The Big Island

Episode #819
October 12, 2024

THE BIG ISLAND

Our puddle jumper flew from O’ahu to Hilo on the big island of Hawai’i in about an hour. 

Our friend Dave picked us up at the airport.

We stopped at a farmer’s market where Dave purchased some exotic fruits. We had never eaten dragon fruit or Mangosteen. The seeds of the Mangosteen are the sweetest food I have ever tasted.

Something else I have never eaten is Poke. Dave treated us to it for lunch.

Dave and Wendy’s house is perched on a cliff near Waipi’o Overlook, on the north side of Hawaii’s Big Island. Being on the windward side it is a tropical rain forest averaging 150 inches of annual rainfall.

The view is of the Kohala Cliffs whose 3000 foot drop into the sea was eroded from Kohala volcano. They are the tallest sea cliffs in the world. In the distance is Maui. Below are the black sands of Waipi’o beach. Their yard is a botanical garden of orchids, plants and trees that Dave has planted. It was educational to stay with a botanist.

Dave drove us down a treacherous 4 wheel drive road to the beach in Waipi’o valley where his fearless papillon Coco danced with the surf.

At the top of the valley were twin waterfalls.

Along the way we were greeted by feral horses who gave a nod to Coco.

The next day Paula and I drove to Volcanos National Park. On the way we stopped at Rainbow Falls and Boiling pots on the Wailuku River.

At Volcanos we stayed at Volcano House with a breathtaking view of the Kilauea caldera.

Our first hike was the Halema’uma’u Trail, 1.5 miles from the crater rim to the caldera floor. The trail runs through rain forest.

Small clumps of fern prepare the caldera floor for the Hawaiian native ‘Ohi’a Lehua trees. ‘Ohi’a display bottle brush-like red flowers.

‘Ohi’a Lehua are indigenous, but threatened by an invasive fungus. The term indigenous means occurring naturally or native. Yet, after the Hawaiian islands were created by volcanos millions of years ago there was no life. Life arrived from the ocean and airborne from 3000 miles away. One plant or animal arrived every 33,000 years. When man arrived the migration of plants and animals accelerated dramatically.

Another hike was into Nahuku (Thurston Lava Tube), a long tube-shaped cave created by underground lave flow.

The Devastation Trail hike to Pu’upua’i Overlook featured views of lava gravel desert, cinder cones and Kilauea Iki lava lake.

We sensed the still active volcano on Halema’uma’u Steam Bluff surrounded by steam vents and sulfur deposits.

To finish our Volcanos experience we drove the Chain of Craters Road over the Kealakomo lava flow to an overlook whose vista showed miles of new island stretching out to the south.

Hawaii’s Big Island is the newest of the island chain. These islands have been created by a stationary plume of magma which builds islands as the Pacific tectonic plate moves over this hotspot. To the southeast, the submerged volcano, Lō‘ihi Seamount will eventually create another Hawaiian island. The scale of island building is mind boggling.

On our way back from Volcanos we hiked the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. This well curated garden is divided into thematic plant and flower varieties.

Paula walked onto a rocky jetty, splashed with mist from crashing sea breakers.

In the middle of our hike a cannonball tree fruit fell, making an explosive sound and missing us by a few feet.

While on the Big Island Paula and I enjoyed many delicious vegetarian meals prepared by Dave. During one such meal we met Hilton, the former director of the observatory on the summit of Maunakea.

My old friend Ron has recently moved to the Big Island. Paula and I visited him and his wife Holly Ann at their new/old house on the north slope of Mauna Loa. Conversation was as if we were never apart for 30 years. The house was built in 1918, but has good bones. There is much to do on his property and a retirement to do them in. The property is 5.001 acres since all the lots are required to be over 5 acres. The street is lined with old growth eucalyptus.

The view from the house is a meadow surrounded by forest jungle.

Our last experience on the Big Island was a trip to Kona to night snorkel with Manta Rays. We boarded the Huno Iki and boated to a sheltered cove. We snorkelers were arranged around surfboards with lights shining down. Below were scuba divers and dancing manta rays.

The lights attracted plankton. The Mantas swam up to us eating the plankton. Inches away the Rays flipped belly up to reveal there gills and face, sometimes brushing against us.

The guides guessed that there were 10 Mantas visiting us. It was 45 mins of surreal.

Finally, we spent the night with old friends Laura and Doug who took us to a Kona coffee plantation the next day.

On the return home we stopped at Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site. This is where King Kamehameha built a rock temple which was hand fitted without mortar. The rocks were transported by a human chain 14 miles long. The temple was the site of Kamehameha’s unification of Hawaii.

The next day we would fly to Kaua’i. Dave is an amazing host and friend.

This adventure continues in next week’s bLog.

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