After five night at Aulani, we moved to the Big Island for more pool time, but more importantly, a visit to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. For our 5th wedding anniversary (11 years ago), John and I went to Oahu for a week. As part of that trip, we did a day trip excursion to the Big Island for HVNP. We were so excited to spend even more time exploring it this time and sharing all of the history and nature with William.
Helicopter Tour: Our first morning was spent driving from Waikoloa where our hotel was over to Hilo on one of the three roads on the Big Island. This one goes over the top of the island, and the max speed was about 40 MPH as we went through sleepy little towns on this two lane highway. (Our return trip in the dark was through the middle on the mostly four lane "Saddle Road," but wow, that was dark and creepy!)
We had a Blue Hawaiian helicopter "Circle of Fire" tour booked. It left from Hilo airport for a 50 minute flight over one of the active craters, over the ocean where the lava flows have created new island over the past few years, and through the lush green waterfall areas. Our pilot was great about pointing out where silvery lava - meaning more recent flows - or red lava - very recent flows! - could be seen. And of course, he flew us around and around the crater opening where we could see the lava when the steam blew out of the way. He did a good job of turning the helicopter so our family sitting on the right side could see, and then going the other way, so the Aussie family of three sharing the ride with us, could see out the left.
Hiking: After a nice brunch (can you see a theme for our family?), we were refueled and ready to venture into the park on foot. We spent about 3 hours to hike a 4.5 mile round trip on the Crater Rim Trail to view the Kilauea Caldera from the Jaggar Museum. That included walking through the Sulfur Fields which smelled as amazing as you'd expect! I took pictures as we got closer and closer to the caldera. But we could see it across the rim the entire time. Unfortunately that day the lava was about 50 feet lower than it needed to be to see it from the surface. The day before it was high enough to see. We did enjoy hearing the Park Ranger tell some stories though before we headed back to the Visitor Center and our car. On the way back we saw an amazing rainbow!
Hotel: We didn't explore much of the island outside of HVNP. We were too tired to venture far offsite for dinner, and we spent the day at the pool since it was sunny and hot. We spent our only full day in Waikoloa at our hotel pool (not even venturing to the beach which was nearby) just swimming and lounging. The only downside to all that pool time was that William barely ate, as he didn't get out of the pool for food and he fell asleep every night during dinner. That caught up with him as we were checking out of the hotel, and the little bit of juice in his empty stomach made a big exit. After a quick clean up and a Starbucks breakfast sandwich, he felt much better. Also on our way out of town, we visited the Hilton down the street to scope out a future vacation. They had a much bigger pool and lagoon and water play area as compared to the sleepy Marriott. Not to mention dolphins and sea turtles!
After we rushed to the Kona airport to depart, our flight had some undisclosed mechanical issue (I thought someone said a missing fire extinguisher?) that caused a 3 hour delay. The airport is tiny and outdoors, so it could have been a real challenge to stay entertained and in good spirits. But John took William to the gift shop where he found this shark's tooth necklace. It made him take off his meneheune necklace from Aulani for the first time in 8 days! We also got some food vouchers from the airline for a second lunch/early dinner. Our arrival time in San Diego was pushed back, though, from 9:30 until 12:30 so it made for a late night/early morning. Luckily William slept most of the 5 hour flight. Not sure why but I barely slept on any of the flights. I did get caught up on TV shows and movies though!
Helicopter Tour: Our first morning was spent driving from Waikoloa where our hotel was over to Hilo on one of the three roads on the Big Island. This one goes over the top of the island, and the max speed was about 40 MPH as we went through sleepy little towns on this two lane highway. (Our return trip in the dark was through the middle on the mostly four lane "Saddle Road," but wow, that was dark and creepy!)
Lava Tube and Chain of Craters: the hike took a little longer than expected, so it was nearing evening as we did a quick walk through the Thurston Lava Tubes (using flashlights since high waters knocked out the usual lighting) and then drove to Chain of Craters road for sunset. William wanted to "touch" some "real lava," so we stopped at several of the lava fields along with way. We drove to the end of the road (20 miles) but didn't walk in much further since it was windy and getting dark and late. But we tried to replicate a few photos from the last time John and I were there. And as we were leaving there was a tour outfit that was just packing up a telescope that was trained on the lava flows glowing on the ridge. We got to look through their equipment and also our binoculars in addition to what you could see with the naked eye. Absolutely amazing!
Hotel: We didn't explore much of the island outside of HVNP. We were too tired to venture far offsite for dinner, and we spent the day at the pool since it was sunny and hot. We spent our only full day in Waikoloa at our hotel pool (not even venturing to the beach which was nearby) just swimming and lounging. The only downside to all that pool time was that William barely ate, as he didn't get out of the pool for food and he fell asleep every night during dinner. That caught up with him as we were checking out of the hotel, and the little bit of juice in his empty stomach made a big exit. After a quick clean up and a Starbucks breakfast sandwich, he felt much better. Also on our way out of town, we visited the Hilton down the street to scope out a future vacation. They had a much bigger pool and lagoon and water play area as compared to the sleepy Marriott. Not to mention dolphins and sea turtles!
