Hawaii

I think Chad would agree with me in saying that our trip to Hawaii was every bit as excellent as we had imagined it would be. Chad gets the credit for all of the planning; he pored over guidebooks, scoured the internet, and booked everything. His work paid off. It was smooth sailing from start to finish.

Before I give you the Reader's Digest version of our Big Island getaway, you may want to go to kaparadio.com and listen live to their broadcast of the latest Hawaiian hits. We listened to it in the car so often that we could practically sing along (in Hawaiian) by the end of the trip.

Okay, these photos are not even remotely in chronological order, but I think they capture the spirit of the whole adventure.

Chapter 1: Lava, Lava Everywhere

We walked on some extremely new land. We preferred hiking on Pahoehoe lava rock (the smooth, ropey kind), to a'a lava rock (the sharp, jagged stuff that tore my flip flops to shreds).
Everybody writes messages in white coral on the black lava rock. So here's our graffiti:

Here we are trying not to injure ourselves as we pose for a self-timer on the brutal a'a:
Kilauea Caldera has been putting on its current show since March.

Half of Volcanoes National Park was closed for safety reasons, but we were able to hike along a ridge and look down on former flows, like the Kilauea Iki crater.


Then, we hiked down and across the whole crater. There were steam vents everywhere, and the ground was warm to the touch. I kind of like this picture, even though all I'm dong is stacking some rocks so I can perch the camera for a self-timer.

And here's that self-timer:

That night, we drove out of the park, and went to the place where the lava was flowing into the ocean. We had to hike out (across more lava rock, naturally), and we were actually leaping around like gazelles, because we were lava rock experts by that point.

Here's what we saw when we were as close as the officials would let us go:

We sat there for about 4 hours, just watching the colors change as it got dark, then watching the lava shoot up into the air.

Words and photos (especially with my lack of photographic skill) certainly can't do it justice. It was unbelievable. We just stared and stared (and tried to ignore the loud people around us talking about things like porcelain veneers and botox).


We dabbled in spelunking as well. There are lava tubes all over the island that you can hike through, and we checked out a couple of them. One was super touristy, and the other was slightly off the beaten path.

Here's a view looking back at the "skylight" (the place where part of the tube collapsed, and where you can enter it):

And here we are, posing for yet another self-timer in the cave. See how it looks all bright and shiny in there? It's completely pitch-black-the-darkest-thing-you've-ever-seen. You had to shine the flashlight to find exactly where to place each step as you moved. This brightness is all the work of the camera's flash.


Chapter 2: Sand, Snorkels, and Sandwiches

We spent a few days just sitting on the beach. We took picnic lunches with us, and various layers of sun protection. We snorkeled everywhere we went, and had lots of good fish viewing and amazing coral landscapes. We even got up close and personal with a couple of sea turtles. The beaches were beautiful and practically deserted (thanks to the best guidebook in the universe).

I took this very cheesy photo of myself as we hiked back from the beach across the a'a. Please note the ridiculously large sunglasses.

Chapter 3: Waterfalls

We took a spur-of-the-moment drive to the Hilo side of the island to check out some of the famous falls. Here is Rainbow Falls:
Pretty, right? Well, we had seen its picture in the guidebook, and were expecting to hike out to some gorgeous corner of nature. As it turned out, we just had to hike to the corner of a parking lot to get this view. Still pretty, though.


Chapter 4: Dolphins!

This was crazy. Something I will never forget. We rented a kayak to paddle across Kileakekua Bay to the Captain Cook Monument, where there was supposed to be good snorkeling, and a chance of seeing spinner dolphins.

Here are a few of the dolphins:

And here is Chad seeking membership in the pod:

The bay was PACKED with dolphins. We kayaked and swam with them for three hours. They came right up to us. Incredible.

Finally, we paddled all the way across and stopped for lunch. Here's our lunchtime view:


Chapter 5: Hawaiian Sunsets

Since the air was so full of "vog" from the volcano, the sunsets mostly amounted to the brief appearance of an orange ball in the sky, which would disappear long before it made it down to the horizon. The only postcard sunset was on our first night there:

Gosh, there is much, much more to tell. I may add a few more chapters to this tale at a later date. Until then, I will leave you with a few more items:

1. My hair goes all lovely and wavy in a humid climate. Hawaii hair is good.
2. I bought a ukulele.
3. Mango daquiris are absolutely delicious.
4. The Luau at the Kona Beach Hotel is nothing like the Luau on the Brady Bunch.
5. Miloli'i is an interesting place.
6. I enjoy saying humuhumunukunukuapua'a.
7. Ramen noodles taste the same in Hawaii as they do here.
8. Don't waste your money on Donkey Balls...even out of curiosity.
9. We should have taken our petzls. Really, you should always take your petzl.
10. KAPA is home of Hawaii's music.
11. Vacations are a good thing.
12. Happy Anniversary, Hun. Mahalo plenty for ten years of pahoehoe, and hardly any a'a. (but lots of ha ha)
13. Where shall we spend 11 days for our 11th anniversary? :)