Spent a long weekend on the Big Island..
08-22-2007, 02:20 PM
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Spent a long weekend on the Big Island..
Wow! What an awesome weekend! If you are ever planning a trip to Hawaii and aren't into the "guided tour" assembly line, then skip Oahu (honolulu) and go to the Big Island!
In a single day, you can play on some of the most amazing beaches around, then drive up to a mountaintop to see the stars at what's considering the clearest night sky on the planet!
Here's what we did in our weekend:
Friday: Hiked in and around Volcano national park. Hiked the 4.5 mi. trail through Kilaea Iki, observing the steam vents where the volcano is boiling off underground water. Then we hiked the Lava Tube. Saw the visitor's center, did a couple other things, and ate dinner at the Thai Thai restaurant in Old Volcano town.
Saturday: Went chasing waterfalls. Saw Akaka falls, Rainbow Falls, and Boiling Pots. Then it was on to the Black Sand beach-- the sand is like ground up obsidian, and it's very dark. This is a good spot to see Green Sea turtles-- I got great pics here. Then we headed South to South Point (the southernmost pt in the US). From there's we thrashed the Jeep about 2 miles back on a rough two-track to the secluded Green Sand Beach (very few people see this, because of the challenging access). Then it was on to the SW side of the island, stopping at some of the local coffee mills in South Kona. If you haven't had fresh Kona coffee that was roasted and ground the same day you drink it, you've missed a treat! There's also the Painted Church and some other neat things to see in the southern Kona area.
Sunday we did the North part of the island. We headed up to Waimea to see the valley. Then it was around the North part of the island and down the NW coast, stopping at the fabulous Hapuna beach. I tell you, I can go to Waikiki anytime I want, and I'd chose Hapuna over Waikiki any and every time. It's more accessible, and the quality of the beach is superior, imo. After hitting the beach, we hopped in the Jeep and drove up Saddle Road to Moana Kea (the taller mountain). We stopped at the 9000ft observation center and watched the sun set over the cloudy valley below then waited for complete darkness to watch the stars. The night air here is so clear that there is scientific lab here that samples the air, because it's supposedly the cleanest air on the planet. There's no light pollution to speak of, so you can so more stars than you could ever imagine.
Monday, we decided to hit a couple closer places before flying home to Honolulu. We went to the zoo (saw the white tiger), an Orchid Garden (never saw a $15,000 flower until then!), the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut farm, a local winery (honey macadamia nut wine!) and more stuff. The city of Hilo is very charming and much smaller and more authentic Hawaii than anything on Oahu. In fact, the contrast between them is startling.
Big Island has a very small-town feel-- TONS of diesel trucks and almost all lifted. It's practically a CTD commercial there. Oahu has very few truck in general, and a diesel is a very rare find. Big Island has only two major cities, both between 60K-80k population. Honolulu has over 3/4M people and is super cramped with terrible traffic. Big Island people are friendly and very welcoming, while Oahu is still friendly, but more on the surface.
If you want fancy hotels and have money to burn and just want to *be* in Hawaii, then Oahu is better for you. But if you want to *see* Hawaii, then the Big Island is probably a much better bet.
A note on the rental Jeep Wrangler Unlimited we had: it was very capable off-road and tons of fun, even on the road. The transmission is absolutely terrible, constantly lugging the gutless 3.8 V-6. I half expected the trans to leave us stranded. Get the stick shift if you buy one!
I shot over 350 pics with my Nikon D200. I'll try to post some in the next few days as I get a chance to sort through them and edit them a bit.
Justin
In a single day, you can play on some of the most amazing beaches around, then drive up to a mountaintop to see the stars at what's considering the clearest night sky on the planet!
Here's what we did in our weekend:
Friday: Hiked in and around Volcano national park. Hiked the 4.5 mi. trail through Kilaea Iki, observing the steam vents where the volcano is boiling off underground water. Then we hiked the Lava Tube. Saw the visitor's center, did a couple other things, and ate dinner at the Thai Thai restaurant in Old Volcano town.
Saturday: Went chasing waterfalls. Saw Akaka falls, Rainbow Falls, and Boiling Pots. Then it was on to the Black Sand beach-- the sand is like ground up obsidian, and it's very dark. This is a good spot to see Green Sea turtles-- I got great pics here. Then we headed South to South Point (the southernmost pt in the US). From there's we thrashed the Jeep about 2 miles back on a rough two-track to the secluded Green Sand Beach (very few people see this, because of the challenging access). Then it was on to the SW side of the island, stopping at some of the local coffee mills in South Kona. If you haven't had fresh Kona coffee that was roasted and ground the same day you drink it, you've missed a treat! There's also the Painted Church and some other neat things to see in the southern Kona area.
Sunday we did the North part of the island. We headed up to Waimea to see the valley. Then it was around the North part of the island and down the NW coast, stopping at the fabulous Hapuna beach. I tell you, I can go to Waikiki anytime I want, and I'd chose Hapuna over Waikiki any and every time. It's more accessible, and the quality of the beach is superior, imo. After hitting the beach, we hopped in the Jeep and drove up Saddle Road to Moana Kea (the taller mountain). We stopped at the 9000ft observation center and watched the sun set over the cloudy valley below then waited for complete darkness to watch the stars. The night air here is so clear that there is scientific lab here that samples the air, because it's supposedly the cleanest air on the planet. There's no light pollution to speak of, so you can so more stars than you could ever imagine.
Monday, we decided to hit a couple closer places before flying home to Honolulu. We went to the zoo (saw the white tiger), an Orchid Garden (never saw a $15,000 flower until then!), the Mauna Loa Macadamia nut farm, a local winery (honey macadamia nut wine!) and more stuff. The city of Hilo is very charming and much smaller and more authentic Hawaii than anything on Oahu. In fact, the contrast between them is startling.
Big Island has a very small-town feel-- TONS of diesel trucks and almost all lifted. It's practically a CTD commercial there. Oahu has very few truck in general, and a diesel is a very rare find. Big Island has only two major cities, both between 60K-80k population. Honolulu has over 3/4M people and is super cramped with terrible traffic. Big Island people are friendly and very welcoming, while Oahu is still friendly, but more on the surface.
If you want fancy hotels and have money to burn and just want to *be* in Hawaii, then Oahu is better for you. But if you want to *see* Hawaii, then the Big Island is probably a much better bet.
A note on the rental Jeep Wrangler Unlimited we had: it was very capable off-road and tons of fun, even on the road. The transmission is absolutely terrible, constantly lugging the gutless 3.8 V-6. I half expected the trans to leave us stranded. Get the stick shift if you buy one!
I shot over 350 pics with my Nikon D200. I'll try to post some in the next few days as I get a chance to sort through them and edit them a bit.
Justin
08-22-2007, 04:48 PM
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We have a condo on the Big Island at the Waikoloa Village. I love how laid back everything is on the Big Island compared to Maui and Oahu (only other islands I've been to). It's beautiful and my favorite place I've been 
08-22-2007, 10:11 PM
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HOHN,
I used to own a home on the big island, south of Kona about 30 miles. What a great place that island is! Natural beauty, active volcano, small town feel, amazing weather. I could go on and on. Dry desert here, tropical forest there, raining somewhere else. Lava pouring down the mountain and into the sea. Outrageous!
I've been wanting to get back over there again and will pretty soon. My wife has never been there and I'm starting to miss it.
Too many irons in the fire right now, but soon. I'm glad you made the trip and it's fun flying inter-island when you're one of the locals.
John
I used to own a home on the big island, south of Kona about 30 miles. What a great place that island is! Natural beauty, active volcano, small town feel, amazing weather. I could go on and on. Dry desert here, tropical forest there, raining somewhere else. Lava pouring down the mountain and into the sea. Outrageous!
I've been wanting to get back over there again and will pretty soon. My wife has never been there and I'm starting to miss it.
Too many irons in the fire right now, but soon. I'm glad you made the trip and it's fun flying inter-island when you're one of the locals.
John
08-24-2007, 11:42 PM
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Bump, some pics for you all to enjoy...
more pics at my .mac page here:
http://homepage.mac.com/justinhohn/PhotoAlbum14.html
more pics at my .mac page here:
http://homepage.mac.com/justinhohn/PhotoAlbum14.html
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