Our next stop in Hawaii was to the Big Island. We ended up arriving a day before family and staying one extra day, but it was such a joy to meet with family again, this time on Julia’s side.
Sightseeing
Hosting a large number of climate zones, the Island of Hawai’i has a such diverse number of ecosystems to explore.
Rainbow Falls
Just outside of Hilo on the east side of the island.
Volcanoes National Park
Our time here spanned a few days. We had an afternoon there our first full day on the island, but it was pretty cloudy and foggy. We ended up staying in a small cabin in the park campground and did the rest the next day. Late last year, both the Kīlauea volcano and the Mauna Loa were erupting at the same time, neither were erupting when we visited. We were at the rim of the Kīlauea crater at around 12:30pm and there was a tour group at our overlook and the guide was saying that they don’t know when it will erupt again, could be in 10 minutes, could be in 10 years. Ironically, it started erupting 4 hours later after we had already left to meet up with family! Needless to say, seeing lava was high on every one’s list of things to do, so two days later we did the 2 hour trip back to Volcano National Park to see the lava at night.
The Kilauea Iki crater which is old enough and cool enough that you can walk on it.
The hike down to the crater floor.
Other worldly views from the bottom.
Hike to Nahuku (Thurston Lava Tube).
It was pretty fun to walk through the lava tube.
In 1959 the Kīlauea Iki that we walked on was spewing lava up over the crater and all the lava droplets created this hill of devastation. At the start of the trail there were a few of the endangered Nēnē geese. They believe that the Nēnē are descendants of a pair of Canadian geese that probably got blown to the island in a storm.
The drive through the old lava flows spanning multiple years/decades/centuries.
The beauty of the battle between the lava and the sea.
Such unique lava formations.
Steam vents and sulphur pits.
The Kīlauea crater, 4 hours before eruption and the older snow capped Mauna Kea seen in the distance which Annika was excited to see. She had learned that Mauna Kea is technically the tallest mountain in the world since it continuously extends to the Pacific floor and is therefore taller than Mount Everest even though Mount Everest sits much higher in the atmosphere.
And returning the two days later to see the now erupting volcano and fantastic sunset!
Black Sands Beach
Green Sands Beach
The grasslands leading to the green sands beach.
We took the “local transportation” of riding in the back of a pick-up truck to get there.
Wai’pio Valley Lookout
Akaka Falls
One unique thing about these falls is that there is a little goby fish that will “swim” up these falls by climbing the rocks behind the falls.
Family Time
What a gift and fun to meet up with family again! Most of the following is in or around the Kona area.
Cousin time included games and crafts!
And lots of swimming.
We had January birthday celebrations with Marika decorating the cakes.
Just down the road from our AirBnB was a nice snorkeling location.
We also booked a tour to do night time snorkeling to see manta rays.
There was of course beach time with the favourite activity being boogie boarding.
We stumbled upon a jewelry shop that let you open your own oyster and then the pearl inside is used for your jewelry. That shop did well with this family with all the grandkid girls and Oma getting a necklace.
Shaved ice was a hit!
