Volcano Ventures

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Trip Start Jun 20, 2010 Previous
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  Volcano, Hawaii
Thursday, June 24, 2010

Monday, June 21st

Left Seattle at 8:40 for the flight to Kona. Flight was packed with holiday makers, honeymooners and the free Mai Tai at the end put everyone in great spirits (bad pun).  Flying into Kona was some experience.  Out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean, we spotted Maui - pretty much your quintessential tropical paradise.  Then we landed on Kona which was is a combination of a rainforest and the moon.  The terminal is something else - it's all outdoors: gates, baggage claim, the lot.  It really reminded Lizanne of the old old Quinnsworth in Douglas, but without the lashing rain and Superfruit!

Having gotten our bags and picked up our car (Phyllis the Focus' distant cousin, Fernando), we headed down the coast to grab some lunch.  We ate right on the beach in a place called Jameson’s, and looked at the massive waves crashing down on people.  Part of our plan when we came to Hawaii was that we would run into the surf to officially christen the holiday, but when we saw the craziness of the waves, we had to think again.  But then we thought again and decided to go for it!  Talk about a baptism of fire.  First of all, the water was warm so that was a very strange thing for us to get used to, having spent our childhoods in the sub-Arctic waters of Cork and Kerry.  Then the waves were unbelievable – it was like the Pacific Ocean was ganging up on us.  As Mike said, "It was like being in a washing machine" – tossed and turned doesn’t even cover it!   Some laugh though!  Having swallowed enough water to fill a small pool, we headed off down the coast on our drive to Volcano.

The drive down was nothing short of spectacular.  The coastline is really rugged, and you suddenly go up massive hills to 3000ft above sea level, and then drop to sea level again.  The landscape is a combination of the black ash and then lush green forest once you reach the Southern tip and wrap around to the east of the island.  We arrived in our “Rainforest Retreat” around 5 – it’s probably going to be the quirkiest place that we stay!  Our little cabin is right in the middle of the rainforest, and we’re equipped with an outdoor hot tub (nice soak after dinner last night) and outdoor shower.  Went up to the town, nice dinner at a Thai restaurant (preparing ourselves for future legs!) and then collapsed asleep, ready to tackle the Volcano National Park on Tuesday!

Tuesday, June 22nd

An early start to the day – we arrived at the National Park at 8 am, and started like we meant to continue.  Went to look at the steam vents overlooking the Kilauea caldera, and from there we did a small hike to see the sulpher banks.  At first, we wondered if that smell was the remnants of breakfast, but no, it was volcanic gasses.  Amazing to see the different coloured rocks being formed and feel the heat of the steam.  Headed up to the museum at the top of the Crater Rim then to admire the eruption – although we couldn’t see any of the glow during the day time, the amount of smoke coming out of the volcano was incredible.  From there, we did the 4-mile Kileaua Iki trail, which allowed us to go into a smaller crater.  It was an amazing feeling to descend from rainforest into the most barren and arid landscape.  Saying that, there are some plants and trees trying to grow there – really shows the resistant power of nature.  Back to the visitor’s centre for a picnic lunch, and then down the Hilina Pali Road for a nice drive and view of the sea.  As we moved through different parts of the park, the temperature fluctations and landscape changes were really impressive.  At one stage, it was 90 and we were in an area of brush where there were fire warnings, and then a 15 minute drive later, we were in 65 degrees and rainforest.

Mike got a little bit sunburned, so we decided to leave the rest of the park for Wednesday, and headed back to base for a chill-out afternoon.  Once we recharged the batteries, we headed off down the road to see if we could get a glimpse of some evening volcanic activity.  Stopped in a town called Pahoa for dinner – we picked a place called Kaleo’s which honestly looked like a complete burger joint shack from the outside.  As our mothers always used to say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.  Serious grub – the Ono fish was yummy, as were the ribs.  The standard of grub is pretty high so far!

Suitably stuffed, we headed down to literally the end of the road.  Being Irish and responsible, when we saw a sign that said “Road closed due to volcanic activity”, we duly turned back.  Heading into the nearest town to try to figure out where this famous night-time viewing area was, we realized that in Hawaii, you don’t take much notice of rules/signs/laws.  “Yea man, ignore that sign, go down the dirt road and you’ll reach a parking lot man!”  Which we duly did.  So having parked the car in the supposedly abandoned road, off we went for our night-time walk through what we thought was abandoned land.  Not so much.  The area that this most recent eruption ploughed through once had a visitor’s centre, a village etc.  Even though the place is completely devastated by the now-cooled lava flow, and 46 acres recently fell into the sea, there are some hardy souls who have decided to go back and build/camp/squat on the ground despite the lack of running water and electricity.  One such looper offered us a lift to the top of the mountain, and even though we engaged him in a (slurred on his part) conversation, we politely declined.  As we walked down the path, the hill in front of us glowed with the lava flow which was amazing to see.  

From there, Mike drove back to base (co-pilot fell asleep…).  One of the locals had told us that the caldera glowed at night as well, so we decided to head up there and see it.  Even though it was drizzling a bit, the view was spectacular and a great way to finish our second day in Hawaii.

Wednesday, June 23rd

Disgusted that Ing-er-land have advanced to the next round of the World Cup (gwan Germany!), we headed off to the National Park in earnest again.  Both mornings we’ve been there really early and have had the place pretty much to ourselves until noon when all the big tour busses arrive.  We began by walking down through the rainforest to the lava tunnel – pretty amazing and a great way to start the day.  From there we headed down “Chain of Craters Road”, stopping for a gentle walk at the aptly named “Devastation Trail” and a 3-mile hike at Pu’u Huluhulu (Hairy Hill?) to get another view of the caldera. 

We discovered a really cool café in Volcano Village that does really nice sandwiches for lunch.  Yesterday we had ham and turkey on cranberry and macademia nut bread, and this morning we decided to go back for more, and have ourselves another nice picnic.  We had the most Irish picnic possible.  Having picked an area called Kealakomo, 2000 feet above the sea and overlooking the coastline, it seemed idyllic.  Except for the howling gale that blew everything from water bottles, sandwiches and bags around the place.  But being true Irish people, we stuck to the plan and by God, we finished that picnic in the spot where we wanted to eat despite the uncooperative weather.  Fair play to Mike, he climbed over the fence and into the bushes to get the bottle top – doing his bit for the environment. 

Off we went down the road to the coast to look at the Holei Sea Arch – pretty impressive to see the waves belting up against it.  Looked a bit rough for a swim though.  On the way back up the road, we had fantastic views of old lava flows which had made their way into the sea about 30 years ago.  Note to self: do not buy land/build ideal home on the Big Island.  Dinner was in a lovely local spot – planned out our Thursday of waterfalls and beaches to the north of the island.  Moving on to a resort in Kona for the next two nights – a bit more touristy but will be great all the same!

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