Big Island Adventures Part IV: The Final Chapter

Two epic-spill disasters in one vacation?  It could only be me.  Sigh.

Before I continue, notice that in the upper right hand corner of the blog, there is a new little gadget.  It says "follow by email" and there's a box for you to type in your e-mail and hit submit.  This way, you'll get e-mail updates letting you know when I've added a new post.  Woo hoo!

Anyway, the next day, Matt and I woke up bright and early.  We went downstairs for some coffee, fresh fruit and pastries, and some advice from the awesome folks at the Dolphin Bay Hotel.  Part of the appeal of the hotel is that some of the property owned by the hotel is an expanse of jungle.  You can pick your own fruit if you'd like and they have a variety growing in the jungle - bananas, starfruit, breadfruit, papaya, you-name-it.  I was very excited to explore this jungle so I made a coffee and dragged Matt along with me.


Down some stairs..

 

And into the jungle! (With convenient walkway)

I had planned to spend some time taking pictures and finding fresh starfruit, but after all of 2 minutes, Matt and I (but mostly Matt) were covered in bug bites and spiderwebs.  So that was that.

"Evidence"

The coffee, however, was delicious and there was some fruit that had already been picked so breakfast was still a success.  The part of the morning that was most successful, was asking the guy at the front desk what, in his opinion, he would see given 6 hours in the Hilo area before having to catch a flight.  This guy (I'm sorry, I forget his name) was so unbelievably helpful! He pretty much planned out our entire day, complete with map and lunch. 

Out of Hilo, we drove South and followed the red arrows, doing a nice little loop and stopping at the tip of the triangle for lunch.

Our first stop: Snorkeling the Kapoho Tide Pools.

These are a series of tide pools that can range between 5 and 10 feet deep. 

It looks pretty desolate, but as soon as you jump in the water, it's a completely different world.  We've done a lot of snorkeling and have seen some really wonderful plants and animals, but I think this was the best snorkeling I've ever done.  The fish were no different from what we've seen, but the coral was amazing: neon blue, bright pink, lilac, brilliant yellow.  Imagine, if you could dip your head into the pool in the above picture, you'd be looking into the inside of a rainbow-painted fishbowl.  No picture could ever do it justice.

I want to go back!

We explored about 3 or 4, then had to get moving.  We were on a tight time schedule.  Our next stop: Ahalanui Park Hot Springs

The water was about as warm as bathwater because of an underground lava tube.  I couldn't help but think I was about to be a part of some tropical version of Dante's Peak.  So because of that, and these many warnings, I only took a quick dip:

The sign says, "Enter at own risk.
This natural ocean thermal pond is not disinfected.
Do not enter if you have open wounds due to risk of bacterial infection.
Do not feed marine life.
Fish and eels may become aggressive"

 ...and Matt couldn't go in because of his poor feet :(

It's like paradise!  ...but with potentially aggressive eels



A more jovial warning?



though legitimate...

Stop three was to Kehena Beach, a black sand beach.  We parked the car by an old hippie, locked it up tightly, and made our way down a cliff:

It only took about 5 minutes to get from the car to the beach and the view was stunning:

Oh, I'm sorry.  Did I forget to mention this was a clothing-optional beach?  Take a closer look:

"...or don't"
-Matt

Yeah, I'm sorry again.  That's not very clear.  You can't see all the old guys coming in from snorkeling in just their snorkel gear.  (Enjoy that image)  Try this one:

I laugh every time I look at this picture.

Here's a nice image of the amazingly blue water to wash away what I just did to you.  I'm sorry.

We didn't have time to go swimming (and we weren't sure we wanted to anyway) so we made our way to: Lunch! At Kaleo's!  It was some of the best food we've had in Hawaii so far.  If you feel like getting hungry, check it out: http://kaleoshawaii.com/sub_men_lunch.php 

I enjoyed a martini with lunch.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I'm pretty sure it was lilikoi-something.

Mmmmmmmm...

and after.

Matt enjoyed a Kona Longboard and Coconut Porter.  Also delicious.

Oh! There was some amazing artwork on display by a local artist (some of it pictured - ha - behind Matt).  Unfortunately, the smallest piece was beyond what we were interested in spending.

After lunch, the original plan was to jet back to Hilo to make our flight.  At this point, though, we found that we had time to make a quick trip North of Hilo to see Akaka Falls - the one item left on our "to-see" list.  Perfect!

We got to the park and started the loop trail.  We were a little wary of more jungle/bug experiences, but it turned out to be a non-issue.

Start of the trail

Beautiful flowers everywhere, all along the sides of the trail and in the trees

Bamboo

TIME WARP!  I don't know how I made this picture happen, but I had to include it.

We stopped first at Kahuna Falls, the smaller of the two waterfalls

Kahuna Falls

Intricate root systems, unfortunately, the picture is a bit blurry

Akaka Falls!

More warnings.

This display is describing a type of fish that migrates UP THE FALLS.  Yes.  A tiny fish swims up that huge waterfall.  Go take another look.

We made our way back...

...and saw more beautiful waterfalls...



...and more warnings.



After this little hike, we got to the airport with perfect timing.  The check-in, etc, went well.  Then, we were delayed about 2 hours because President Obama was leaving Oahu, and the airspace had to be clear.  Boo.

I still felt like a champion for accomplishing everything that we did in one day.

Before I sign off, don't forget that Follow button at the top of the page.  I am way behind in blogging so...there will be posts.

During his air test a young pilot flew through a rainbow. He passed with flying colors

Get it?  'Cause Hawaii is the Rainbow State?!