady and her daughter asked us if we wanted our picture taken. When we said yes she told us to pretend we were standing under mistletoe. Mike said "little weird kissing your sister but OK!" and the result is me laughing while trying to kiss Mike under the mistletoe. Then I told the ladies about the slaptoe in our home and they did not laugh. I guess I should keep those things to myself. Kissing your sister is funny but slapping people isnt? I don't get people. 

     

  

Although this next picture may have made it worth our while. It is one of my new favorites.

     

   

The city of Hilo goes to sleep around 10pm as many places in Hawaii have noise restrictions. The owner of the home were staying in gave us a tip on where to catch some late night action... it was a bit awkward when we showed up naked as it was a night market... Uncle Robert's night market happens every night but their big night is on Wednesday. The sun goes down here around 7:30, which can make driving at night with no street lights a little nerve wrecking but when we arrived at Uncle Robert's I was more than satisfied. These were my people (as Mark Wiseman would say but Mark's people are scarier than my people). It had a hippy vibe with a live Hawaiian band playing Bob Marley tunes. I couldn't ask for anything more. We zig zagged through the tables and people to see tarot card readers, kids making necklaces, tons of food, liquid concoctions full of health benefits and hand made soap.  I don't know how my mom would fit into this crowd but her bread would do just fine.. although she might need some psychedelic names to attract the hippies. (Groovy apricot raisin bread has a ring to it)

The Right Way to Fall

Day 3- After successfully hitching our way from the Kona side of the island over to the Hilo side, our last driver kindly dropped us off at enterprise where we had a car booked!! It felt good to finally be mobile. Although we'd be lying if we didn't admit that we felt really cool hitch hiking. Trust me, we did. Especially Mike. <eye roll> After picking up some groceries for the rest of the week we headed to our home for the next 7 days. We rented a room in a guy's home for $36 bucks a night off Air bnb. Compared to the rest of the accommodation on this island, this is a steal. After getting settled in we headed to Rainbow Falls. 

Rainbow falls is a waterfall that is 80 feet high and 100 feet in diameter. The scenery that surrounds it truly makes you feel like you're in a real live Jurassic Park. You have the freedom to explore on your own and swim in the rapids.

From here we walked to the rocks behind the waterfall. 

This was definitely a favourite so far. The volcanic rock that makes up the island looks like something you would see at Disney land. It never ceases to amaze us how the volcanic rock acts as the perfect canvas for a landscape painted by over 3000 different species of plants. You can drive along the highway and not see the same type of tree for kms at a time. The sheer hight of the trees is breathtaking. 

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Day 4- We hit the road for Waipio Valley, which is on the north side of the island. There is a steep road that takes you into the valley. Only 4 by 4 vehicles can make the trip and they don't do it for free so we hiked it instead. The road gains 800 vertical feet in 0.6 miles. Apparently it is one of the steepest roads in the United Stated and possibly the world. Needless to say my glutes are hurting today. 

Once in the valley there is a beautiful waterfall in the distance. The trail was closed... something to do with ancient burial sites. 

When the valley opens up to the ocean the sand is black, ultra fine and as hot as hell. Kind of how Kassie likes her men. :)

                                        

The greenery was lush and untouched in the valley. There are some farmers/hippies who live there and in my opinion they have settled into a modern day version of Eden.

Aloha from Hawaii

 We jumped into the Big Island feet first.. or shall I say with our thumbs up? Turns out we messed up big time by not renting a car but luckily the big island is hitch hiker friendly, as the locals say, "It`s the island way". This became our only mode of transportation for our first three days here. We met some interesting characters along the way and they all got us to our destination in one piece. Some left us with a better story than others.
                                            

Our hostel was cool but the guy running it gave us some poor information which led us in the wrong direction more than once. Although he did invite us onto his roof top to check out the fireworks on July 4th!!

Here are some photos of the first activity we did on the Kona side of the island. The hike is called Captain Cook. Strenuous and nasty is how I would describe this 6km hike. It is rated as moderate and it has a 1500 foot ascent back to the top.  Our arms and legs were all beaten up from walking through the tall grass but it was well worth the ocean view at the bottom. 

But then Mike sustained his first injurty of the trip... Oops. Don't worry folks, he is going to be just fine.. I won't need to find myself a Hawaiian equivalent.

And here is the reason for it all: