![]() |
|
|
When
You Go Most volcanic islands have had a million or more years to blanket their massive flows with lush green foliage but the crusty black lava surrounding the Kailua-Kona airport on the big island is still too fresh for that. But fresh is what we’ve come to see.
The Big Island offers one of the world’s most diverse climates and that is a good place to begin thinking about how to plan a trip there. The west side of the island, anchored by the town of Kailua-Kona is the sunny side of the island. The resort belt towards the north experience as little as 25 cm of rain a year. Compare that to areas around Hilo on the east coast which get as much as 419 cm of rain a year.
Lush tropical
jungle, exotic
flowers and spectacular
waterfalls are
found on the other,
rainier coast.
In fact, locals
claim that the
breathtaking opening
and closing scenes
of Jurassic Park
were shot in the
Waipi’o Valley
on the remote north-east
side of the island.
The valley certainly
looked enough like
the Garden of The only drivable route into the valley is a one-lane track that winds down the cliff at a steep 25% grade. Rental cars, even 4WD rentals, are forbidden. There are no services in the valley so should you risk it and find yourself stalled in a mud-sucking, mosquito-ridden wet river crossing, you are on your own. Fortunately, several shuttles ($50 to $60 round trip) operate out of the town of Kukuihaele at the top. The shuttles are actually tours. A local fellow who claimed to have been born in the valley took us down, drove us around for an hour and filled our ears with all the local lore. He deposited us back at the souvenir shop where we were encouraged to pick up lathe-turned wooden bowls at $800 each. They get a lot of cruise traffic through here. The north-eastern
quarter of the
island also offers
awesome waterfalls.
Chief among Also worth mentioning
here is the scenic
4 Mile Route, a
diversion onto
the old highway.
The route runs
between Mile 7
and 11. We thought
it was so beautiful
with its lush foliage,
old wooden bridges,
streams tumbling
over rocks and
views of the coastline
that we re-traced
the route three
times. Hilo is just another big town with its share of shopping centres, strip malls and chain eateries. Keep going unless you have an urgent need for mosquito repellent and umbrellas. Then you will be thankful for Walmart and its $3 umbrellas. To
the south of Hilo
is one of
the most interesting
and beautiful parts
of the island,
the Puna region.
Judging from the
foliage, this area
is not nearly as
wet as the north-east,
but obviously still
gets enough rain
to grow big trees.
The trees themselves
are not overly
remarkable, what
is are the Jurassic-Park
sized split-leaf
philodendrons that
use them as a laun The coastline
here is rugged,
offering magnificent
surf. We just sat
there, jaws agape,
incapable of tearing
ourselves away
from a display
of raw power that
was astounding.
I must have run
my videocam on
the same stretch
of coastline for
half an hour. An
admission that
will no doubt lead
to line-ups for
the premiere of
our Hawaii We also happened onto what is loosely termed, a ” farmers market” . If you ever wondered what happened to all the Haight Ashbury hippies when San Francisco gentrified, we found them. Them and their crystals, herbs, incense sticks, hookah pipes, yoga gurus, Reki practitioners, chakra readers, and sure enough, some of them have even become “organic” farmers. It was an intriguing scene, the hippies plus an interesting collection of FBI fugitives, Rasta wannabees, devotees of far eastern religions with a sprinkling of Hells Angels and some earnest snowbirds singing Elvis karaoke. Actually read somewhere that Puna is where the greatest concentration of people enrolled in the Federal Witness Protection Program have been resettled. Guess now that’s public we can expect the mob to turn up next. Then again, some of those hairy hippy chicks in saris could’ve been fellas in drag. Heading west from Puna the volcano is next.
The big island was actually built by five volcanoes. None are considered extinct yet, but only Mauna Loa which last erupted in 1984 and Kilauea which has been erupting since 1983 are considered active. Kilauea is the most active volcano in the world, but unlike other volcanoes is actually quite friendly. No doubt that isn’t how the nearly 200 residents who lost their homes in a massive flow just a few years back would describe it, but the volcano and it’s lava flows are easily observed. In fact, Kilauea is often called the “drive in volcano”. A good place to start is at the Visitors Centre of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Fill up your water bottles, use the restrooms and look at the 3D depiction. Ask the rangers some questions, collect some brochures, then be on your way, circling the Kilauea Caldera on the Crater Rim Drive. There are a variety of lookouts and things like steam vents and sulphur banks to stop and look at.
It could change
at any moment,
but when we were
there the Pu’u ‘O’o
Crater was the
vent that was generating
the active lava
flow. It is not
possible to drive
to the Pu’u ‘O’o
Crater at this
time. However,
the Chain of Craters
Road, winding down
the 32 km from
the summit to the
ocean, delivers
park visitors to
the edge of the
current flow. It
Where the road ends changes day by day. Sometimes the lava is flowing right over the road, sometimes you have to hike in to see it. When we were there the active lava flow was about 4.5 km from the end of the road. Another option, including a great view of the Pu’u ‘O’o Crater is to book a helicopter flight over the volcano. Trips leave from both Kona and Hilo but as the volcano is so much closer to Hilo, the trip from there is much cheaper and reportedly more interesting. Being an enthusiastic
photographer, my
husband decided
we should take
a “doors
off” flight
so he wouldn’t
have to contend
with shooting through
reflective glass.
This sounded good
in theory but it
is a tad disconcerting
to find yourself
strapped into a
narrow ledge of
a seat with NOTHING
to your left. Just
air. Once airborne
I asked the pilot
through our headsets,
how high we were. “Okaaaaaay. I feel better now.” The advantage
of course, is an
unobstructed view
of the active vent,
lava streaming
down its loins.
The lava flowing
beneath us registered
2000° F. Even
with more than
1000 feet between
us Helicopter tours leave from either Hilo or Kailua-Kona. From Hilo our 1-hour flight cost us $144 each. It would have been $249 but we opted to save $105 each by sitting through a 90-minute timeshare presentation the day before. This is the way it is done in the islands. Helicopter tours, horseback riding, ATV rentals, dive trips ....whatever you can think of. Sit through the timeshare presentation and you receive a discount card that offers substantial enough savings to make it worthwhile. I did check this out by attempting to book a flight without the discount card and the savings were real enough. The timeshare presentation was not onerous and not high pressure, unless you call highly sentimentalized movies of families sharing quality time at the company’s quality developments high pressure. The thrust of their presentation hinged on proving how much money we could save by buying into their timeshare. Their strategy was to multiply the least amount we had ever paid for a hotel room times the weeks we wanted to holiday thereby showing us how much money we would save. As budget travellers we didn’t fit their profile very well. The least amount we had ever paid for a hotel room was not the $100 per night they expected, but $8 a night in Central America. We didn’t make it easy on the young lady and I felt so sorry for her I even started wondering if maybe we should buy something? Fortunately my husband read the look on my face and kicked me under the table. Hawaii certainly has its share of pricey resorts but that doesn’t mean it is off the menu for budget travellers. There are many B&Bs, homes and suites for rent that offer substantial savings and an opportunity to rub up against the locals. We were able
to rent a very
nice room with
ensuite, freshly
refurbished and
complete with all
amenities including
boogie boards,
coolers, beach
chairs, beach towels
and snorkel equipment
for $56 per night
for the first week,
$44 per night for
the second night.
This also included
access to a shared
kitchen that was
fully equipped.
Everything was
spotlessly clean,
the hous Hawaii offers travellers a lot: a west coast blest by endless sunshine and bejewelled with sparkling beaches; an east coast lush with tropical rainforest jungles; and a visitor-friendly volcano offering up unforgettable lessons in the natural history and evolution of the earth. I’d recommend it. Don’t forget
to take: Hawaii Centre
for Volcanology Hawaii National
Park Service Volcano
Site Hawaii
Visitor and Convention
Bureau Homes
and Suites for
Rent Carolyn Usher
| |
![]() |