Today was going to be the big one, that was always the plan. Mark had been looking forward to showing me around the island and this started with a trip up to Big Island Brew Haus in a town called Waimea, HI, then visiting the Waipi’o Valley, heading down into the city of Hilo, Hawaii on our way to Volcanoes National Park, and then returning to Hilo for dinner before cutting across the island back to Kona. It was about five and a half hours of driving, but it hit a lot of high-points for visitors to Kona, and I’d get to see a great deal of the island and different climates that the island has to offer – there’s a lot more than just the city itself.
My Kona Road Trip
The trip to the Brew Haus was mostly uneventful – though we did begin to see a sprinkling of rain as we approached Waimea. I’m told this is normal – there’s actually a “dry side” and ‘wet side” to Waimea because of how often it storms there. “Really they’re both the wet side” Mark would tell me, but that’s compared to Kona of course. We stopped in for lunch and beers, I had a beef chimichanga (because why not try Mexican food when you’re in Hawaii, right?) as well as the “Dark Sabbath” beer which was very good and had just a hint of tasting like honey on the tail of it – and just as quickly as we got there we were off again and headed for the valley.
Where the brewery magic happens
Heading into the Brew Haus for lunch (that’s Mark!)
My Dark Sabbath after a few samples
As our trip continued onward, I couldn’t help but comment on just how different the island looked as we went along – having switched from volcanic rock and little life to a lush-looking tropical paradise with deep and rich undergrowth. Mark said that the island is highlighted as one of the most-diverse organically in the world, and I’m not at all surprised by that – even moreso at the Waipi’o valley, where if you’re not a local you can’t even drive down to visit. We stopped and took pictures, asked a few questions, and awed at the shoreline as we learned about the local families that still lived and worked there farming taro.
Along the road to Waipi’o Valley
A look at the Waipi’o Valley (left) and the shoreline down the coast
After a quick chat with the Park Ranger who limits access to the valley, we hopped back in the car with only a few more destinations on our list for the day – Volcanoes National Park, where a volcano just started erupting a little bit last week, and dinner at Pineapples in Hilo. I snapped a few quick pictures as we drove, and then we got to a very, very crowded National Park only to learn that the volcano was still erupting – and better yet we could go watch! You had to stand rather far away, and walk a mile to get to the view, but once you were there… it would be quite a sight to see!
Driving near Hilo on the way to Volcanoes National Park
Driving near Hilo on the way to Volcanoes National Park
A visitor’s center sign letting us know that Kīlauea volcano is erupting
The almost mile-long path to the lookout at Kīlauea
Kīlauea erupting lava 60-100 feet into the air
A zoomed-in look at the eruption
I didn’t bring the right camera to really capture the eruption, unfortunately – the pictures really don’t do this justice. Trust me when I say it was one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever seen in my life – right up there with Antarctica on just the power of nature and its raw elements. It looked exactly like it does on every documentary you’ve ever seen about lava – but some much cooler to see it in person.
Happy to have made the hike… we headed back to Hilo for dinner… only to find out that Pineapples is closed on Monday nights. This was a bummer – Mark was very excited about it and if you look it up on Trip Advisor it’s listed as one of the best restaurants in Hilo – but we ended up finding a parking spot just outside of a place called “Jackie Rey’s Ohana Grill“, and after mentioning that I thought it looked good Mark agreed that it was actually very good – so we stopped in there instead and I had a delicious steak and shrimp dinner along with a few too many drinks again – hey I wasn’t driving!
A delicious dinner!
As I sloshed back into the car, Mark took us to the “Saddle Road”, which was the quick way back across the island and also the highest in elevation. We climbed and climbed as we left the rain behind us in Hilo. Eventually… we even broke above the cloud cover, something Mark knew would happen, as he took a slight detour to a lookout point I don’t remember the name of near the top of the mountain. We were one of maybe six cars at the visitor’s center, and while we only got out for about a minute or so because it was about 40-degrees and windy up there (and I we were both in shorts and short-sleeves), I saw an amazing sky-full of stars like I haven’t seen since RV’ing in the middle of nowhere in Texas – or floating on a boat near the bottom of the world. If you want to go stargazing – Kona definitely has you covered! It was a great “last experience” top off the road trip as we headed home on my last full day in Hawaii.
