The Big Island was my introduction to Hawai'i and it wasn't quite what I expected. The weather was actually much nicer than I thought it would be and everything seemed to be outdoors. Both the airport terminal and the Hilton resort check-in were open air. There were gentle breezes and moderate temperatures and we didn't see four walls until we closed the door to our room. And Kona was a beautiful little place that held its own against Wal-Mart, CostCo and the Iron Man Triathlon.
But the landscape was a real surprise. I was expecting a tropical island but the Kona shore of Hawai'i is a vast area of barren lava rock. Even stranger was the unique Hawai'ian graffiti. Along the road virtually all of the white lava rocks are arranged into letter shapes spelling out typical "John loves Mary" messages. Very odd.
Looking toward the ocean, we could easily spot the different resorts since they did look like tropical islands rising out of the volcanic rocks. The Hilton resort was built around a natural lagoon and our room had a great view of the ocean, the dolphin center and the lagoon itself. Beneath our balcony we could actually see the dolphins jumping and the sea turtles swimming and at dusk we watched the runner lighting the tiki lamps. Unfortunately, the inner court was a nighttime roost for hundreds of mynah birds. The noise they make at dusk and dawn is unbelievable.
As a result, we began our tour early the next morning by driving to the lookout above Pololu Valley at the northwest corner of the island and then hiking down to the black sand beach. There are several tiny islands off the coast and this small valley is one of the most picturesque places I have ever seen. We hiked back up and continued our tour over to the Waipio Valley lookout which is more famous with a popular 4-wheeler road to the ocean. We then went to see the original statue of King Kamehameha at his birthplace in Kapaau. The better known bronze statue is in Honolulu but this, the original, was lost at sea, replaced, and then recovered. Unlike the replacement, this one is painted in life-like colors.
Up to this point, the weather was still pleasant, but when we drove along the coast we entered the tropical portion of the island. By the time we reached Akaka Falls and the Botanical Gardens we were in a heavy, continual mist. The gardens kept a rack of umbrellas ready and they were needed. We were told that the previous December had been practically Biblical with more than a month of daily rain and this here was just normal weather.
The drive to the National Park then took us up in elevation and it got cold as well as wet. The rain stopped just as we reached the parking lot but the temperatures remained in the low fifties and quite a number of people were totally unprepared. One guy in his swimsuit stood shivering with a thin beach blanket wrapped around him.
A Ranger was talking as we approached and I smiled hearing him quote Mark Twain. Roughing It is one of my favorite books and for the most part it's written about where I live, but any place honored with the Mark Twain touch is lucky indeed and in the book he also tells the story of his trip to Hawai'i. So I wasn't surprised that his descriptions were being quoted aloud as well as prominently displayed in the Visitor's Center. We visited Volcano House but I wouldn't want to stay there. One famous Mark Twain quote captures the experience perfectly, "The smell of sulphur is strong, but not unpleasant to a sinner."
One thing that has changed from Mark Twain's time is the caldera, the bowl remaining where the mountain peak used to be. When Mark Twain visited, the caldera was filled with lava and it is now empty but still "a colossal column of cloud towers to a great height in the air" as the gas vents upward. We made our way down to the tropical beach where we walked over cooled lava flows that had destroyed the area and 180 homes and saw where the lava had finally cooled and died out as it flowed down the road. Looking up the hillside, we could see the new lava flow making its way down to the ocean where there was another "colossal column", this time of steam, where the lava flow was violently cooled by the sea.
We returned to Hilo and stopped to eat at Ken's House of Pancakes. We had been told that this was the place to go to get the local flavor and while it was a fun place, quite honestly the parking lot was full of rental cars. I think only tourists go there. We went over to the Hilo Farmer's Market and that was what we were looking for. Fresh local fruits, Hawai'ian shirts and sarongs, palm frond hats and baskets being made as we watched and the true locals, both native and mainland refugees. It was a fun place.
We ended our trip around the island at Kealakekua Bay which is one of the most historic places in the Hawai'ian islands. In ancient times the sheer "forbidden cliffs" were the secret burial place for Hawai'ian royalty. A servant was suspended by rope from the top of the cliffs and he carefully placed the lowered body into an indentation in the rock wall. Then, according to the story, the rope was dropped, sending the honored servant to his own death, thus keeping the secret.
In more recent times, the bay became famous as the site of Captain Cook's death. The peaceful accomplishments of the Lewis & Clark Expedition are quite admirable, but Captain James Cook's peaceful voyages throughout the Pacific are by far the greatest feats of exploration in modern history. So it is doubly sad that it ended the way it did.
There is a white pillar marking the approximate spot where the Captain died at the hands of the Hawai'ians. And again, Mark Twain gets the final word on this subject too: "Plain unvarnished history takes the romance out of Captain Cook's assassination, and renders a deliberate verdict of justifiable homicide. . . . Small blame should attach to the natives for the killing of Cook. They treated him well. In return, he abused them."
Today, of course, Kealakekua Bay is mostly famous as a great scuba and snorkeling area. We spent the day frolicking, picnicking and swimming among the tropical fish and the sea turtles of the coral reef, all the while surrounded by these ancient and modern ghosts. It was a rather appropriate ending to our trip. Quite a place, this Hawai'i.
To see photos from this trip, go to:
Hawaii 2008
Hawaii 2008
