Tag Archives: ocean

The Big Island: Trip 2 – Day 1

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Josh and I headed back to the Big Island this weekend with two purposes: to see lava (since we got rained out a few weeks ago) and to see Belinda and Ted (two people who have known me most of my life and were visiting Hawaii for vacation). I am so very happy to say it was a HUGE success!

We landed late Friday evening and headed to Ken’s House of Pancakes for dinner since it was the only place open past 9 p.m. in Hilo. I had a fantastic curry chicken salad sandwich and Josh had a conglomeration of things (pictured below). After that, we checked in to our hotel which was on Hilo Bay and crashed in preparation for our big weekend ahead.

My curry chicken salad sandwich…so good!
Josh’s dinner of everything.

 

We got up on Saturday, grabbed a small to-go breakfast and coffee and headed to Honoli’i Beach Park. It is a black sand beach full of surfers. It is just north of downtown Hilo and is on a beautiful, scenic road.

Honoli’i Beach Park
Stairs to Honoli’i Beach Park
The black sand at Honoli’i Beach Park.
The surfers at Honoli’i Beach Park.
A huge bridge on the way back to the highway.
Another cool bridge along the same road.
View from the car on our way back to the highway.

 

After our slight detour, we headed north to the small town of Honokaa to meet Belinda and Ted for lunch. Honokaa was about halfway between where we were staying and where they were staying. We had a wonderful lunch at an Italian Pizzeria called Café Il Mondo. We then headed to Tex Drive In to introduce them to malasadas. They were pretty amazing!

Ted’s Spinach Ravioli
Belinda and I shared this amazing pizza!
Josh’s Chicken Sandwich
The famous drive in.
Ted: Raspberry, Belinda: Apple, Josh: Plain, Nicole: Bavarian Creme.
Ted, Belinda and I!

 

We then drove down to where our hike was starting in Kalapana (fingers crossed the entire time that the weather would stay nice). We arrived around 3:00 p.m. and took off around 3:30 p.m. with our guide. Our group had nine people in it, which was a great size to be hiking with. We started off heading towards where a surface flow might be. From what our guide said, it didn’t sound like we would get to see one but he wanted to try anyways to see if there was any action. The terrain was definitely rough on the ankles and feet. It was amazing to hike on the different types of lava from over the years. You could tell a huge difference between ten year old lava, three year old lava and month old lava. The newer stuff was much looser and easier to slip on (luckily, neither of us fell). The lava is super sharp (kind of like glass) and can cut you if you fall on it. We could see the different areas where the steam was rising from the lava tubes on the hillside. It appeared that there would be lava to see there, but it was all underneath the top layer flowing in the tubes to the ocean. After about three miles, we reached a surface flow and it was amazing! At first, there wasn’t much action and we spotted just a faint glow. But once we got there, there were a few different areas opening up and flowing. I have never seen or experienced anything like it in my life….the sound alone of it hissing was just insane! The lava was 3,000 degrees and if you got close enough, it felt like your face was melting. The closest I got was about two feet and I couldn’t stand it after that. It was incredible. Pictures and videos below describe it much better than I ever could.

Lava Surface Flow Video 1
Lava Surface Flow Video 2
Lava Surface Flow Video 3
Lava Surface Flow Video 4
Lava Surface Flow Video 5

The moon! Viewed from right before our hike standing in the lava field.
Steam rising from the lava tubes.
Hardened lava. I thought this was a really cool picture.
More hardened lava.
Josh and I with the lava.
Probably my favorite.
There were other groups of hikers that ended up where we were that had sticks to poke the lava. Sticking a stick in the lava is disrespectful to the Hawaiian culture and Pele (Goddess of Fire). However, it’s still amazing to see it catch on fire.
Me with the lava.

 

After spending about 45 minutes at the surface flow, we headed to the ocean entry area to see the lava flowing there. On our way there, we stepped over a crack that was glowing orange…amazing and scary at the same time to think about what you are walking on! There was tons of lava pouring into the ocean! There were about four different areas…it was so hard to see because of all the steam, but you could see the glow through the steam.

Lava Ocean Entry Video

Glowing crack on our walk to the ocean entry area.
Ocean Entry!
Me, viewing the lava flowing into the ocean.
Ready for the hike back! Headlamp and all!

 

After about a half hour, we headed back toward where our shuttle would come to pick us up. Walking back on the lava at night was pretty rough and I was so thankful for my headlamp. The lava was so incredibly beautiful under the light…super shiny and sparkly. We finally made it back after about an hour and a half hike from the ocean entry point. In total, our hike was 5.6 miles. Our hike was through Kalapana Cultural Tours and they were AWESOME.

After profusely thanking our tour guide, we headed back to Hilo for a quick dinner before crashing. We decided to try a new place instead of going to Ken’s, since it was Saturday night and places were open past 9:00 p.m.! We ended up at a restaurant called Ponds close to our hotel. We had a corner table that was surrounded by water on both sides. It was very nice and relaxing. I had a pasta dish and Josh had fish. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to go to bed. We had to get up at 3:15 a.m. for our lava boat tour the next day!

Pesto Chicken Pasta
Crab Crusted Opakapaka

Ali’i Tour

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Yesterday at work, we took the kids to the Ali’i Tour at Kualoa Ranch. It was a lot of fun and so pretty! After, we went to Kualoa Beach Park for lunch and games. It was a beautiful day out and I really enjoyed getting to be outside so much. I love my job and am so thankful I am getting to do fun things like this! I am learning so much from the kids…including pronouncing things correctly as well as a lot about the Hawaiian culture. It’s been a blast!

This fish pond was so pretty!
All the kids ready for the Chief!
The Chief creating fire.
The chief and his fire.
The Chief and I
The beautiful mountains…the view from the boat tour on the fish pond.
The fish pond tour.
Tia and I!
The kids playing after lunch and Kualoa Beach Park.
Chinaman’s Hat
Kualoa Beach Park

Being Touristy with Emel – Day 5

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Emel and I started our day with a trip to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial. We spent a few hours there (it was my second time visiting Pearl Harbor and my first time going since moving here). After that, we headed to eat Shabu Shabu for lunch and have some mochi ice cream for dessert. Then I headed to work and Emel went to get bubble tea and be a tourist on her own for the afternoon! I met up with Josh and Emel for Emel’s last night in Hawaii and we ended our week long tour of food with some delicious sushi! She also brought home a surprise dessert of some amazing cupcakes!

USS Arizona Memorial
Memorial Entrance
The oil was really bad this time. It was everywhere ont he water’s surface and smelled awful.
THe shrine to those that lost their lives.
The flag.
Map of the USS Arizona before it sank and after.
Emel and I at Pearl Harbor.
Shabu Shabu for lunch!
Mochi Ice Cream for dessert!
Sushi for Emel’s last night!
Surprise dessert from Emel!
The list of everything we did this week!

Being Touristy with Emel – Day 3

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Today, Emel and I headed to the East side of the island in the morning to hike the Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail. It was a gorgeous day and a great day to see some whales! We saw tons just hanging out swimming along. Incredible. After we finished there, we headed to Spitting Caves and it was the calmest I have ever seen it. We again saw more whales, one which jumped completely out of the water so very close to the rocks! I’m so glad the whales have decided to show off for Emel while she has been here! After that, we headed back so I could go to work and she ventured to Leonard’s Bakery and brought back some of the most delicious things I have ever had in my life (see pictures below). Malasadas..aka Portuguese donuts (unfortunately for Josh and I) have now been introduced to our lives. To end the day, we went to Chinatown to the Little Village Noodle House for some delicious Chinese food. I love having visitors!

Emel and I at the top of the lighthouse hike.
It was so calm at spitting caves today!
Pan Friend Beef and Grilled Chicken Wings
The amazingness from Leonard’s Bakery.
SO GOOD.
The delicious malasada.

Being Touristy with Emel – Day 1

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For our first day of Emel‘s vacation we planned an incredibly full day of fun! We started with the Kuli’ou’ou Ridge Trail hike. It was raining for a bit but turned out to be a pretty day, so the view at the top was definitely worth the hike up there. After that, we headed around the east side of the island where we saw TONS of whales. We captured a few pictures of the baby whales jumping out of the water (so incredibly cute as they didn’t make it very far out). There were also two swimming SO close to the shore…I was super happy she got to see them! We stopped and had the best fish tacos on the island and some veggie nachos at Surg’s and then headed to Bellows for some beach time. It was a beautiful day to hang out and relax after our hike! After that, we wandered around Kailua and got some frozen yogurt and toured the beautiful Lanikai houses and stopped at the famous beach, then headed back to Honolulu to get ready for a fun night out. We decided to head into Waikiki (so she could see all of the tourists) and had dinner with a few friends. Then we ventured to Duke’s for some of their famous Mai Tais. It was a jam-packed day and I’m SO excited she came to visit!!

Emel and I at the top of Kuli`ou`ou trail.
Josh and I at the top of Kuli`ou`ou trail.
Emel taking pictures of the beautiful windward coast.
All of us at the top of the trail.
The baby whale! It was so small (only a few tons). There were tons of them.
The two whales close to the shore. SO close!
Fish tacos and nachos. SO good!
Emel in the ocean at Bellows beach.
Mai Tais at Duke’s!
Emel and I at Duke’s enjoying our drinks.
All of us at Duke’s!

The Big Island: Trip 1 – Day 4

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Monday morning we woke up early to head to Isaac Hale Beach Park to catch our boat for the lava tour. Well not surprisingly this also got rained out due to the weather and roughness of the ocean. So instead we headed to Kalapana Cafe for breakfast and to regroup and figure out what we wanted to do on our last day.

 

After breakfast we headed to check out the Kapoho Tide-pools and Wai`opae Ponds. Rumor has it that they are wonderful for snorkeling, but with the current state of the weather we only visited them from above ground.

 

After our brief stop at the tide-pools, we headed north for a few miles to check out a natural lava swimming pool. The drive there was along one of the prettiest roads I have ever been on. It was also ridiculous how instantly our surroundings changed to a jungle. The surf here was outrageous. So much so, that we took a video because pictures just couldn’t capture the magnificent waves.

This road was beautiful.
View from the car.
The path was SO muddy!
Interesting moss on the trees.
Seriously creepy van.
What we came to when we walk off the super muddy path. Pretty cool.
Ridiculous waves.
Josh standing on higher ground to see if we should go further. We determined no.
The start of the path on the way back. I thought this was a neat picture.

 

After hiking back through the mud to our car, we headed back to the paved road to Highway 137 to visit Ahalanui. Ahalanui is a spring- and ocean-fed pool containing a man-made wall that separates it from the ocean. The pool is heated to about 90 degrees…but we opted not to get in as it looked pretty disgusting. Even though fresh water replenishes the pool daily, I’m still not sure it was the cleanest thing to swim in. However, it was still pretty neat to look at. It also amazes me that there are pools that are heated by the earth to such high temperatures.

View of the pool facing the ocean.
The inlet and manmade wall letting the ocean water in.
The pool facing inland.

 

Our next stop down Highway 137 was back to Isaac Hale Beach Park. This time to visit Poihiki pool, which is also a warm water pool, but completely natural. We walked along a short path to the pool…and while it looked much cleaner, there were already a lot of people in it. However, we did sit for a bit and watch all of the surfing action at the park.

Surfers at Isaac Hale Beach Park.

 

Once we got sick of watching the surfers, we made one last stop at Mackenzie State Recreation Area. We weren’t sure what to expect, but the owner of our B&B told us to make a stop here because the scenery was beautiful. We definitely were blown away. We thought the waves were ridiculous at the lava pool, but they were nothing compared to the waves here. They were so large and powerful that there were little crabs on the top of the cliffs that had been tossed up by the water. They would start to then make their way back down the rocks. Rough life for the little crabs. We also took a video at this location because the pictures could not begin to do what we saw in person justice.

We parked so close to the edge that this was our view.
Hazardous Cliffs
Cliffs
Beautiful rocks.
Looking down off the edge.
This is where we saw the crabs scurrying back down the rocks.
Ocean spray..it was SO high!
Amazing.

 

After that amazing experience, it was time for us to head back to Hilo to the airport. Lucky for us, this time we were on Hawaiian Airlines which meant we had a big plane that would have no problems taking off in the rain…unlike our Molokai experience from a couple months ago :). Adios Big Island..til we meet again!