Tonight we had a re-eye flight from Kona back to the Mainland. We definitely made the most of our time today. The morning consisted of packing, packing, and more packing. We had accumulated a lot of gifts and things so it took a while to get organized. Somehow, we were coming home with FOUR new tiki mugs!
One last look at the Royal Kona
Of course we did even more shopping today. We had a very nice lunch at a Japanese restaurant and drove up to Waipi'o Valley Lookout on the north side of the island. I think that we can say we've seen most of the types of terrain on this island. The transition from lava field to farmland to jungle in the space of 60 miles was amazing.
As Hans drove us back to Kona I was mesmerized by how clear the coastline was up to where I went for a swim yesterday afternoon
Upon our return to Kona we went back to Kona Brewing Company and had some of their pizza. I got a beer sampler and we hung out until it was time to gas up the rental car and go back to the airport (after collecting our luggage, which we had stored at the hotel for the day).
Even though the Kona airport is small and efficient it still sucked to be just waiting to board a plane. And since our flight was at 9:30 pm we were tired and ready to be just done for the night.
We were home by 5 pm the next day - in 100-degree heat! Yuck! But, we were grateful for the long July 4th weekend during which we could rest and recover. This trip will be hard to beat. What a heck of a time.
I say this for every trip - all good things must come to an end. This was our final full day in Hawaii. In the morning we went to a local coffee shop and had really nice papaya yogurt bowls for breakfast. Our only real goal for today was a little bit of last minute shopping and checking off any other experiences we were interested in.
We drove to Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, the site of a small museum and the remnants of an old temple. Nearby is Spencer Beach Park, a quiet and small beach with a pleasant shaded picnic area and plenty of shower. I had come prepared for one final Hawaii swim and so I went into the shallow calm water and enjoyed a little bit of sun an sea while Hans took pictures of native birds at the park.
When we were finished we had lunch at a tiny hole-in-the-wall spot and then went to a macadamia nut factory. They were offering samples of their various products including Ka'u-grown coffee at their sister business.
We had to get back to the hotel before dinnertime because we had tickets for the hotel's luau, which featured performances meant to reflect Polynesian cultures all around the Pacific Ocean. The food was INCREDIBLE and the open bar had us feeling good at the end of the night. We still had to have a final round of drinks at the tiki bar before bed.
To the side of the parking lot were piles of macadamia nut shells and birds everywhere
Some pre-luau rum on our balcony
We had an ocean-front room on the third floor of this tower, to the right in the middle
Guests gather all around the mesquite-smoked kalua pork pit
Today's tour wasn't until 3 pm and we had some errands to run. We took a break from Hawaiian cuisine and ate our cheapest vacation meal of the trip at Costco! Even here where everything is crazy-expensive, the beef hotdog and soda combo costs $1.50.
Oh, I forgot. My pre-trip at-home manicure was looking absolutely dreadful this morning so I made a 9 am appointment at a nail salon. My only regret is that it took almost two hours, but the very nice nail tech did a very nice job.
Anyway, in the afternoon we put on warm layers and donned our long pants and hiking shoes and then parked at the nearby Courtyard Marriott so that we could be picked up by our tour driver and guide for the evening. We were going to the top of Mauna Kea!
The dormant shield volcano is the site of dozens of observatories for various purposes related to space science. The nearly 14,000-foot elevation is above most clouds and the atmosphere is thinner - which is a good combination for astronomy.
Our driver's narration of Hawaii fun facts and corny jokes made for a relaxing trip up the mountain. We stopped at the visitor center at about 9,000 feet for a bathroom break and dinner, which was served in old-school Stanley thermoses. We made a few other stops on the way up so that we could gradually experience the elevation gain. By the time we were at the summit I could really feel it if I moved around too much. I was grateful that our driver had explained all of the ways we might feel "weird" in the thin atmosphere - because I definitely had heavy legs.
The sunset was spectacular.
As it grew dark we loaded back onto the bus and descended back to a more comfortable elevation on the mountain and our driver set up a telescope for some guided star gazing. At this point I set up a camera and tripod to take some pictures. Tonight was the full moon, so there was almost no chance of photographing faint deep sky objects like nebulae but the unique landscape was fully illuminated like daytime in long-exposure photos.
We were dropped off in town by about 11 pm and I was very tired by the time we went to bed.
The true summit of Mauna Kea and the rising full moon
In the distance you can see the top of Red Hill on Maui, about 80 miles away
We could see the top of Mauna Loa, about 25 miles away
This satellite dish for radio astronomy is the exact same type as what they used for filming the movie Contact and it is part of the Very Long Baseline Array project. The array's signal can be amplified five-fold if they enlist the help of the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia
We had to be up a bit early and drive a few miles down the road for our second snorkel adventure of this trip. This time we were transported to Kealakekua Bay Marine Conservation Area via boat, as it is illegal to be on the shore of this protected nature preserve and culturally sensitive area.
Yes, it is the site of the demise of Captain James Cook. He drowned here. The cliffs were used as an important burial site by the Hawaiians and it is estimated that the bones of about 1,000 individuals are there.
The burial cliff
Captain Cook memorial
We don't have a lot of photos from this excursion but you can see footage in our YouTube video
The variety of sea life was about as abundant as at Hanauma Bay but since the water is much deeper we didn't have to worry about the possibility of cashing into coral or sea urchins (which were way larger here). Also, the boat had some fun features - water slides and a high dive!
Without much hesitation I launched headfirst off of the diving ledge but as I was falling I suddenly realized that the falling distance was much further than I expected. I face planted, slightly. My two other dives were more refined, ha-ha.
The tour company also fed the guests two plant-based meals. On the way out we all got a nice oatmeal and fruit bowl along with some homemade banana bread. At lunch time we got a fresh salad, fried taro chips, and two sandwiches. I'll admit that the chickpea-based "tuna salad" was not that great but the pulled jack-fruit seasoned with BBQ spices was very nice and would have fooled me as "pulled pork". Fresh cookies during the return voyage were appreciated. We were back at the hotel at around 1:30-2:00 pm.
After showers and resting for a bit we went over to the hotel's on-site tiki bar.
We used our complimentary hotel mai tai tokens and Hans declared that these drinks were what he remembered from a family trip over 20 years ago and confirmed his mai tai obsession origin story.
In college he tried to replicate them but the ingredients available did not match the quality required.
We ordered a couple more rounds of drinks (their Three Dots and a Dash was the best we've tried anywhere or made ourselves), had really good food from the kitchen for dinner, and had an interesting conversation from a local who said he was there for happy hour but had a three mile walk home after. We went to bed pretty early after an eventful day. Tomorrow we have another cool activity planned.
Don's Tiki Bar at the hotel has a view that can't be beat!
Today was the day! We still can’t believe our incredible luck.
Last night we had organized and packed our things for the drive from Volcano Village to Kona, where we would be staying for the remainder of this trip. It was going to take only a couple of hours, however, so we had most of the day to take our time and find random activities to do.
While Kilauea had been giving off periodic spurts of lava yesterday and overnight, most of such activity had reduced to steam by this morning. But, the USGS website said that a fountaining event was highly likely to occur today.
We loaded up the car and checked out of the cottage at 8 AM and drove directly to the park and the overlook closest to the crater. There were perhaps a dozen other vehicles and more than a few people that were set up at the overlook area for the long haul. They had lawn chairs, blankets, snacks, and binoculars. Some USGS employees were hanging around in yellow reflective vests.
The sky above us was clear and the wind was keeping the clouds at bay and away from Mauna Loa, we we were treated to a full view of the area.
It was our last possible day to see the volcano go off, and we decided to hang around for a couple of hours. At around 8:30 some fast moving but low lava could be seen overflowing from the active vent. Neat! Within about 20 more minutes it began to bubble a little. Then the bubbling gradually went higher. I told Hans to hold our spot while I ran back to the car. I dashed back to the parking lot, which was starting to fill in. I grabbed the camera tripod, some snacks, the sunscreen, water bottles, and our beach/picnic blanket from home.
When I returned to the overlook more people had begun to assemble along the fence. The lava bubbled still higher.
I noticed that an array of little remote robots and scientific equipment was near the vent. The USGS site said that the lava bubbles were about 50 feet high. At this point Hans and I decided that we were going to stick around for a while. Gradually, over the course of 3 hours, recognition set in among the spectators that this was indeed the predicted fountaining event number 50 that we were witnessing. Every once in a while everyone would suddenly fall silent as the low sound of the volcano rumbling and roaring could be heard.
The previous event had reached a height of about 600 feet and according to today’s measurements we were looking at a lava fountain over 700 feet high. A few times the smoke and tephra formed a cyclone next to the vent. The plume was reaching 10,000 feet high so I put my head/face covering on. It was mesmerizing to watch, but at 11:30 Hans and I finally had to tear our eyes away and leave the park.
We had hoped to be around for the event today but that would have been extremely lucky and we were already happy with what we had seen on the previous days. What a fun experience.
Unsurprisingly, every single parking lot in the park was full and NPS employees were having to hold and then direct traffic as space became available. The craziest part was that from the highway on our way to Kona we could see the lava fountain easily over the treeline! Hans and I hadn’t even been present for the full show, it turned out. Eventually the lava fountain peaked at a height of about a thousand feet and continued for several hours. All activity came to an abrupt and complete stop at about 5 PM.
By that time we were checked into the Royal Kona Resort. Along the way we made a quick detour to Punalu’u Beach, a nice little spot with black sand. We got to see a solitary green sea turtle taking a little nap on the shore.
The lava fields all around the highway were impressive. For a late lunch we stopped at Punalu’u Bake Shop and had really good breakfast sandwiches made with their wonderful Portuguese sweet bread and Portuguese sausage. We also had a final round of malasada donuts.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park takes up a large portion of the big island and we were going to drive right past another section, the Kahuku Unit. The former cattle ranch land is now part of the national park and it features several old cones and lava fields. We did a short loop hike in the rain - which was honestly very welcome after standing in the sunshine at Kilauea earlier. It also kept the tephra at bay though we could smell the volcanic air periodically. It had a very interesting almost spicy scent to it. The bright red soil contrasted against the greenery.
As we walked along an old lava field we could see tiny flecks of green olivine, the substance that makes up Hawaii's Green Sand Beach. So, we didn't get to walk on the famous beach itself but we got to see some green sand, anyway!
We were a bit tired from the day’s events and being out in the elements all morning. The intense sun here is quite an experience. For dinner we went to nearby Kona Brewing Company.
Mauna Loa in the morning
The progression of the volcano over the course of three hours:
Pele came out to play
USGS and NPS employees had to periodically remind visitors to stay behind the safety barriers
A Green Sea Turtle at Punalu’u Beach
Rainy pics at the Kahuku Unit of the national park. We chose a couple of short interconnected trails that took us up and around the Pu’u o Lokuana cinder cone
This old airfield was from the 1960s
Walking along the 1868 lava flow. Some bits of lava were loose and tippy!
There were old lava vents sticking out of the ground and many had long bamboo sticks inside so that you could see how deep they go
Our lunch stop for donuts and breakfast sandwiches. Their homemade bread was so good!
