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KONA 'BUD'
KEALII KEAPAUPUA
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The
best places (da kine) to stay |
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KONA OR BUST
GROUPIES |
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KONA BUD IS OUT THERE IN KONA ON
YOUR BEHALF, CHECKING Look what's coming your way soon, very soon:
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HAWAII - The Big Island E
KOMO MAI
A MOST BEGUILING BIG ISLE
Years ago, my husband and I and then two small boys, first swan in the warm, calm, blue-green waters off the Kona Coast, drove past white-washed, palm bordered farm houses in Waimea, experienced first hand the warmth and aloha of gracious people who have elevated hospitality to an everyday art form, and have never been the same since. Over the years, we collectively longed, many a time for the magic of the Big Island of Hawaii. Until just over six years ago, when we challenged life and liberty, moving from Canada, our homeland, to this, the anchor island in the remotest island chain in the world. The youngest and biggest in the Hawaiian chain, The Big Island encompasses nearly double the landmass of the other 7 major Islands and 124 minor Islands combined. We're not the only ones that love this island of contrasts, The Big Island boasts a higher percentage of repeat travelers than any other island in the Hawaiian archipelago. The Big Island offers more extraordinary day trips than you can shake a putter at. The devout golfers in our group of visitors passionately proclaim to have found where their golf dreams live, and head up the famed Kohala Coast to golf perfection. They can't be too far off the tee, as past Mayor Stephen Yamashiro proclaims The Big Island, with our world renown 15 championship golf courses and condos, to be the Golf Capital of Hawaii. Another perfect day promised us sunshine, so as the golfers head north the rest of finish off breakfast with tangy, creamy apple bananas that put those grocery store varieties to shame and prepare, by popular request, to head over to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, where Kilauea's almost constant flow that started in 1983 has added some 500 acres to the Big Island. We pack the Bronco with all the necessities of the day and begin with a quickie visit to Kona Coast State Park just north of Keahole-Kona Airport where we venture over both pahoehoe (smooth, black, shiny) lava and rough a'a, park for our short walk into 'Beach 2', one of our favorite swimming holes. We're the first to leave footprints today in the soft white sand of this palm fringed, crescent slice of tropical perfection. As we run and splash into the warm azure waves, 3 giant green sea turtles lazily poke their heads above water to check us out. We swim with the sea turtles, find 2 shiny purple seashells, see 20-30 spinner dolphins jumping and playing in the bay and decide we'd better start heading towards our destination, Volcanoes National Park. Heading due south we make a quick stop at one of our favorite breakfast spots, The Aloha Theater Cafe, but this time just long enough to grab a dozen, warm-from-the-oven ginger snaps. Ginger Snaps does not do these moist, spicy, fragrant cookies justice, and that's unanimous. Just a few blocks further south in Kainaliu we pass, with great difficulty, the sweet-smoky aromas emanating from roadside huli-huli chicken stands. To make good time we must forego many enticements through the verdant Kona Coffee country we are now passing through, where many coffee farms throw open their doors and encourage you to sample some of Kona's famous brew. Way, way down a slope completely covered with macadamia orchards, the green of coffee plants and the red of the coffee 'cherries', we pass Kealakekua Bay, a stunning marine sanctuary, offering snorkeling extraordinaire, where Captain James Cook, the first westerner to discover The Big Island, left his mark. Continuing over lava flows and ranchlands, past the furthest point south in the United States of America, we make another quick stop in Naalehu, which reportedly was one of Mark Twain's favorite places, and grab some homemade manapua and macadamia nut tarts. Though we are only buying a few provisions, the kindly Hawaiian lady behind the counter presses a sampling of her backyard harvest, an armful of the sweetest Ka'u oranges to be found, into our hands, smiles and shooshes us on our way. Aloha. Volcano or bust! The massive Mauna Loa is well within sight now, one of the centerpieces of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The 55-mile wide Mauna Loa is so massive it could contain the entire Sierra Nevada within it's flanks. As we enter the park gates the fern forests press in around us and anticipation sets in as we pass into Madame Pele's realm. By now we've all been enlightened by the legends and lore surrounding Pele, the goddess that lives in Halema'uma'u crater displaying her awesome power at every turn. As the flow itself has been quite active lately, we opt to forego our favorite stops along the 11-mile Crater Rim Drive; the Visitors Center just inside the Park Gates, the Steam Banks, Jaggar Museum and Thurston Lava Tube to head right down to the flow site to walk on the newest land on our planet. What we find at the end of Chain of Craters Road is absolutely awesome. We arrive at the flow site late afternoon and approach the cliffs over the black sand beach to see RED-HOT lava spouting into the ocean in about six spots close to us. Many more flows are entering the ocean further up the coast as evidenced by the huge plumes of steam rising into the tall Hawaiian sky. Excitement and amazement wells inside each of us, much as the liquid earth twists and turns before us. We site and watch, with a few other lucky spectators for over an hour. The impact of this truly amazing spectacle cannot be described. The words power and glory become terribly appropriate. We are humbled and speechless. In the time we are there the flows change dramatically every few minutes to the 'ooooohs' and 'aaaaahs' of those fortunate enough to be watching. Then as dusk approaches, the Park Rangers oblige by taking some of us out onto the recent flows to get within about 4 feet of the flow - close enough to touch! There we are, just a few feet from red hot lava, flowing by our toes, creating the newest land on earth. Darkness sets in as we make our way back to the trusty Bronco. The ever unfolding spectacle around us has us backing our way to the truck so as not to miss anything. In the darkness, red-hot lava flows shine all around us, huge rivers of red glow far in the distance, down the slopes of the mountains in maybe 7 or 8 different places and the lava beds from the mountains to the sea are alive with light from deep within. All along the coast rise the white plumes above the fiery flows entering the Pacific hissing and sending huge chunks of glowing lava tumbling playfully in the surf. Unbelievable. Can't you just hardly wait to see what Madame Pele conjures up for your visit? Giddy with awe, we turn homeward in the darkness but are forced to pull over for just a moment to recap the wonders of the day under a canopy of stars that defies description. Oh yeah, "One more thing....", we mention to our visitors, "The Big Island is the best spot on earth to view the heavens." IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIG ISLAND............GOOD PLACES TO EAT.....................SPECIAL PLACES TO VISIT........................OR ANYTHING AT ALL, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL JUDI.
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