We both had approved vacation from work, but didn't know were we were going to go. We have an ongoing “to go to” list,
so we had some ideas. Initially we were
going to go to Thailand and/or Singapore, but all the flights to Japan were
full when we wanted to leave. At about 11:30p the night beforewe finally decided on a
place, Kona, Hawaii.
10-13-12 - Saturday: We landed around 3:30p and got our rental car and came to find out the entire city of Kona was basically closed off. Unknowingly we flew in on the day of the Iron Man World Championships. We drove on a few roads that weren’t closed to see some of the action, then we headed to the south part of the island. Along our way we found out that there is a temple in Kona. We had no idea there was a temple on the “big island.”
We continued south; the plan was to camp at/near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Tiffany had read up (late the previous night) that there was a free campsite near the park.
We also had plans to attend church tomorrow, so we thought we’d find the closest one just to be on the safe side. It’s a good thing we did, because there was no church where the internet said there would be. There’s an interesting little town on the south end of the island where the roads are in a perfect grid. On the map it looks like a neat little neighborhood; in real life I call it “the land of desolation.” The town is actually set on a slope (even though the roads are perfectly square with each other). Because of the slope and the ups and downs, you can’t see much, now you’re probably wondering why I call it the land of desolation….i call it that because this part of the island is literally an old lava bed of jagged lava rocks of all sizes. The houses are far and few between like a rural area. They’re all built on stilts due to the slope and the terrain and they all look like shacks I would never consider a home. To add to the setting, the sun was going down and reminded me much of the landscape of what you would expect on Mars. There was supposed to be a church at the top of the town, but there was nothing there but an old foundation.
What should have been a short 2 hour drive took nearly 4 hours because of the low speed limits and the little detour of the land of desolation. We also stopped at a little diner along the way that had horrible hamburgers. We don’t ever waste food, and neither us of could finish the hamburgers (if you want to even call them that).
It gets dark early on the island. When we approached the national park we could see the red glow of the lava. Because of the dark, and not knowing exactly how far and where to go to see the lava we found our campsite and pitched our tent. We were lucky to arrive early (about 7:30p) because we took the last campsite that was available to have your car next to the site. The campground was full, I suspect because of Iron Man and it being a weekend. The campsite was nice, it had good clean bathrooms and a sink for washing dishes and such. The night was much colder than expected, and we were extremely grateful we checked a bag with extra stuff.
10-14-12 Sunday: There are a surprisingly high amount of churches/wards on the island. Because Hawaii is part of the states I had access to my phone and internet. We were able to find another church beyond the national park, about 10 miles south of Hilo. Since we went to bed so early the night before we got up with the first sign of light which is about 6am (this will be the pattern the next few nights). We drove past the church about an hour before it started to make sure it actually existed (it did), the road eventually splits and you can go north to Hilo, or south through a small coastal town. We decided to explore the south, we drove as far as we could until the road stopped because of an old lava flow. There was actually a city that was taken out by the lava flow a decade or so ago. It was crazy to drive on a road and just have it stop because of old lava. There were beaches down there too, and for the first time, we saw a black sand beach. It was very secluded and off the rocky cliff edge. We hiked down and snapped a few pictures.
After our hike we drove to the southern point of the park where the road just ends because lava once flowed over it. We snapped a few photos and headed back up to the main crater. By the time we got to the crater viewing point it was completely dark except for the giant red glow of the lava coming from the crater. We soaked in the fact that we were looking at an active volcano for about an hour then headed back to our campsite.
10-13-12 - Saturday: We landed around 3:30p and got our rental car and came to find out the entire city of Kona was basically closed off. Unknowingly we flew in on the day of the Iron Man World Championships. We drove on a few roads that weren’t closed to see some of the action, then we headed to the south part of the island. Along our way we found out that there is a temple in Kona. We had no idea there was a temple on the “big island.”
We continued south; the plan was to camp at/near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Tiffany had read up (late the previous night) that there was a free campsite near the park.
We also had plans to attend church tomorrow, so we thought we’d find the closest one just to be on the safe side. It’s a good thing we did, because there was no church where the internet said there would be. There’s an interesting little town on the south end of the island where the roads are in a perfect grid. On the map it looks like a neat little neighborhood; in real life I call it “the land of desolation.” The town is actually set on a slope (even though the roads are perfectly square with each other). Because of the slope and the ups and downs, you can’t see much, now you’re probably wondering why I call it the land of desolation….i call it that because this part of the island is literally an old lava bed of jagged lava rocks of all sizes. The houses are far and few between like a rural area. They’re all built on stilts due to the slope and the terrain and they all look like shacks I would never consider a home. To add to the setting, the sun was going down and reminded me much of the landscape of what you would expect on Mars. There was supposed to be a church at the top of the town, but there was nothing there but an old foundation.
What should have been a short 2 hour drive took nearly 4 hours because of the low speed limits and the little detour of the land of desolation. We also stopped at a little diner along the way that had horrible hamburgers. We don’t ever waste food, and neither us of could finish the hamburgers (if you want to even call them that).
It gets dark early on the island. When we approached the national park we could see the red glow of the lava. Because of the dark, and not knowing exactly how far and where to go to see the lava we found our campsite and pitched our tent. We were lucky to arrive early (about 7:30p) because we took the last campsite that was available to have your car next to the site. The campground was full, I suspect because of Iron Man and it being a weekend. The campsite was nice, it had good clean bathrooms and a sink for washing dishes and such. The night was much colder than expected, and we were extremely grateful we checked a bag with extra stuff.
10-14-12 Sunday: There are a surprisingly high amount of churches/wards on the island. Because Hawaii is part of the states I had access to my phone and internet. We were able to find another church beyond the national park, about 10 miles south of Hilo. Since we went to bed so early the night before we got up with the first sign of light which is about 6am (this will be the pattern the next few nights). We drove past the church about an hour before it started to make sure it actually existed (it did), the road eventually splits and you can go north to Hilo, or south through a small coastal town. We decided to explore the south, we drove as far as we could until the road stopped because of an old lava flow. There was actually a city that was taken out by the lava flow a decade or so ago. It was crazy to drive on a road and just have it stop because of old lava. There were beaches down there too, and for the first time, we saw a black sand beach. It was very secluded and off the rocky cliff edge. We hiked down and snapped a few pictures.
We went to church, and the
ward was huge. Yes, the speakers really
do say “Aloha” when they begin their talk, and yes, the congregation really
does repeat “Aloha” back to the speaker.
After church we backtracked to the national park. We went to the visitors center and our excitement to see live flowing lava was taken away after finding out that the hikes and roads close to the crater are closed since the volcano became active again a year ago. They say the toxic gas is too dangerous. As for the slow moving lava that’s still flowing …. Well, it’s conveniently outside the park’s boundaries and on private property. So basically, the only way to see lava is to hire a helicopter or boat tour.
After church we backtracked to the national park. We went to the visitors center and our excitement to see live flowing lava was taken away after finding out that the hikes and roads close to the crater are closed since the volcano became active again a year ago. They say the toxic gas is too dangerous. As for the slow moving lava that’s still flowing …. Well, it’s conveniently outside the park’s boundaries and on private property. So basically, the only way to see lava is to hire a helicopter or boat tour.
We explored all the park had to offer. We saw the “steam
pots” which is vapor coming out of the earth, sulfur deposits, and walked through the lava tubes.
We drove along all the roads. We
did one major hike that was about 7 miles round trip across the
lava fields up until it reaches the forest line. The trail continues on through the forest,
and we went about a mile into the forest, but due to time we turned back. It was fun hike because how often does one
get to hike across a lava flow. It also
gave us a sense of how much lava actually came from this volcano. Along the hike we also came across an old
road in which portions of it were untouched by the flowing magma.
After our hike we drove to the southern point of the park where the road just ends because lava once flowed over it. We snapped a few photos and headed back up to the main crater. By the time we got to the crater viewing point it was completely dark except for the giant red glow of the lava coming from the crater. We soaked in the fact that we were looking at an active volcano for about an hour then headed back to our campsite.
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