They don’t call it The Big Island for nothing
We just returned from 4 days on the Big Island. It truly was BIG. It would be like the Texas of Hawaii. Before I get started on all the fun I have a disclaimer: NEVER FLY GO! AIRLINES!!!!
I was enticed to buy their tickets because they were the cheapest rates, who wouldn’t right? 1. their planes are all in THE crappiest terminal ever. There is no food, no drinks, it’s god awful. 2. Every flight out the night we were flying was either delayed or cancelled 3. They don’t tell you what’s going on. We just had to sit there and hope they were going to call our flight soon 4. Our flight attendant coming back was WAY drunk and/or depressed. It was quite awkward as she was slurring her way through the safety info and couldn’t even remember the word “order” as in “I will come through the cabin and take your drink ORDERS.”
Never again, don’t EVER, EVER do it. Pay the extra $100 and fly Hawaiian. Now that that’s in order…
We got a sweeeeet Mustang convertible and arrived in Kona. Our hotel was actually nice! A big change for us. If only we were staying there longer. Oh well.
The next day we drove across the island on this one unbelievable road, called Saddle road. It was totally awesome. At first we were high above the shore with ocean to one side and big volcanic rocks to the other. Then we were driving through old lava flows. Super sweet. Hilo was alright, we didn’t really explore it too much, just ate lunch there. We finally arrived at our B&B in a town called Volcano, right next to Volcanoes National Park. The inn was cute, in the middle of a rainforest area.
We then drove back the way we came from to “the tallest mountain in the world from the bottom of the sea to the top.” Think what you want of that quote. That mountain is Mauna Kea, whose summit sits at 13,796 feet. We drove up to the visitor’s center which is where the paved road ends. You are warned to continue up to the summit at your own risk and are told to use 4 wheel drive. Even though our car contract said no off roading, we did it anyway. It was very cool up there, but I got nervous about driving down at night, so we drove down during sunset. Once back at the visitor’s center we looked through their telescopes and saw Saturn’s rings AND Dave found Jupiter where we could even see 2 of its moons. Supposedly Mauna Kea is the best place in the world to view stars, but it was surprisingly cloudy that night.
The next day we went to Volcanoes National Park where we hiked through a volcanic crater and picnicked on it. We then went to see the active area (outside of the park) down a road that ends because lava has crossed it. It was really crazy. Maybe the craziest place I’ve ever been. It’s obvious that it was once a town, but it’s now covered in lava. Though the plume was impressive they don’t let you get close enough to actually see the red stuff.
We also happened to stumble upon a black sand beach during that part of our trip. It was very, very cool.
Our final day we headed back to Kona, went to a coffee factory, and just generally hung around. We then went to the airport, perhaps the only airport I’ve ever been to that is only outside.
All in all a good trip, but things learned about the Big Island:
1. It’s not as sunny as the other islands, at least not for us.
2. They need more roads! Often times you can’t take the direct route because there isn’t a road there. Plan on going around the island a lot
3. DO NOT fly GO! Airlines. Bleh, huge trap
4. If you are sensitive to mold, mildew, or generally have sensitive lungs be weary about spending more than a day in Volcano. I’m still paying for it…
5. It truly is big and overall amazing views of so many different things
With our last week and a half here look forward to my “things learned” post that will include a Hawaiian vocab list, tips, and general reflection on our time here.
