We spent 5 days on Hawaii, the big island, and before flying to Maui. I was only able to stay in Maui for one night before heading back to work, but my family stayed about 4 days. I'd seen plenty of pictures of Hawaii and in some ways it was exactly what I imagined - beautiful beaches with palm trees blowing in the wind. But there was also a ton of history, hiking, and unique ecosystems that I didn't anticipate. My family isn't the best at sitting around at a beach or pool for more than a few hours, and Hawaii was the perfect mix of activities and relaxation.
We flew into Kona on
the big island and drove by fields and fields of volcanic rock before arriving
at our condo. Hawaii still has active volcanos that completely change the
island's landscape every hundred years or so.
We spent our first few days exploring the area near our condo (and gorgeous adjoining Hilton) on morning runs, visiting historic forts, and checking out a few nearby beaches. There was a trail reserved for the use of Hawaiian kings and freshwater fish ponds dating back hundreds of years right in our condo's backyard.
My dad, sister and I
decided to try out a few different hikes listed in our guidebook - one was to
the top of cone-shaped mass of lava called Pu'u Wa'a Wa'a Cinder Cone (bit of a mouthful). The instructions in the guidebook were a little
sketchy: "Go past the dirt road and turn left at the rusty gate". We
walked through a working ranch (and very close to some not-so-friendly cows)
for a couple hours and were only a few miles away from the top of the cone, but had to turn around to get back to the car before the
farmer locked the ranch gate. I'll classify this one as an
"experience".
We hiked to a few
breathtaking overlooks as well. I can't remember the names of everything -
so many letters in Hawaiian names! Parts of the big island are a desert and
others are rainforest, so the landscape changed drastically as we were driving around each day.
The highlight of the
trip for me was driving to the top of Mauna Kea to watch the sunset
at 13,000 feet and then stargaze. The top of the mountain (the tallest in the world if you count the part underwater) is a prime spot to watch the sky,
and there are a few observatories at the peak. Pictures of this kind of stuff
never do it justice, but watching the sunset from above the clouds was a once
in a lifetime kind of thing. And the starry skies were the clearest I've ever
seen.
Snorkeling with the
manta rays was another high point of the trip- they feed right after dusk, so you have to
go at night. The guides rigged up floating contraptions with LED lights, so all
we had to do was hold on, breathe, and watch. Manta rays are harmless but huge - some are 15 feet across. They're
attracted to the plankton that gather underneath the lights, so some got
incredibly close to us. No underwater pictures unfortunately - but I did get some good ones of the sunset!
Our last full day on
the big island was reserved for visiting the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It was a
long drive across the island, and we stopped at a few short trails to
waterfalls along the way. We also made a pit-stop at Tex Drive-In for some
malasadas- highly recommended!
It was a bit of a
let-down that we weren't able to see any flowing lava at the park (since it's
an active volcano, the lava flows change all the time), but we did get to hike
down into an old crater which was pretty surreal. Parts of the ground were still
hot, and it looked almost like another planet with no vegetation.
Next stop was Maui -
short but sweet for me. Maui was everything I'd expected Hawaii to be. While
the big island was rugged and full of natural beauty, Maui was like a postcard
and full of tourists (but in a good way). We spent our night soaking up the touristy
side of Maui with a luau and pig roast. I didn't know what to expect but the
show was amazing - it included about 10 separate dances and fire twirling.
My last day in Maui was bittersweet but full of fun. We spent the morning attempting to paddleboard with pretty strong winds and shopped a little before setting off on the "Road to Hana". The Hana Highway is a 65 mile road hugging the Maui coast that is infamous for it's steep turns and endless scenic overlooks and waterfalls. Most of the attractions are a ways off the road and noted in the guidebook like "stop at the second rock after mile marker 40 and follow the stream for 2 miles". We decided to follow one of these detours and ended up at a waterfall and swimming hole we had all to ourselves.
Top it off with a rainbow, and it was a great way to say goodbye (or Aloha) to my last few hours in Hawaii. As always, until next time!
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