We decided we were going to split our time on Big island and stay on both the East and the West costs. The first half we would fly into Hilo and stay there as our base to explore and not far from The Volcano national park. Hilo is the USA’s wettest city, and despite the forecast the sun was blazing every day!
We set off on our adventure for a full day in the national park. We could have spent a lot longer there it is fascinating. We had a number of recommendations from our host where we were staying and had a chat with one of the Rangers. Having mapped out our walks and picked up a packed lunch we were off. Only a short way in driving to our first hike destination did we start to feel like we had landed on another planet. I cannot describe this place that would ever do it justice, it’s truly amazing. An island sculpted by fire ice and water… Breathtaking!
The Kilauea iki trail across a hardened lava lake was our first encounter. You can still hear the volcano rumblings as you hike through the forest and then down into a crater lava lake. Whilst the lava twinkles in the sun with the olivine crystals, stream jets hiss and bubble reminding you that the volcano is far from dormant.
As we continued round the park we saw some petroglyphs which are carving in the lava. Some of which were used by the Hawaiian people to offer the umbilical chords from the babies.
The lava is vast and covers for miles further then you can see across the entire island. There are various types and in some parts huge cross sections cut out to allow the road to go through. You can see where the lava has pushed to the oceans as well as stunning black beaches. Some of the park was closed due to the high sulphur levels current being produced by the volcano.
Later we headed to the Jagger museum and to admire the volcano which is smoking and bubbling away with the glow of lava. The last major activity was in June 2015 when part of the crater wall collapsed triggering a small eruption. We hung around for night fall to see the lava glowing and were not disappointed. What an absolute fantastic day!
Next day we decided to explore some of the areas around the Hilo region. To begin with we headed out for the famous Rainbow falls. There were no rainbows whilst we were there, just a few idiots who were not respecting nature and tempting fate by climbing on the edge of the falls
As you followed the path round the back of the falls you came across one humungus banyan tree which was beautiful. You could actually go inside is giant matted trunk like a magical maze. Fascinating and the weird way my photo came out below sort of sums up the feeling there…
After the falls we headed to Richardson state park. A less well known area frequented mostly by locals. Here we started our search of Honu (turtles) and enjoy all the small beaches, rock pools etc.
From the shore we saw so many green sea turtles. The relaxing stroll and climbing over the lava rock pools was great then the sudden excitement when we would spot another turtle or group of turtles. Whilst we dare not to change snorkling in the water here as it was pretty rough, on the other hand we did not need to as could see so much through the crystal clear water and the rock pools.
We continued on to coconut island and to wander around the Liliʻuokalani Park and Gardens.
The set our spirits on going to the botanic gardens where we enjoyed a stroll and taking in all the beautiful sights and smells. The gardens went all the way down to the sea where you could see the legendary twin rocks.
That evening we are at a newly opened restaurant in town. It became the most over priced and dull dining experiences say so don’t ask about cafe Pesto, $40 for a mediocre risotto. We had to put things right and headed to open mike night in the Hilo tavern pub. Every kind of act you could imagine and the “dark and stormy” cocktails left a fuzzy end to the night. One of the stars , made us chuckle!!!
britswissmix 