Steffi & Gerry: Trip around the World
Travel Blog of our Honeymoon around the World
Why booking a whale watching tours when you can watch those giants jumping out of the water from your armchair at the hotel pool? We mean the free guys in the ocean, not Sea World captives! If we only had the better zoom camera with us… .
Mauna Kea is one of five volcanoes of Big Island, its peak is 4’207.3 m above sea level, making it the highest point in the state of Hawaii. Most of the mountain is under water, and when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world measuring over 10’000 m.
There is an access road to the peak, resp. to the 13 telescopes, and it is possible to drive from sea level to 4’200 m in less than two hours. The peak is also famous for sunset self-drive tours, which we obviously also had in mind.
We couldn’t make it however. The access road was closed during our stay. Either it was snowing or the winds were too strong (over 50 m.p.h.). At least we could watch the peak from our hotel on a clear day, which is actually not so common.
And… the sunset from our hotel wasn’t that bad, either… and a bit warmer than -3°C.
So far, we hadn’t written much about our hotels, as we are more attracted by natural landmarks than man-made buildings. But today wasn’t that spectacular on this aspect. The turtles and petroglyphs at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park were worth a visit but nothing new to us anymore.
But the Hilton Waikoloa Village got the nickname “Disneyland of Hawaii”, and we had to agree: a monorail train within the hotel complex? Ok, fits the cliché of Americans who can barely walk anymore. 🙂 But then, a boat on a canal to your hotel wing? Flamingos in one corner, turtles in the marina, dolphin shows just next to the restaurant? Swing bridge over the pool with an artificial waterfall? Playstations in each room? It’s just huge, it’s… American.
Well, it all comes with a (hidden) price tag. $30 / day for the parking space, $40 / day resort fees, $25 / person if you want to sit outside in the restaurant during sunset.
Highlights of the day:
Lu’au (Hawaiian / Polynesian party with Hula dance lesson, buffet, songs and show acts)
The Pu’uhonua o Hohaunau is a National Historical Park and once was a place of refuge for criminals (as for being sentenced to death because your shadow touched the chief’s house). Here, arriving after a dangerous journey through the water you got absolution of your crimes.
On the other side of the Great Wall (built of lava stone) there were royal grounds, nowadays reconstructed buildings and tools from the early Hawaiians.
Close to the National Park is a good place to see sea turtles and to snorkel… which we did, of course.
After dinner in Kailua-Kona we watched Manta Rays (reaching up to 7m in length) feeding small fishes, attracted by the hotel Sheraton’s light beams.
On our way to Kona we stopped at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach to see, well, a black sand beach. Not surprisingly, the black sand has volcanic origins and one can still see the typical ripples on the bigger lava rocks.
It was also nice to observe several green sea turtles, in the water and ashore.
Next, we headed to Ka Lae (aka South Point), the southernmost point of the United States. (Key West is just the southernmost point of continental US). Teenagers demonstrate their courage by jumping either from the cliffs into the sea or into a blowhole and swimming through an underwater cave.
Further plans had to be postponed due to the rain on the “almost guaranteed sunshine”-west coast of Big Island.
At time of booking the Volcanoes National Park would have been one of the very big highlights of our trip, as places with volcanic craters, a lava lake and active lava flows, while still being easily accessible, are hard to find elsewhere in the world (therefore this place is also called “drive-in volcano”).
Now, the park changed quite a bit between May and July 2018:
“Beginning in May, 2018, the lava lake that existed inside Halema‘uma‘u crater disappeared and lava flows from Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater have ceased. There is no molten lava or lava glow to see anywhere in or out of the park.”
A highly recommended movie about the events here:
https://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm
But on the positive side, the park had re-opened (after another closure due to government shutdown in January, just a few weeks before our visit). Even without molten lava the park was still worth a visit: the Kilauea Caldera is still impressive. The views on lava flows of the 70ies are also nice to see, and a hike over the Manua Ulu eruption(s) (1969 – 1974) on hardened lava structures is a very extraordinary experience.
Second island hopping: from Kauai to The Island of Hawaii (better known as Big Island) via Honolulu, Oahu.
Unfortunately, a flight from (finally) sunny weather into the rain. It wasn’t that bad, we quickly visited the Rainbow Falls which are close to Hilo, but at our time of visit in the late afternoon no rainbow could be seen at the falls.
First day without rain on Hawaii! Having already completed our bucket list for Kauai, we didn’t expect much of this day. But it turned out really well. We googled “Kauai easy hikes” and stumbled across Maha’ulepu Heritage Coastal Trail, close to Shipwreck Beach.
It was a nice coastal walk with remarkable coastal sceneries and a cave to visit (Makauwahi Cave).
On our way back we have been rewarded with whale sightings on the horizon.
And we finally went into the sea and had some fun with the breaking waves. 🙂
Kauai is a beautiful island, but large part of it is de-facto inaccessible. For once we ignored the ecological conscience and booked a scenic flight with a helicopter. There are many companies, but Jack Harter adds a special thrill: doors-off flights with a Hughes 500.
We didn’t have cloudless sky (hardly ever occurs on Kauai) but still good flight conditions. First highlight was the flight over Manawaiopuna Falls, better known as “Jurassic Falls” (helicopter landing sequence in the first Jurassic Park movie). The pilot even played the movie theme – marvelous!
Soon, we reached the Waimea Canyon (see earlier blog entry), now from above and much closer to some great sceneries.
We again crossed one of the wettest places on earth (once more hidden in dark clouds), but soon the sky opened: we have reached the Napali coast. Postcard scenery again!
Fortunately, that was not yet the end, also the flight over the Hanalei Valley was breathtaking. And for once the clouds somehow fit into the scenery; dozens of waterfalls within a rainforest-like landscape, coming out of misty mountains… a perfect fit for any fantasy movie.
Indeed, the list of movie sequences shot on Kauai is long! Just to name a few:
Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jurassic Park (1, 2, 3), Jurassic World
King Kong
Six Days Seven Nights
Tropic Thunder
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
The Descendants
