On the first day:
We drove to the south and southeast side of the island, where we stopped at a Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, and then to the popular Volcanic National Park. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is the country's 13th National Park and the state's #1 visitor attraction. It was amazing to see a still active volcano! We stopped our car at Kilauea Caldera Overlook where we looked down 400 feet below us at the crater and saw smoke coming from the crater. Later that day we saw an article in the local Hawaiian newspapers about the recent lava that erupted a few days earlier and damaged someone's house. No wonder they kept having us go inside the museum when we were at the overlook...there was so much sulfur dioxide in the air!
When I shared this news about the active volcano with my students at school in Jeju after returning, they were all surprised and amazed because the big volcano here on Jeju (Mt Halla) isn't active anywhere. They asked me...you're still alive? I think they were happy I made it out of there! :)
Although we went around to different parts of the park for different views of the volcano and to see different museums, the best part was when we took the drive down to the seashore, on the Chain of Craters Road. It stretches 18 miles and goes from 4,000 ft. elevation to sea level. There were craters of varying shapes and sizes, and we were able to see lava rock that looked so fresh that it appeared to be active lava and could possibly spill down the mountain onto our car at any time! It felt dangerous passing the lava rock on this road! However, with the view of the volcanic rocks, along with the greenish/yellowish grass and the seashore...it was a beautiful site to see!
That night we went to an authentic Thai restaurant for some green chicken curry. Delicious! The inside of the restaurant was filled with Buddhas and traditional Thai decorations, including a picture of their president. This reminded us of our wonderful trip to Thailand last February.
On our way back, we stopped at Punaluu Black Sand Beach. It was really neat to see! We couldn't believe how black the sand was...it was all volcanic rock but was soft as sand! We took a lot of pictures and a video because we just had never seen anything like it before. Check it out below! We really wanted to also visit the green sand beach that was in the Big Island but it was really difficult to get to and we ended up not having the time (or weather) for it.
On the second day, we went running next to the ocean near our hotel in the morning, and then had a delicious breakfast at our hotel restaurant. Each morning we went to this restaurant and was so happy with the food. It tasted all fresh and even had whole wheat bread! :) I ate the salmon on a wheat bagel with cream cheese and also fruit on the side. Keith had meaty and veggie omelets, pancakes and sausage! It was a great way to start the day- especially since we had an ocean view from the restaurant, had pretty birds that sang to us near our table, and had a local Hawaiian singer performing in the restaurant. I took a video so you can listen to the beautiful Hawaiian music! On this day, we went to a Kona coffee and Macademia farm. Here we saw the fields where they grow them, and we learned about the importance of good Kona beans (the red ones are the best) and we were able to crack a macademia nut...which is very difficult and requires a special machine! After chatting with the older woman who owned the farm, we ordered a bunch of Kona coffee, macademia nuts and Kona chocolate-covered coffee beans for ourselves, as well as for family.
We then went to a Kona coffe cafe where we sipped on a few cups of our favorite Kona coffee in the back area of the cafe near the gardens. Here we talked about our trip, and spoke with some of the locals while admiring all of the pretty Hawaiian flowers, paintings and chickens that were randomly walking around. There was also a mango tree and someone that worked at the cafe took one down for us to keep.
After coffee, we checked out some antique stores, then realized everything was too antique and expensive for us so then we moved on to get something to eat for dinner. We ate delicious sushi right near our hotel. The chef told us that the raw sashimi (tuna) was brought in earlier that day! It was so delicate and probably the best raw tuna I had ever eaten!
Afterwards, we went and tried "donkey balls", which is chocolate-covered macademia nuts! YUM! I have a photo that I took in front of the Donkey Balls shop with the donkey himself advertising his delicious treats! lol
At around 8pm that night, when it was starting to get darker, we went to a huge and fancy hotel about five minutes away because we had heard that you could see the manta rays there next to the hotel in the ocean. Each night, a boat shines a light around that area in the water and a small crowd of people watch to see the huge manta rays. We saw a few swimming around and they looked like they would be HUGE if you were actually in the water with them. Maybe the size of a car or king bed? Although there was a sign at the hotel stating it can be harmful for the manta rays if you touch them while swimming with them, we unfortunately did see a snorkeler out there getting really close to the manta ray. We also saw the manta ray doing flips in the water, which was neat to see. Keith was really excited about the whole event!
On the third day, we packed our things up, checked out of our hotel and then made a day roadtrip to the north/northeast (the Kohala region) side of the island. On our drive we saw many names written with white pebbles on the volcanic stones. We also saw the pretty ocean to the left of us and saw mountains and interesting landscape to our right. There would be volcanic stone and then patches of green grass, and then land that looked dead or as if it were burnt, then random cactus.
We went up to the very top tip of the island to Pololu Valley Overlook where we got out of the car and took a picture. Where we were at the top of the mountain you can look down and see Pololu valley and a beautiful black sand beach (Pololu Valley Beach). It was very windy and slightly raining and we didn't want to get our shoes all muddy because we still had to turn in our rented car later that evening, so we decided to just look at the view from the top instead of hiking down. It was a beautiful site though, which you can see from the picture.
Afterwards, we headed into the small town of Waimia and grabbed some warm panini sandwiches at a small cafe. We sat out back in a beautiful garden where we saw many different Hawaiian flowers and also several lime green lizards. In the town, we also saw the King Kamehameha Statue. King Kamehameha was a great warrior, diplomat and leader. He was famous for uniting the Hawaiian Islands into one royal kingdom in 1810 after many years of conflict.
We then took a beautiful scenic drive through Waimea, where we saw a mix of lava, sea and mountains...both from the view at the top of the moutains and also from the bottom. This road has beautiful views of the hills and pastures of Waimea to the East and dramatic coastal views of Kawaihae and the Kona coast to the west.
Our final stop was to a beach where we relaxed and napped for a little bit. The day ended with us heading to the airport where we cleaned and returned our much-loved and much-used mustang convertible.
The next stop is: Kauai!
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