We flew from Los Angeles to the big island of Hawaii today, with a short layover in Honolulu. We’re now near the little village of Volcano, about 25 miles southwest of Hilo, staying at Hale Mauka (Hawaiian for “mountain house”), our home exchange. Our home exchange partners, Rob and Diana, moved to the big island … Continue reading →

The house we’re staying in is about 2 miles from the Kīlauea Caldera in the Volcano National Park. The volcano has erupted as recently as 1982! Here’s an aerial photograph to give you a little perspective on how close we are (the blue dot is us): The Hawaiian Islands are volcanic islands. As fissures have … Continue reading →

In the Florida Keys, the locals call the road that connects the mainland to the islands the “18 Mile Stretch.” Here in Hawaii, we traveled another Stretch, the “Chain of Craters Road,” that starts at the top of the Kīlauea Caldera and follows the lava flow 18 miles downhill to the sea. The first part … Continue reading →

Although the lava flow that wiped out the coastal portion of the Chain of Craters Road occurred in 1986, the lava field at the end of the road where we took all our pictures dates to 2003. Lava flows across this area year after year. So, we were amazed to find plant life poking up … Continue reading →

Yesterday, we drove to Ka‘u, the southwestern district of the Big Island, home of the real southernmost point of the United States, contrary to what they think in Key West. The drive along Highway 11, the Hawaii Belt Road, descended 4,000 feet from Volcano to sea level. Our first stop was the black sand beach … Continue reading →

The southeastern district of the Big Island of Hawaii, called Puna, is known for its eclecticism and for the fact that it is the easternmost point in the Hawaiian Islands. On Thursday, we drove to Puna, about an hour away, intending to spend the morning at a local’s beach known as the Champaign Pond. On … Continue reading →

After Champaign Pond, we continued driving along the coast to the west, looking for Kehena Beach which is not marked, nor is it visible from the road. But we knew the milemarker and saw a bunch of cars parked along the road, so we were able to find it. Turns out that Kehena Beach is … Continue reading →

We finished our day in Puna by continuing our drive along the coast road, highway 137, to the lava flow that buried the coast road in Volcano, N.P.; you might remember from my earlier post that a lava flow in 1986 buried 10 miles of the coast road. In 1990, another lava flow followed the … Continue reading →

There is a fork in the road near the end of Ke Lea: if you go to the right you end up at South Point where the fishermen are; the left fork takes you to “Green Sand Beach.” We drove back up to the fork and went in search of the beach. The road ends … Continue reading →

The ancient Hawaiians lived within a fuedal system, something like the way people lived in medieval England. They had kings, lords, knights and peasants (although the Hawaiians had different names for these castes) and the Hawaiian kings also claimed to derive their power to rule from the gods. And like in europe in the Middle … Continue reading →

Our trip to the Waipi‘o Valley yesterday was our main stop on a drive to see the two northern volcanos, Kohala and Mauna Kea. Starting from Volcano Village, we first drove through Hilo where we stopped to look at the statue of Hawaii’s great King, Kamehameha I. Kamehameha the Great (b.1758-d.1819) was King of the … Continue reading →

Yesterday, we drove past Hilo up the northeast coast of the Big Island to the Waipi‘o Valley. There’s a lookout point that has a beautiful view from a vantage point about 2,000 feet above the valley floor: But our mission was to get to the surfing beach at the bottom. There is a paved road … Continue reading →

I love macadamia nuts. Yesterday, we visited the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Company grove, processing plant and visitors center. Hawaii grows 90% of the world’s macadamia nuts and nearly all of them are grown here on the Big Island, with Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Company (now owned by Hershey) being the largest producer. So, we … Continue reading →

After our visit to the Mauna Loa Macadamia plantation, we spent a little time relaxing at Kehena Beach before having dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant in the hippy village of Pāhoa. On our way home, we decided to stop in at the Volcano National Park to see if the gates were open. They were, so … Continue reading →

While we were shopping in town today, we stopped at a ukelele shop and talked with the owner, discovering that he was going to be playing at a restaurant/bar down the street this evening. We stopped and listened; he was pretty good. He had a turtle tattoo that I thought looked great: Dale like the … Continue reading →

Yesterday afternoon we drove to Kona and checked into Marriott’s King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel for our last two nights on the Big Island. After we got ourselves settled, we walked along the waterfront where a couple outrigger canoe teams were practicing on Kamakahonu Bay. That’s our hotel in the background of the first photo; … Continue reading →

After our morning Kona coffee, we took a stroll through Kailua-Kona. Leaving the hotel, we turned to look back at the wa‘a, pulled up on the hotel’s beach for the night (our room is on the top floor of the building in the background). Early this morning, a cruise ship pulled into Kona. We talked … Continue reading →

We really covered the Big Island. We were lucky to have Rob and Diana’s Jeep; it allowed us to get to places that most tourists to Hawaii don’t get to see. Over all, we drove 838 miles. Tomorrow morning, we’re off to Oahu!

We left the Big Island and flew to Oahu today, landing in Honolulu, then driving our rental car to Waimānalo Beach on the windward (eastern) side of the island. Although we’re just a short distance from Honolulu, there’s a mountain that separates the windward coast from that city, so it’s pretty rural here. To drive … Continue reading →

This morning, we drove up the windward coast of Oahu. About a third of the way to the far north end, we stopped at the Byodo-In Temple, a Japanese Buddhist temple built in 1968 to commemorate the first Japanese immigrants to Hawaii. It was just like being in Japan. The entire temple was built without … Continue reading →

We stopped for a hamburger at the small village of Kahuku on the northern end of the island and while we were eating, I heard a tentative voice behind me say, “Mr. Ulmer? Is that you?” Imagine my surprise when I turned around to see Kyle’s good friend, Alex Thommes, standing there, behind me! It … Continue reading →

After the arena, Alex took us to see his living quarters, just a little way down the hill from the rodeo arena. He’s converting a shipping container into an apartment. Here we are at “Home Sweet Container.” Alex has built an exterior wall at the door end, using some recycled sliding glass doors… …and inside, … Continue reading →

Our original purpose for driving to the North Shore of Oahu was to visit the famous surfing spots at Sunset Beach, Pipeline and Waimea Bay. Here’s Sunset on a beautiful – but waveless – day. Same story further down the coast, looking toward Waimea Bay… …and back toward Pipeline. We had to content ourselves with … Continue reading →

We have two more nights here in Waimanalo, then we’re going to be staying in Honolulu at the Hyatt for our last two nights in Hawaii, so today we drove into the city to find our hotel and get the lay of the land. Honolulu is a busy place. On our way back, we stopped … Continue reading →