Round The World and other travels

A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries

This is: Canada & Hawaii 2016

Natural wonders from dawn to dusk

It was our last full day on the Big Island and, given the earlier uncertainties and disruptions caused by the threat from Madeline and Lester, we had rearranged our plans so that this would now be our main day of sightseeing. And a long, full-on day it promised to be: our main objective, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, was to be found adjacent to the Big Island's southeast coast and the entire round trip was expected to amount to around 300 miles of driving. (Hawai'i, incidentally, is the local spelling for the name of both the Big Island and the 50th state. The apostrophe indicates a glottal stop in Hawaiian, and islanders are divided on whether the 'w' should be pronounced as 'w' or 'v'. The latter group would say "Have-eye E".)

With the ambitious nature of the day's itinerary very much in mind, we set off around 7:30am. Our breakfast stop was at Island Lava Java, in the eastern (i.e. inland) part of Waikoloa. There we enjoyed an al fresco first meal of the day to the sound of live music for Aloha Friday, a rather more elaborate local version of casual-dress day in offices. On this occasion, our route across the central mountainous ridge of the island to Hilo was via Hwy 200. Better known as the Saddle Road, this route has been greatly improved in recent years. I recalled that at the time of my one previous visit to the Big Island in 1997, the road was actually banned to rental cars, due to its poor surface and profusion of narrow bridges. This now-upgraded alternative route provided another enjoyable crossing from one side of the island to the other, following on from our Hwy-19 drive on Monday.

On reaching Hilo, we proceeded southwards to the village of Volcano and the nearby National Park. Memories of my 1997 visit began to stir almost immediately on arrival, as we parked and walked into the main Kilauea Visitor Center to view the exhibits and plan the rest of the day. There were certainly some issues to grapple with. First, we found out that from as long ago as 2008, it has no longer been possible to make the circular tour on Crater Rim Drive around the edge of the Kilauea Caldera, due to the dangerous quantities of sulphur dioxide gas now being emitted. Furthermore, the spectacular Chain of Craters road down to the island's southeast coast was currently still subject to a temporary closure, thanks to Madeline and Lester. We did hear of a planned meeting at 1pm, however, at which the decision to reopen might well be taken.

With this overall framework in mind, we began with a 45-minute, ranger-guided walk called Exploring the Summit. This was an easy walk on a paved surface, and topics discussed included how plants and birds arrived in these remote islands and how Hawaiian volcanoes form and erupt. We also heard about the deity known as Pele, goddess of fire, lightning, wind and volcanoes, and reputed creator of the Hawaiian islands.

On completion of the walk, we drove the northern section of the Crater Rim Drive that has remained open, making two stops. The first of these was to walk the fascinating Steam Vents Trail and the second was at the Jaggar Museum, and more importantly its deservedly popular outlook point over the Halema'uma'u Crater, situated inside the Kilauea Caldera - a 'crater within a crater'.

We temporarily exited the national park for the purposes of eating lunch, our choice being Tuk-Tuk Thai Food. Unlikely as it sounds, this food truck operated in the tiny village of Volcano, specialising in culinary delights from half-a-world away. The food itself was absolutely delicious, particularly when enjoyed in an open-air setting, but we both found the quantity served to be quite overwhelming.

In due course, we re-entered the park to find that the Chain of Craters road had indeed been reopened. Apparently Lester had now been downgraded to a tropical storm and was predicted to miss the Big Island altogether. This was fantastic news, as the drive in question was one of my abiding memories from my 1997 visit, and I was keen to experience it again. Several stops were made on the winding route down to the coast, and then along it, the first of which was a viewpoint for Kilauea Iki Crater. We parked for a somewhat longer period where the road fizzled out and walked to the point further along, where in 1997 the roadway had disappeared into a black wall of solidified lava. Sadly that memorable sight was no longer to be seen: construction of a new hiking trail and cycle way during the intervening years had involved blasting through the former blockage. I was disappointed, but it was a reminder to me that things rarely stay the same for long. Another notable feature on our coastline walk was the Hōlei Sea Arch.

With the Chain of Craters Road being a 19-mile-long cul-de-sac, the only available course from this point was to return to the central area of the park and then to the exit road, so that we could take up an initial southwesterly heading to begin the process of returning to the hotel via Kona. Less than 20 miles along Hwy 11, a further 1997 memory was rekindled when we made a short stop at the famous black-sand beach of Punalu'u.

With the main sightseeing highlights now behind us, the final stretch on the road felt, for the first time today, like a really long drive. There was one short break when we decided to revisit Island Gourmet Markets at Waikoloa to acquire some suitable items for a small DIY evening meal. (We were both still too full of lunch to attempt anything more substantial!)

In due course, we unwound after a long day by having cocktails in the Copper Bar. This was quieter than expected, but service on this occasion wasn't up to the previous standard and staff were visibly on some kind of collective 'downer'. It was almost as though they had just taken a pay cut, or something nasty had befallen a well-liked colleague, but we never did get to the bottom of this very curious phenomenon. Thereafter, we enjoyed a modest picnic back in our room.

It had indeed been a long day, but the effort had undoubtedly been worthwhile, especially with the timely reopening of the hugely impressive Chain of Craters drive. As I settled down to drift off to sleep on the final night of a fabulous stay at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, I realised that the main sightseeing-and-relaxation phase of my Canada & Hawaii 2016 trip had just come to an end - and what a great day it was to finish on!

(Please continue to the Epilogue - see link in panel to the right - for a brief summary of the journey home.)