Terri booked us on a one-day package deal to “The Big
Island”, i.e. the island of Hawaii, or Hawai’i as it should be spelled. The
transportation to and from the airport, airfare and rental car was all part of
the deal. It wasn’t cheap: $525 altogether, but it was worth the price.
Unfortunately some wires got crossed. We thought we were to be picked up at 5
a.m., instead it was 6 a.m. There are few things that can spoil the Hawaiian
mood more than getting up a full hour earlier than you have to.
You have two choices if you want to get between islands by
air: Hawaiian or Aloha Airlines. Our deal took us on Hawaiian Airlines,
reputedly the better of the two airlines. Alas the security was no less than for
flights to the mainland. It took much longer to get on the flight than it took
to get to our destination. We were airborne by 8 a.m. and in Hilo before 9 a.m.,
a journey of less than two hundred miles. Our flight took us over the north side
of the Big Island. We could see Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the islands
quite easily, and the many observatories on its summit. But other parts of the
island were enshrouded in mist or rain. Hilo itself was having a gentle shower
when we arrived.
Hilo itself is not that big a city. It reminded me of
Johnson City in size. I guessed it had maybe 30,000 people. The Big Island
itself seems much more rural than Hawaii. There is plenty of room for expanding
suburbs. I just hope they don’t do it.
We grabbed our rental car and made straight for the Kilauea
Volcano about 45 miles away toward the southwest. You don’t need a map. Signs
(“The Volcano”) start at the airport exit and are easily followed. The
volcano itself was not visible. It is about 4000 feet high, which is puny
compared to its big cousins Mauna Kea (13,796 feet) and Mauna Loa (13,680 feet).
In addition it has a sunken caldera instead of a summit. The drive was
unremarkable. You just keep slowly ascending along a road full of scrub brush on
either side.
A few miles before the volcano on Rt. 11 is Volcano Village. Village is a good word for it because it is very small. We drove through it. There is a general store, a gas station and not much else. McDonalds has opportunities here, I think. But don’t tell them.
When we got out at the visitor’s center it was obvious we
were up high. It was cool, almost cold, but sunny after a recent shower. An
excellent National Park ranger was giving a talk about Kilauea, which was still
not visible to us. He emphasized to us that the volcano, and by extension the
park, was an ever changing place since the volcano was still active. More than
one visitor’s center had been destroyed by lava. There had been major
eruptions in 1983 and in the early 90s. Lava from one of its vents was still
flowing into the Pacific! Over 300 acres of new land had been created since 1983
by the volcano. Although it was not apparent to us, the Big Island was growing
toward the east. This is the way things go in Hawaii. If you want older land go
west. In time perhaps a chain of islands will extend all the way to the
Americas. I just hoped an eruption wouldn’t happen while we were there, but he
assured us seismologists usually have plenty of warning before major eruptions.
Usually.
It was a short walk to the Volcano House Hotel where we
could do some shopping and set off on a tour of the park. Thus far we hadn’t
seen anything. But as I approached the House I had another one of these “oh my
god” moments because I glimpsed the caldera for the first time through the
passageway. It’s the sort of feeling I got the first time I approached the rim
of the Grand Canyon. For a moment your breath is taken away. “Terri you got to
see this!” I exclaimed so she and Rosie hurried over to the balcony, which
sits right there on the edge of the caldera and looks down several hundred feet
to the top of the caldera, which was ash gray. I had seen pictures of the
volcano but I wasn’t expecting it to be this large. It varies from 4 to 7
miles in diameter. Even a panoramic camera couldn’t quite squeeze in the whole
thing. In short it is immense. Steam could be seen rising from parts of the
caldera. Red-hot lava could not be that far below the temporary volcanic rock
surface.
We hung around half an hour or so just kind of
thunderstruck looking at it. “There are people down there!” Terri exclaimed.
Yes, they were there all right, way down on the caldera, looking like ants to
us. Terri was aghast. “I could never, never, NEVER do that!” she said. I
didn’t understand her phobia. If we had the time I would have loved to walk
down on the caldera. It’s not like it was likely the volcano would be
erupting. What an experience that would have been!
We got in our rental and started clockwise around Crater
Rim Drive, stopping at most of the overlooks. The Thurston Lava Tube was off the
road a ways. I went down and explored it briefly, but neither Terri nor Rosie
wanted to spend the 20 minutes it took to walk through it. What I saw was neat
and again I wanted the time to explore it properly.
Soon we connected with Chain of Craters Road. This is a
road 25 miles long or so that wends its way down to the sea, following many a
large lava flow and with many a lookout over the Pacific from high above that
was breathtaking in a different way. We passed cooled lava flows miles across
strewn with volcanic boulders. We were told that bulldozers had to occasionally
come down and resurface the roads. When we finally reached the sea we got out
and saw the famous black sand beaches and an unusual arch formation formed from
lava. The sea was inaccessible. Cliffs 75 feet high or more made it impossible
for all but serious rock climbers to even think about going down. But there were
also these huge crashing waves to contend with that even from our height sounded
almost deafening. In addition there were periodic squalls that seemed to come
around every 20 minutes or so and drench you.
The
road came to an abrupt end. A park station was there and lots of cars were
parked along the side of the road. A mile or so ahead in the distance lava was
pouring into the sea, as it had for the last 20 years or so, causing an enormous
amount of steam to rise from where the lava touched the cooling sea. Adventurous
types could walk a mile or so over very rocky and sometimes warm lava and get a
better view. However signs warned that the air had lots of sulfur in it from the
lava, and breathing it might be dangerous to many people. We decided to move
forward anyhow. After a while you could taste the sulfur in the air and
breathing did not seem completely healthy. Naturally when we were half way there
a squall came up and got us thoroughly soaked. We had not had the common sense
to bring umbrellas or a change of clothes with us either. Terri and Rosie
eventually bailed but I continued over very black and occasionally slippery
volcanic rock until another sign warned not to go any further. With all the rain
I hoped my camera would take a picture, not that I could see much of anything
due to the rain coming in my face. Alas, the camera refused to do work.
Fortunately when it dried off a little later it came back to life.
The only way out was the way we came in so we returned back to the Volcano House in very wet clothes and wondering if we were going to catch colds. Terri couldn’t take the wet clothes any longer so she and Rosie bought sweatshirts at the Volcano House to change into. On the way out we took in the other side of the crater by completing our journey around Crater Rim Drive, stopping once or twice for a different perspectives of the caldera. Our primary mission was accomplished but we had several hours before we had to turn in our rental car, so we headed back to Hilo for a late lunch and to see what it had to offer the day tourist.
Subway
at least made it to Hilo, so we felt we were back in civilization and soon
gorged ourselves with a combination of lunch and dinner. There was also a low
fee ATM machine nearby that we couldn’t find in Honolulu, so I took advantage
of it too. We looked at our map and tour book to find things to do in Hilo. It
wasn’t a very big place. I remember seeing a gorgeous waterfall as we
approached Hilo by air. Looking at the tour book, it seemed likely that Rainbow
Falls was it, and it was only a few miles away.
We found it thanks to a local map that came with our rental car. I am sure there are more impressive waterfalls in Hawaii, but it was still pretty neat and the only one we were to get up front and personal with. Rosie and I journeyed up above the falls and I took some more pictures.
Terri said she wanted to see the beautiful gardens she had
heard were in Hilo. There was still plenty of time before we had to turn in the
rental car. We stopped at a scenic lookout north of Hilo Bay and admired the
scenery. Hilo is not a beach town. I’m pretty sure there is not a single beach
in the whole place. There are lots of rocks and cliffs that hug the ocean, and
there seemed to be a decent amount of shipping by sea because we saw freighters
come in and out of port. It was quite a different Hawaii than we experienced in
Oahu.
The Liliuokalani Gardens were near the center of town and we found them with no problem. These gardens are free to the public, immaculately kept up and landscaped to look like Japanese gardens. The place includes lots of ponds, gently bubbling streams, bridges, gazeboes and places for gentle contemplation. And that’s pretty much what we did: sat around like gumbies for an hour or so just taking in the experience. I think you can tell from the pictures (particularly if you take the time to go through our slide set) just how lovely and serene this place was. And we were largely the only people in the park. There were a lot of koi in the ponds, and we spotted crabs and other fish too. It was fun to sit in a gazebo that doubled as a bridge and watch the smaller fish jump out in unison and make delightful patterns on the water. It was a sublime experience and one I’ll always treasure. The gardens are a delight and I would recommend them to anyone who visits Hilo.
It was approaching dusk. A few miles away according to our map was a state park. We drove there because it was also close to the airport. Maybe we had the wrong park because I didn’t see any beach at all. There were plenty of rocks to scramble over that approached the surf. Rosie climbed far enough out on the rocks that I was a little worried she might be left out with the tide. Slowly the sun sank behind Hilo.
Our return trip was uneventful. Hilo Airport though is kind of neat and laid back. The terminal and gates are largely all outside. This is true of much of Honolulu International Airport too, but this is a much smaller airport. I was surprised how much air traffic Hilo got because the city seems so small. It must be mostly tourists that keep the flights full. We were “home” by 9:30 or so and glad to be somewhere where we could put on dry clothing. The local ABC sufficed for dinner. Was tomorrow really Christmas Eve?