Hawai’i Island
October 31, 2008
Part two of our trip! Hawai’i Island was fantastic. It was one of the most beautiful and relaxing places I’ve ever been to and was a nice change to the touristy areas of Waikiki. All the pictures are here.
Transportation
It’s pretty tough to get around without a car on the big island. I would strongly suggest renting a car straight out of the national rental places at the airport because it will make returns easier. You can also rent at smaller places in Kona or Hilo but they will charge more for a drop-off at a different location. A taxi from the airport to Kona cost about $25.
We made some frustrating calls from our hotel to the national car rentals because I have the license but no credit card and The Woman has the credit car but no license. They simply wouldn’t rent to us. We totally lucked out with Affordable Rent A Car, a small company in Kona. Ken, the guy who runs the place, was accommodating and set us up with a small Chevy Cavalier for a good price. Thanks Ken! He literally saved our trip. The car was a bit old but handled very much like the old Civic I used to drive.
Driving is very easy on the island as traffic is light. The one problem is that the highway is generally one-lane most of the time so if you’re stuck behind a slower driver – be patient. There are a few areas where rented cars are forbidden due to previous accidents. Examples, you cannot drive on Saddle Road ‘the main road leading up to Mauna Kea and the observatories, and the road down to South beach. Driving up Mauna Kea is pretty tough as well as the slope is pretty steep at times ’4x4s are recommended.
People
People are noticeably friendlier on this island than on Oahu. Everywhere you go, people say “aloha” and are more likely to smile. Service in stores and restaurants is also much better ‘I actually felt like I was wanted in their establishments compared to the icy cold reception on Oahu.
Since we couldn’t go up Mauna Kea by ourselves, we joined a Japanese tour group. Our tour guide, “Yama-chan”, was one of the most interesting Japanese people I’ve ever met. Having toured around performing Wadaiko, he decided to run across America. Yes, run ‘like Forrest Gump. He spent three years running across the continent. Then he lived in Kelowna for awhile doing Wadaiko again. He’s also lived in Shanghai and Hong Kong and has finally settled here on Hawai’i on a small patch of land he calls his own. I am very envious of his choices.
Mauna Kea
On our 6th day, we joined a Japanese tour to climb the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest peak in Hawaii. This is where Nasa and several countries and universities have observatories. Our tour guide Yama-chan (see above), came early in a big giant 4×4 van and we started the journey with about 10 other Japanese tourists. It’s quite a drive up the summit and we stopped a few times to acclimatize to the altitude and lower oxygen levels. At around 9000 feet I started feeling a bit dizzy ‘a very bad sign. Taking the risk though, I decided to just ignore it and breathe more deeply.
We made a stop around 5pm at the visitor center, altitude 9000ft and had a bento dinner and some hot drinks. The weather was not promising and the staff at the center said that visibility was “poor”. Considering they have clear skies 90% of the year, we were very very lucky! From what I gathered, the extra activity at Kilauea crater was causing the cloudy weather for the past few months.
Right before sunset we made our way up to the summit, altitude 14000ft. By this time I was fine with the oxygen and having a great time. Being a Canadian and therefore having a natural resistance to cold weather really helped considering I was wearing t-shirts. Eventually I caved and took one of the coats the tour guide provided.
After the cloudy sunset we made our way down to about 10-12000ft and stopped an open lot. The sky cleared up a bit for the tour guides to set up two telescopes and we had a private star gazing. Laser pointers are amazing in the night sky! I got to learn a lot of Japanese names for stars. I just wished they knew the English names because I actually know a lot about astronomy. Cassiopeia was very clear, as was the Southern Cross. Venus made intermittent appearances. Jupiter was our guiding “star” all night and we even saw one of its moons through the telescope. We saw about two shooting stars here.
On our way back home the other van in our group stopped along the highway. Yama-chan instantly knew what was happening ‘it had started raining near the end of our star show and the moon was fairly low on the horizon (because of the altitude). We saw our first moonbow ‘a rainbow formed by moonlight. It was very faint but you could see a white colored arc in the sky. If conditions were better, we were told you could see the different colors. What a great way to end the night.
Volcano National Park
On our 8th and final full day in Hawaii, we went to Volcano National Park. The drive to the park from Kona was a fun two and a half hour drive. The speed limit changes very often from 30-55 mph so be careful. I was warned by a waitress that sometimes police catch people on stretches where the speed changes. Along the way to Kona, we stopped at some beach with black sand and saw sea turtles basking in the sun. What a treat. We also stopped at a cove and saw some very high waves coming in .
The volcano park itself is quite huge. Crater Rim Drive, as the name implies, is a road that wraps around the main crater. Unfortunately, Kilauea was emitting a lot more gas than usual and about half of the road was closed.
We were still able to get to Jaggar Museum for a fairly close look at the vent, the Steam Vents to watch steam mysteriously come out of the ground, and Thurston Lava Tube where we walked through a tunnel carved out by lava. We then drove down the Chain of Craters and stopped at one crater, followed by a drive all the way down to the very end of the road.
In 1984, lava erupted and covered the eastern part of the park and destroying the road. Even now lava is still flowing into the ocean forming a huge steam cloud. We were unable to see the lava because the road stops a fair distance away and because it’s difficult to spot in daylight. We didn’t have time to stay until dark nor the piles of money to take a helicopter tour which looked really cool.
I would definitely come back to the park because there was a lot we didn’t get to see. There are also many good hiking trails but unfortunately The Woman is not exactly the best hiker. I will conquer you next time, volcano land!
Food & Shopping
Food was a bit better here than Waikiki because again, most places were small and bought more locally. Hawai’i produces a lot more of its own produce ‘the Farmer’s Market was awesome for fruit. I bought a big bag of longan for $1.50! We visited a few places in Kona and had some food dishes. Who could forget Kona coffee as well ‘even non-coffee drinkers like it.
My favorite place was probably the Kona Brewing Company. The Lava Man Red Ale was one of the smoothest drinks I’ve ever had. Their pizza was pretty good too.
Shopping in Kona was a great contrast to the brand name stores in Waikiki. Most stores in Kona were small boutiques that sold different things. We bought most of our souvenirs and gifts at a small shop near Kona Brewing Company for a lot cheaper than what we were planning to spend!
A bit away from Kona were the big giant shopping places like Wal-Mart, Borders, Office Max, and the Sports Authority that opened that very day we visited. Nothing too interesting here.
Relaxing & Weather
The volcanic activity from Kilauea crater left most of the eastern side of the island cloudy but Kona, on the western part, was almost always sunny. We relaxed on Hanupa Beach on our 7th day and did some shopping as well.
We saw the most beautiful sunset ever at Anaeho Beach and then parked in the empty parking lot at night and saw so many stars. I definitely miss stargazing. We saw way more stars here than we did on our cloudy tour to Mauna Kea. Jupiter was the most visible light again but Venus was also visible toward the horizon. It was warm enough to stay in t-shirts.
Bad
The one bad thing I have to say about Kona was the people trying to sell timeshares. There were many places that did this, offering big discounts on tours and gifts to anyone who signed up. I don’t know much about timeshares but it sounds like such a scam. Don’t be fooled by the discounts on signboards or people who say things like, “I can get you that helicopter tour for half price, you know.”
Good
The whole atmosphere on the island was just positive. I felt so relaxed and at home. People had the laid back approach to life and the natural sites were so enticing. I am definitely coming back here.
