Hawaii, For Realz

OK, so after our aborted efforts of Saturday, on Sunday we took off, flew allllllll day and got to Honolulu in time to watch the YP fall asleep while we were waiting for a table for dinner. Since the good folks at Cheeseburger in Paradise didn't see fit to put us in any of the 3 empty tables we saw, we bailed on them and had our first vacation dinner at .... McDonalds.  Yup.  And it was pretty good, too.  The YP revived and we chased him up and down Waikiki Beach for a little while, then wandered up the main strip. It is kind of like Times Square, only with better weather and a Cheesecake Factory.  So maybe that makes it more like Rodeo Drive, but closer to the beach. I don't know. It wasn't really what I wanted to see or spend time on, so a half-hour the first night was just about perfect.

Next morning we got up early and went back to the airport for a quick bouncy flight to the Big Island.  The YP was a total embarrassment at this juncture in the narrative.  He was tired, out of sorts, completely thrown off any sort of possible routine, and just a cranky bratty howling mess.  He also didn't believe me when I told him that this flight was not like the other flights and kicked up a tremendous fuss that I wouldn't let him get all his electronic games out because by the time we were in the air and it was allowed, we'd be landing before he could get situated enough to start playing one.  I suppose I should have just let him, because instead we fought and he cried for the entire 40 minutes we were in the air, and then he went into further meltdown mode when he dropped a bottle of water "An Important Figure" gave him (that is, the bottle of water the flight attendant gave him to try and shut him up,) and it rolled under a fence, into a street, and out of reach as we were getting on the car-rental shuttle. Good times, I tell ya.

Once we got the car, though, things improved a bit.  We drove from the airport north to our hotel, through lots and lots of lavabeds.  The "graffiti" over here cracked me up. Basically people take a bunch of bleached lava and coral and spell out messages. Nothing hostile, either, at least that we saw. 

We checked into our hotel but our room wasn't ready, so we had breakfast by the pool (with minimal hassling from the kid,) and then we headed back out to the car and drove around the northern part of the island and down the east side.  

Here is a plug for something we found invaluable.  You Need These Books. They are amazing and do not steer you wrong in any instance at all.  Every single thing they suggest is spot-on, and every place they say is a deserted beach really is deserted. I can't attest to Kauai or Maui because we weren't on those islands, but I'd vouch for those too.

It was gorgeous, and warm, and the ocean really is that clear and blue and amazing. It is also interesting to note the radical changes in geography in just a few hours driving in a circle.  The west side is all lava, black rocks, only a few scrubby trees.

The north is a big ol' rainforest and lush.

The east side is wet, but looks fairly tropical and Florida-esque

The south, we found out later, looks a bit like Tuscany or Ireland in spots. Lots of green, but lots of rocky cliffs.

So we drove counterclockwise about 3/4 of the way around the island and spent most of the afternoon at Volcanoes National Park.  We saw the crater. 

And we saw a really cool field of petroglyphs.

Then we took the book's advice and drove south to the "volcano viewing area." This was pretty cool. First, you and 600 million other people who know about this thing park your cars. It's a good idea to wear good shoes and bring a flashlight, but don't worry, a hardy band of entrepreneurs have tents set up selling flashlights for $5 to $10 a pop if you don't have one. They also sell food, water, photos of the lava better than any you'll get from the observation area, and assorted other street fair type stuff.

You really do need the flashlight, though. There is no light out there and you're hiking about a mile on a very bumpy uneven lava trail along with a LOT of other people. So if you trip, you're bound to fall on some other frail person and hurt them.

The hike is worth it, because the view is amazing, even if the photos suck. If you are serious about taking photos, bring a big-ass tripod and a good lens, and be expert at taking photos in the dark.  And around a scarp.

After that, well, we had dinner at Jack in the Box -- a rare treat for me -- and drove back to the hotel.  Ahhh, bed.

Up next, there are pools, and then there are pools...

Comments

[cosmiccamper]

Wow, how funny! We took some of these same photos and also used the same book!

[Bryan]

Good timing on seeing the ocean entry. The activity there has paused of maybe stopped. Activity is far up the pali and out of sight right now. Air tours are best at this moment.