The Traveling Man

Just a weblog about travel, jeeps, and all things ED

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Hawaii: Volcano and Hilo

November 23rd, 2010 by Ed
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We spent our last two days in Hawaii on the “wet” side of the island, touring around the volcano and the more tropical part of the big island. It was a really beautiful part of the island, and very different from what we saw on the Kona side.

We started out taking a drive through coffee country to the lava covered area of the SW corner of the big island. The scenery was stark, but gorgeous in its own way. Eventually we made our way to Punalu’u black sand beach. This was a more swimable beach than the one we had seen on Maui. There were lots of people enjoying this really unique aspect of Hawaii. There was even a green sea turtle there! Very exciting to finally see some wildlife!

From there, we headed for the volcano (Kilauea). The area around the volcano is amazingly lush with ferns as tall as large trees! There were some warnings about the air quality, so mom stayed in the car a bit. But we drove all around the park, even all the way down the Chain of Craters road towards the ocean. Off in the distance you could see the lava flowing into the ocean. At the end of the road, you could hike about a mile to where the road used to be, and the lava covered the road. There was also a lava tube that I hiked through, which is what the lava travels through en route to the ocean.

Our hotel was a quaint little cabin in the woods called the Volcano Inn. It was a beautiful place nestled in the rain forest among the ferns. You could really hear the bugs chirping at night!

Our last day in Hawaii, we drove over to Hilo, which is a bit of a different city. It is more the administrative center of the big island. But the rain forest around the city is one of the most lush areas we visited on our trip. We took a scenic drive through the rain forest just north of Hilo, which was covered in vines and banyan trees. It was really nice. From there, we drove to Akaka Falls, which is over 400 feet high. It was another hike through the rain forest, which even mom admitted was well worth it. We finished the day by driving by Rainbow Falls in Hilo, which isn’t as high, but was worth a quick look anyway.

After experiencing lots of natural wonders on the Big Island, it was time to move on to Oahu, and the excitement of Waikiki!

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Hawaii: Kona beaches

November 21st, 2010 by Ed
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Today we decided to make it a beach day! The kohala coast beaches are supposed to be great so we thought we’d try them out.

But before we got far – a road closure set us back, and they don’t have many roads! Eventually though, we arrived at the public beach at the Waikoloa resort This was a different beach with a bit of a slope to lay on. Nice beach to relax though! Afterwards, I found some petroglyphs on a trail at the shopping center – a bit odd but very interesting find. We also stopped by the scenic beach at mauna lani. More of a snorkeling beach but the water was amazing!

We then headed back to Kona for our luau! It seemed like something you have to do in Hawaii! It was great – they put on a great show. They cook the pig in the underground imu, and the pork was to die for! They had tons of great food in addition. Afterwards, they had different dancers from the Polynesian islands. The finale were the fire dancers from Samoa. Very exciting cap to our time in kona!!

On to the volcano!

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Hawaii: Big Island – Kona

November 21st, 2010 by Ed
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We have arrived on the Big Island so I thought an update was in order.

We headed straight from Kona airport to our hotel, the Royal Kona Resort. We had an awesome view of the ocean from our room! We spent much time just sitting listening to the waves. Kona itself is a fun little seaside town that was fun for walking around.

Our first day was spent exploring the northern part of BI. We visited a coffee farm, Hula Daddy. The tour guide was great and we learned all about the coffee making process. We then headed up thorough ranch country to the “wet” side of the island. It was much prettier over here and we stopped at the Waipio Valley overlook. This is a bit of old Hawaii and the views can’t be beat!

On the way back to Kona, we stopped at Hapuna beach. This is a nice beach with golden sand. Although not as perfect as the Maui beaches, it was a nice end to the day! The drive back to Kona was stark – nothing but lava fields as far as you could see. Not much rain. Glad to get back to Kona, where it felt more tropical.

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Hawaii: Haleakala and More

November 20th, 2010 by Ed
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It’s been a couple of days since I did a proper update so I thought I’d fill in the last two days on Maui, including the trip up 10,000 ft Haleakala.

It was another gorgeous morning when we set out on the road up the mighty Haleakala volcano. Mom wasn’t too enthusiastic about the trip but she was a good sport. The road actually wasn’t as twisty as you might imagine and the views over Maui were spectacular of course. At the top, the terrain is other-worldly – looks a bit like mars! The crater is a beautiful red color and you could see for miles – all the way to the big island! Mom even admitted it was worth the trip!!

Afterwards, we visited a lavender farm (which wasn’t in bloom), but it did smell really nice! Upcountry Maui was really different. We finished the afternoon by stopping by the old cowboy town of Makawao. Maui is full of all kinds if neat little towns like this one. We had the most unbelievable mahi-mahi at a hole-in-the-wall bar there!!

We finished the day at the most amazing beach in Wailea. The sand was next to perfect and the temperature was just right. We decided to hang out for the sunset – Hawaii sure knows how to do sunsets!!!

We finished our time in Maui with a (mostly) leisurely beach day. Our first beach was right in the middle of Kihei. This was a more public beach, and we ended up at the… more “mature” part of it… But it was certainly relaxing, and the water was gorgeous! The other beach we visited was Baldwin beach on the north shore – this was another perfect beach. It had bigger waves and more beautiful sand. A great place to hang out.

We also visited the lush Io Valley, near Wailuku. This was a sacred place to the Hawaiians where a massacre took place. The valley contains the 2250′ Io Needle which is completely covered in green. I’ve never seen so many shades of green! There were some trails which delivered awesome views of the valley.

Maui was an unbelievable place that is hard to put into words – and hard to leave! But the big island was calling so we hopped on a short flight to Kona.

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Hawaii: Road to Hana

November 17th, 2010 by Ed
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On our second day on Maui, we drove the famous “Road to Hana” – one of the most amazing drives anywhere!

We had an early start from the condo in Kihei. It took about an hour to get to the start of the road. It was absolutely breathtaking! The first stop was an overlook just past Paia – the waves were huge!! From there, it is nothing but amazing views through the rainforest. One minute it was the perfect green coast, then it was the forest. There was even some bamboo, which is a bit surreal.

One of the highlights was the black sand beach just before Hana. The black sand and lava rocks against the green vegetation is indescribable! Pictures won’t do it justice. We walked right down to the beach and I hiked out to the blowhole as well.

The other major stop was at Oheo Gulch, part of Haleakala national park. It seems that due to heavy rains, you couldn’t get into the actual pools. The falls were basically rushing rivers. We walked along the coast and stream taking in the views. The most impressive waterfall was actually a bit before here – Wailua Falls.

It was an awesome drive, that is for sure. It has something like 600 curves but is well worth it. Note that the section past Hana is *very* narrow especially with all the tour buses!! One last tip: get some banana bread!

We finished the day in Paia, which is s funky little town of shops and restaurants. We enjoyed a bit of browsing here, and had dinner at the Paia Fishmarket which was some of the best fish I’d ever had. And the waves just outside of town were the biggest waves I’ve ever seen – had to be 15 ft or so.

It was a long day but filled with some of the world’s great scenery. A good day.

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Hawaii: Intro to Maui

November 16th, 2010 by Ed
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Hawaii is great! I thought it was about time I get to posting an update so here is a summary of the first couple of days.

Our trip to Hawaii started out early (6am Michigan time) – we had three flights to take on over the course of the day. It took a total of 11-hrs or so flying time to get to Hawaii. I must say that Alaska Air was *much* better than Delta. And Seattle was really beautiful! But it was great to finally get to Maui around 8:45pm HST. We headed straight for our condo in Kihei and crashed for the night!

We decided to take it easy on our first full day on the island. I went to the store to get some supplies for breakfast to enjoy on the lanai. We then headed down through Kihei which is a cool little beach town. We walked across the street to a cute little beach as well. And the weather was next to perfect!

We then took a trip over to west Maui to check out the famous beaches. We visited Kaanapali Beach. It was absolutely sublime… Couldn’t ask for z nicer spot and the water was great for a walk. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We then drove even further down the coast for some awesome views of the west Maui coastline. It was rocky and rugged. And it got wetter and more tropical as we went. Breathtaking! I took lots if pictures.

Our last stop was the little tourist town of Lahaina. It’s a cook little place to shop and eat. It was an old whaling town and does retain *some* of that charm today. Mom found a few little things to buy and I enjoyed the harbor views. We walked down to the famous Banyan tree in the town center. It was amazing because there must have been hundreds of birds making all kinds of noise – it was like nothing I’ve ever heard! Almost like something out of “The Birds”! We capped off the day at “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (not recommended). It was a great day! Hawaii is unreal!

Tomorrow we drive the famous road to Hana.

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