Hawai'i: Beaches, Waves & Water

We headed north on Hwy 11 north of Kona and about 1-1/2 hours later found us at Mahukona Beach Park



This is near the north tip of the island in North Kohala district. We noticed the tents and just presumed that the people on the park bench had camped there.



It was not a walking beach due to all the lava rock but rather a place of solitude and a place to watch the wave action. We finally made verbal contact with those by the bench and noticed they had binoculars and were watching the passing whales. They told us that they had just seen a whale breach completely out of the water. Naturally we sat down and strained our eyes to try to see too. They did not volunteer use of their binoculars but we did see some whale "water squirts" . Their dog has taken a liking to my Pink attire



The crocs are comfortable and it made it easier to drive Hawaiian style as they could be removed easily. She (never told us her name) but there were two huge cruise ships in town (Kona) so they decided to head north to avoid all the crowds.



It seemed to be a safe environment for the campers but there are no facilities. There were signs warning you not to drink the water.



The dog really got attached to me and didn't want us to leave



but we had to press on and get to higher ground



I think that we come to Hawaii to enjoy the scenery and water, it sort of relaxes you and removes the stress of life. The warmer temperatures and palm trees exude a feeling of an exotic land, an escape from our daily routines. To walk on the beach and feel the sand between your toes



and to enjoy a tropical sunset with your partner


(bobskoot & mrs skoot: Sunset at Hapuna Beach)

While were only on the Big Island of Hawai'i for a week, we did manage to visit a few beaches to experience the power of the ocean. Hope you like the video

Kilauea Crater

No trip to the Big Island of Hawaii would be complete without a glimpse of the Kilauea Volcano. I had visions of heading there twice, once on our own and the second time via a Tour to take photos of the Lava Sea Entry. I found out that they open the road at around 5pm and close it at 8pm. Since we were staying in Kona that is a 3 hour drive to the West side of the Island in the dark on a narrow road. It was better to let someone else do the driving. Then I thought to myself why worry about the narrow road in the dark, I'll just drive slower or follow another car's tail-lights. Then I decided to do it all ourselves and just leave early with the plan of arriving back at our home base around mid-night if need be. Little did I know that there would be forces beyond our control to foil our best thought out plans. All I could think of was those lava pictures with the flaming ribbons of fire entering the ocean. I brought my tripod and had my trusty Canon G10 by my side. Hawaii is twice as big as all the other Hawaiian Islands combined. There is one road which circumnavigates its way all around the Island, with one questionable road about a third of the way from the top (Saddle Road) , which is forbidden to take rental cars on. The plan was to take the southern route East, then the northern route Westbound back to Kona. Give or take half an hour, it is around 3 hours each way. We finally find ourselves at the boundary of the Park



It was an uneventful drive except for the fact that I have to stop at all viewpoints and take detours down every interesting road, or snap photos of signs and other unusual things. Needless to say the 3 hour drive turned into a 5+ hour drive. If there is not much room on the shoulder of the road to stop safely, then I don't



We stop at the first viewpoint to catch our first view of the crater. It is spewing out a sulphur cloud. The wind has change direction and now it was headed our way. Not hard to breathe but when you do it makes you cough



I noticed this Harley rider & passenger earlier. What luck to find his bike here so I could take a photo of it. In the more populated areas around Kailua-Kona I notice a lot of scooters but few bikes and what bikes I see are mostly rentals from tourists such as ourselves.



I also notice that this is a World Heritage Site



We finally make it to the main viewpoint, closest to the crater



There are warning signs everywhere warning you of the bad air quality, especially for old people like us



Some smaller tour groups arrive and we are soon surrounded by tourists taking photos of the sulphur cloud spewing from the crater. Soon we are all coughing and have to retreat inside the Thomas A Jaggar Museum where the doors are closed and the air conditioning ON.



After about 10 minutes our coughing subsides and we think we are brave enough to go back out and snap a few more photos only to find the Overlook CLOSED .



I mosey over to the caution tape and see the Park Ranger taking air quality measurements



We chat for a few moments and I ask if I can take his photo, so he poses for me



He told me he "I smiled for the camera" . I looked at him and said I noticed and thanked him .

The upper rim road goes to the Jaggar Museum and they have CLOSED the Chain of Craters Road at this point



With no access further down and no lava entry there were no photos to be had. Also the Sulphur cloud made for a very misty day, which was getting worse by the minute and the coughing was starting again. We thought best to be heading down the hill up to Hilo for some sightseeing.


(Final glimpse of Kilauea before we depart)

We get further down the Volcano and noticed this



We stop to chat with the Ranger and he told us that they monitor the air quality continuously. I forget the actual units of measurement but it goes something like this. The put out a RED alert as soon as it is 1,000. parts/million (PPM). At 1,000 PPM it is well within the safely limits of humans, as far as breathing the air goes, but during the past hour it peaked at 8,000. PPM and was currently 4,500. PPM . The rule is if the reading remains over 1,000 PPM for an hour, then they close access to the Volcano. We found out later that access to the Volcano was closed all day Sunday, which was originally the day we had planned to visit here. We did get to visit but were very disappointed not to come home with some ocean entry ribbons of fire photos.

Lu'au Sounds from Kona, Hawaii

It has been a very busy week, exploring the unknown and driving new roads in the warm Hawaiian sun. T-shirt and shorts weather, and leave your shoes at home is the Hawaiian way. I have lots of memories to share as soon as I gather my thoughts and figure out how best to present them. This time I have taken less still images and gone for more video. For that reason I purchased a new camera to take with me on this trip. I call it my Hawaiian camera. It has survived a 2+ foot drop onto the hard asphalt when it fell out of my case. It also survived two other drops onto a carpeted area, and two further drops while on the plane. The metal body is my friend. It is barely 1 month old and it has battle scars of honour.

We have had little sleep since Saturday morning as we had to check out of our ocean view condo by 12 noon and were left without a home base until we arrived at the airport around 9pm to allow enough time for security. They were very thorough and everyone had to walk around in bare feet until we went through the metal detectors. It took nearly 2 hours to make it into the waiting area to find out our plane was rescheduled for a 12:20am takeoff. When we got home there was a note in both of our luggage that it was opened by Security (Transporation Security Administration, Notice of Baggage Inspection) to check the contents and repacked. We arrived home at 9:30am Sunday, took a short nap and went out at 3pm to purchase provisions. It will be another day or so before we don't look like walking zombies.

I have put together a short video of some live action taken at the Lu'au we enjoyed on our first day in Kona. It is HIGH DEFinition so be sure to click the HD button.

On our way to: Ka'lae

We left mid morning heading south on Hwy 11 with the idea of driving to the end of South Point Road to find the southernmost point of the USA. While Key West enjoys the notoriety of being the southernmost point of the continental USA, it is not actually the REAL southernmost point.

As we are nearing the turnoff to South Point Road we notice this collapsed building.



It is a 12 mile drive south on a narrow 1-1/2 lane road which winds its way through the country side. There is not enough room for 2 cars to pass so the proticol is for both approaching vehicles to move to the shoulder, and some don't. There is a very large wind farm on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Some of the older units are being dismantled and new sections have been re-located further down the hi



Following in the footsteps of Irondad, I stop to take a photo of the local roadkill. I do not know what this is but may be a large lizard or Gecko


(it just needs a bike to complete the photo)

We finally make it to the end of the road and reach the southernmost point of the USA. The road ends at the top of a cliff with shear drops into the ocean. There is no development here, no signs to confirm your accomplishment of driving to the end of the world, and no Duval Street.



I will post a more comprehensive report after I return home. For now I am just including some sample images to keep you all satisfied.

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Tonight we attended a celebration of our friend's 50th Wedding Anniversary so we had to take our sunset pictures at the Mauna Lani Resort which is 30 miles north of Kona. All (12) of us are from Vancouver and managed to make it here for this special dinner.







Notes: Of the 3 images above; the first was taken a bit before sunset and the 3rd was taken about 10 minutes after sunset to catch the afterglow. All were handheld using a Panasonic DMC-ZS3 Lumix

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Almost forgot, my Pink Crocs also made it to the Southern Most point of the USA



Thank you for all of your previous comments during the week. I have not been able to respond to you all individually as this is my vacation and my netbook is acting up. I hope to be back to normal next week as I have to leave paradise on Saturday night, excuse the tears.

Sunset: Hapuna Beach, Kohala Coast

Today was another busy day driving to the North Coast to a little village called Hawi then onward to the end of Hwy 270, south to Waimea then back to Hapuna Beach to catch the sunset. We have been trying to photograph a sunset since the day we arrived in Kona, which is now known as Kailua-Kona. There have been events beyond our control which has conspired against us.

Our plane arrived after midnight on Saturday. Sunday found us at Lu'au. Monday we were caught in torrential rains on the way back from Hilo. We thought that we would be able to capture a sunset yesterday (Tuesday), but due to a fire on top of the hill overlooking Kailau (Kona) the sunset was less than spectacular. When the sun nearly reached the horizon, the smoke layer blocked out the sun and it disappeared.

Today we made a deliberate attempt in trying to capture the sunset far away from the city, nearly an hour north of town at Hapuna Beach in the hopes of avoiding the smoke from the fire. The fire has worsened and has broken through 2 fire breaks. It is on top of the mountain where it is difficult to get equipment. Everywhere you look you will see the smoke/haze layer.

Lucky for us the view at Hapuna Beach was clear. Hapuna Beach is a surfers' paradise where the ocean waves are rolling in like thunder.


(Sunset: Hapuna Beach State Park)



Tech Notes: The first image was taken just after the sun went below the horizon. The second image was probably taken 5-10 minutes later (the afterglow). Using the same camera, Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3, exposure comp -2/3, 25mm Wide, Vivid setting

Tuna in Old Kainaliu Town + more postcards

Yesterday was a long day on the road. We decided that today we would hang around town to do our errands. Errands in our case is to check out some of the music stores in the area with an instrument purchase in mind. One of the stores was in Old Kainaliu Town which is just south of Kona. We were heading south to visit a coffee plantation that we passed on Monday that was not yet open.

As we were leaving town we noticed this



We had never purchased fresh AHI tuna before. In Vancouver it is usually found frozen. Most of the fish boats flash freeze their catch and sell them off the docks. Naturally we had to stomp on the brakes to see how much they cost



On the back of the pickup truck he was also selling corn. We asked how much the Tuna was and he said: $2./lb and they weighed around 10-13 lbs. We left with 6 corn and a $20. whole AHI tuna.

Now our plans for the day had abruptly changed. We had to take the tuna back to our condo and place it in our fridge until dinner.



Here is a view of our tuna from the deck of our Lanai (patio). Notice our ocean view. Eventually the food made it to our plates and into our stomachs. It should last for 2 meals. Imagine, 2 meals for just over $20. Our lunch today at a waterfront eatery was double this amount



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More Post cards from Kona, Hawaii. I have stories to tell but this netbook keyboard is cramped. Also I have taken more video than usual to supplement the still photos and I cannot edit on this machine. So I have decided that until I can organize my visual presentation to my liking, I will continue to post Snapshots to keep you all happy.


(Vigilant Palm Trees)


(No Parking: Hawaiian Style)


(Volcanoes National Park)



We met a local scooterist and spoke to her for a while.



She told us that insurance and tags were not required for 49cc mopeds. You only needed a registration decal.



This morning the waves were pounding on the shores outside our condo so we spent some time watching the wave action



We also went to a Lu'au for a Hawaiian buffet dinner and show at one of the hotels



Another warm and sunny day in Paradise.

Kona sunshine

Someone mentioned they wanted sunshine photos instead of looking at all that snow in Winterpeg. It's been a very busy day. We were on the road this morning at 7am and returned around 10pm. I am tired but here are a few photos of some Hawaiian scenery


(view from our Lanai)

The waves are pounding upon the shore making it difficult to sleep. The roar of the ocean is very powerful



A secluded beach reached by a 10 mile windy road where kayakers launch their kayaks. I can't remember the name of this beach but that white thing 2-1/2 miles on the other side is the Captain Cook Monument.



A view of the coastline just East of South Point, on the southern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii



Here's a closer view


(Having a wonderful time, wished you were here with us)