Hawaii Big Island
DAY 1 APR 21: HAPUNA BEACH
Did we land on the moon? That was our thought when we started driving northwards after landing in Kona airport. Black hardened lava fields stretched for miles around Kona Kohala coast. The island of Hawaii is made out of solidified magma and lava rocks that erupted from various volcanoes. We landed around 10 in the morning and planned to visit a beach before our hotel check in at 4 pm. Kona airport has open air style units with thatched tiki hut style roofs. On our way just outside the airport, we saw a huge cave opening with some tourists flocking around. It is one of the numerous lave tube openings in the island and we saved our interest for the better ones in Volcano National Park.
We stopped at Hapuna beach, a world famous white sand beach with calm water. It was a perfect beach day and we could see lots of colorful fish and a sea turtle (Honu) by snorkeling in shallow waters. Fish taco in the beach front cafe was awesome. Shaved ice is a must have Hawaiian delicacy, so we tried 3 flavors and decided to stick to the awesome mango flavor for the next one. We drove few miles through old Puako Road and caught a glimpse of the beach front vacation home community. The houses along the road are charming with abundant tropical vegetation. We saw one ocean front lot selling for a million dollars. We had to stop for the turkey family to cross the road at their own pace. We stopped briefly at Puako bay; it has a rocky shoreline with many coves and tide pools.
We stayed at a condo in Kona Kanalua. Kona Kohala coast is mostly rocky. Our ocean front condo was less than a hundred feet from pacific and you can spend hours sitting in the balcony listening to the waves crashing on lava rocks. Sometimes when there was a big wave crashing onto the lava rocks, the water would splash up to the height of a three story building! Being on the western side, Kona coast has beautiful sunset view and we enjoyed the magnificent sunset with tea and savoring snacks right from our balcony. It was a long day for us; we had been up since 5 am PST and retired early to bed. We decided to follow pacific time in Hawaii and minimize the 3 hour jet lag as much as possible. Also starting early morning would help beat the heat.
DAY 2 APR 22: KONA COFFEE FARM, PU’UHONUA O HŌNAUNAU NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK, PUNALU BLACK SAND BEACH, VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK
We visited Greenwell coffee plantation, this is run by 4th generation of the Greenwell family. They provide a free tour of the farm. Our guide walked us through the process of picking, wet process, dry process, roasting and preparing the beans. We were lucky to see and smell the beautiful aroma of the flowers of the coffee plants which lasts for only a couple of weeks. These plants form beautiful lei The plants are over 100 years old and have a thick stem. We also tasted hand picked cherries and picked up two avocados from the ground. People here lead a simple life and there is very less commercialization else a tour like this could have been packaged and charged a hefty sum.
Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park speaks about the culture of the people who lived near the coastal landscape for centuries. This park is in the south Kona district. We took the self guided walk with audio on cell phone. This royal ground was a meeting place for the tribal chiefs who came and held ceremonies. Priests held religious ceremonies at the temple whose frame was made of wood, roof was thatched with ki leaves and trim was made of fern. The chiefs also engaged in strategic war games played with black and white pebbles. They built a Great Wall up to 12 feet high and 18 feet wide to protect children and elderly during times of war. This was the Pu’uhonua or place of refuge. This wall was constructed using lava rocks and the stones were fitted without mortar. The royal mausoleum housed bones of the chiefs including those of great grandfather of king Kamehameha. Two Kii or Hawaiian gods stood on the shore as guardians. The artisans still continue the tradition and make kapa cloth and carve wood to make beautiful bowls etc. Small tide pools and coves were abundant in the area. We saw lots of colorful fish (golden yellow, fish with black and white stripes) swimming in shallow water in the cove. The artisans still continue the tradition and make kapa cloth and carve wood to make beautiful bowls etc.
Punalu black sand beach was our next stop while going to Volcano National Park. Black lava rocks from volcanic eruptions break to small pieces and eventually turn to sand by water erosion. The black sand gives a different perspective to the beach; it’s not the greatest swimming place but is good for snorkeling. Though this beach is famous for sunbathing sea turtles, we missed seeing any on the cloudy day.
The entire Hawai’i island was created by volcanic eruptions and new land mass gets continuously added from hardened lava flows. Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are the two active volcanoes in the island. Summit of Mauna Loa stands 56000 feet (17000) from base (depressed sea level) to peak and is taller than Mount Everest by over 27000 feet. Hawai’i Volcanic national park situated on the Kīlauea shows the result of 70 million years of volcanism, migration and evolution of plants and animals. Kīlauea has been erupting since 1983 and red glows of molten lava flows could be seen at nightfall in the park. The east rift zone of Kīlauea erupted in May 2018 and destroyed numerous homes over the four months of lava flow. Now most of the park area is still closed and rangers at visitor center gave us a new map showing the few open areas. It gave goose bumps standing on the rim of Kīlauea crater and thinking about the 2018 eruptions last year when active lava shot out from the caldera. We drove through devastation trail and viewed the pit craters formed during prior eruptions.