Steffi & Gerry: Trip around the World
Travel Blog of our Honeymoon around the World
Three weeks on four islands of Hawaii, it was great. Less rain, less closed roads but more lava and we might come again. 🙂
For the flight to San Francisco, Hawaiian Airlines operates a rather large Airbus A330 with modern entertainment systems and tons of movies – but you need to pay for them! $8 for one movie was overpriced, not just for us. The plane flew with around 260 screensavers running. Not cool!
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.
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
Beautiful weather, 31°C air temperature, 29°C water temperature, snorkeling and coconut drinking – why can’t every morning be like this?
In the early afternoon we went on a short trip to the island where Cast Away (starring Tom Hanks as modern Robinson Crusoe) was filmed – also with great snorkeling possibilities. Fun fact: the island is not that remote, Tom Hanks could have swum to the neighbour island and enjoy a cold drink. 😉
Wonderful sunset in the evening – no photoshop involved!
Both “The Lord of the Rings”- and “The Hobbit” trilogies have been filmed entirely in New Zealand. “Hobbiton” is a movie set with guided walking tours. It was amazing to see the original film sets used in the film and to get some background information about the tricks used in the film.
The tour ended with a nice brew in “The Green Dragon” inn.
Not surprisingly, we had to watch “The Hobbit” that evening. It was also the last day with our campervan, which we returned in Auckland, before doing a quick stroll through the city and watching the end of the Superbowl LIII (the New England Patriots won).
A quick stop for a short walk at Pelorus Bridge between Nelson and Havelock. Main reason: the scenery is part of the “barrel scene” in “The Hobbit 2” movie. Need to watch it again!
We arrived early at Smith’s Farm, which is also a campground. But so far the most personal one. Muffins as welcome gifts, food for the animals which you can feed and tips for Picton. And the recommendation to look for glowworms in the evening, which we had to skip due to uncertain weather conditions.
