Hawaii--the Big Island

Today was a full day with the tour group. After landing at Hilo and boarding the bus, our first stop was the Mauna Loa macadamia factory.  I got a look at some of the production line.

Preparing the macadamias for chocolate 

Macadamias on the production line

Then it was on to Akatsuka Orchid Garden.  This place had some interesting flowers.

Orchid

Orchid

I like this one best.

Next up: the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  The first thing we saw here was the Thurston Lava Tube.

On the way to the lava tube.

Inside the lava tube.

Further up the mountain is the Halemaumau Crater, a pit crater within the much larger summit caldera (6 miles across) of Kilauea.

Halemaumau Crater

The summit caldera 

After lunch was a quick stop at the Punaluu black sand beach.  It would've been great to spend more time here, but we did get to see two sea turtles.

Punaluu Beach 

The sea turtles.  We had to stay 100 feet away.  They are not endangered anymore but they are still protected.

The last stop before our hotel was the Royal Kona Coffee Company.  They had free samples which were all good.   They had a great peaberry blend, but it was $49 for a half pound.  Fe will forgive a lot, but there's no need to intentionally test my luck.  So I just drank more samples.

View from the balcony 

Did you know:  there are five volcanoes on the island of Hawaii--three active, one dormant, and one extinct.

Maui Sights

Early start today when we picked up the rental car at 7 am.  Then it was off to Haleakala National Park.  It was quite a climb to the 10,023 ft summit.

A view of Kahoolawe from the start of the climb (about 2500ft)

Leleiwi Overlook (8640 ft)

Leleiwi Overlook

View from the summit

Haleakala Observatory

View from the summit.  That's the Big Island (Hawaii) in the background.   

After lunch--I'm a big fan of loco moco--it was a drive on the Road to Hana.  Lots of scenery, but the road itself had 54 single-lane bridges and 600 curves.  It wasn't too bad if you could follow someone.

Sugar cane field 

Waterfalls on the Road to Hana (HI 360)

Black sand beach at Hana Bay

Since we don't have any Jack in the Box restaurants in PA, we tried one here.  My dad and I both liked it--they serve breakfast all day like McDonald's, but I think they have more choices.  But those chickens from Kauai have also made it to

Maui.

Maui chickens 

Tomorrow we fly to Hilo at 7 am.

Did you know:  according to a local legend, the demigod Maui imprisoned the sun in Haleakala in order to lengthen the day.

Arrival in Maui

At 40 minutes, the flight from Kauai to Maui will be our longest.

We stayed with the tour today and the first stop was the Iao Valley State Park.  It was here that King Kamehameha--in his quest to unite the Hawaiian islands--clashed with Maui's chief.

Iao Valley

Iao Needle

Valley stream

The next stop was Lahaina--specifically "Historic Lahaina Town"--which used to be the capital of Hawaii as well as a major stop for whaling ships.  I've noticed on this trip that in towns described as historic tend to be far more heavy on the shopping instead of history.  This place was no exception, but I could tell that most of the buildings were original and have been repurposed.  

View of Molokai from Lahaina 

Indian Banyan Tree, the second largest in the US.

Lahaina street scene

After this, we arrived at the hotel, the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel.  It's pretty ritzy to me since I am used to Motel 6 or Holiday Inn.

Ka'anapali Beach Scene

Sunset over cloud-covered Molokai

Tomorrow we'll get the rental car for the drive around Maui.

Did you know:  all of Hawaii's beaches are public.

Kauai's North Shore

Driving for a second day on Kauai.  Today  it was the mostly the North Shore.  We started at the Kilauea Lighthouse.

Kilauea Lighthouse

I mentioned earlier about all the chickens on Kauai.  Of course, it's not the state bird, the Nene is.  It is the world's rarest goose and was almost extinct in the 1950s.

Nene

Kauai is full of scenic overlooks.

Hanalei Overlook

Hanalei Overlook

The North Shore also has a lot of beaches.  The local weather warns about dangerous surf and I can see why.

Hanea Beach

Hanea Beach

Hanea Beach with volcanic rocks

We made it to the end of the road on Kauai's North Shore.  There was (naturally) a beach at the end of it. We also saw some dry caves.

Maniniholo Dry Cave

Did I mention that Kauai was the wettest island?

Not just beaches, mountains too.

Anini Beach.  Kilauea Lighthouse is in the distance near that small island.

We took some back roads and saw more amazing scenery.  This is near Kauai Ranch.  

Returned the car today--we put 300 miles on it in the two days we had it.  We fly for Maui tomorrow.

Did you know:  poi is a Hawaiian word for  the staple food of boiled taro root.  

Kauai, the Garden Isle

Driving around the southern and western part of Kauai today.  I had to stop at the Lihue Walmart for new sandals first.  While we were there, we had to watch out for the chickens in the parking lot.  We were told that in the past, Filipinos brought the chickens in for cockfights.  Having seen some of these fighting roosters in the Philippines, they look just as tough.  All of them got loose after a typhoon on the 1990s and now they are all over.

Walmart rooster

Warning sign

Next up was the Spouting Horn in Koloa.  This was a little more impressive than the blowhole we saw on Oahu.  I think this was timing though.

Spouting Horn, Koloa

I insisted we go to the Kauai Coffee Company, of course.

Coffee trees

Drying the beans

Right down the road were the ruins of  Fort Elizabeth, a Russian fort that was there from 1815 to 1864.  It was established to provide a way station for Russian ships trading between East Asia and the Pacific Northwest.

Ruins of Fort Elizabeth 

Right across the Waimea River from the fort is where Captain Cook first landed in Hawaii.

Cook's landing spot 

Captain Cook statue

We drove up HI 520 to what is known as "Hawaii's Grand Canyon", Waimea Canyon.  It was pretty impressive.

Waimea Canyon

Waimea Canyon 

Niihau lookout, Waimea Canyon Park

Looking down the canyon.  It was getting cloudy.

Made it to the top (5140 ft) but this is all we could see.

Tried to take back roads back to the hotel.  The GPS wasn't working, so we did it the 20th Century way with maps.  It's hard to get lost on an island like this though.

We found the westernmost independent bookstore in the US in a small town called Hanapepe.  I got a book for the plane ride back.

Bookstore in Hanapepe

We came across something called Alekoko Fishpond.  I saw the sign but didn't know what to expect.  Turns out it belonged to Kauai royalty in ancient times and (according to legend) was guarded by royal children with supernatural powers.  The sister turned into a lizard and the brother (Alekoko) into a shark.

Alekoko Fishpond

Tomorrow we'll explore the eastern and northern sides of the island.

Did you know: Niihau is a privately-owned island which has a population of about 250.  There are no roads or electricity and the residents speak Hawaiian in an effort to maintain their culture.