The big island of Hawaii
We spent January 17-23 on the big island of Hawaii. This was our second trip to the big island, and our third to the state of Hawaii. However, it was David's first time to the big island (and second to the state). We had a really awesome time, with great weather, amazing food. We spent the entire week staying at the same bed & breakfast, Hale Makamae B&B, and it was quite nice. We whole heartedly recommend this B&B, as the food and accomodations were perfect. One thing to keep in mind is that its about a 40 minute drive south of Hilo, so its definitely not centrally located if you intend to explore all or other parts of the island. What we learned is that the absolute fastest way to get across the island is the Saddle Road. Forget (or ignore) all the scary horror stories. While the road used to be a narrow, winding, beat up, potholed mess, with no services, that's all in the past. A few years ago the military completely repaved much of it into what could easily be considered a 4 lane freeway (at least in California). While I read some stories about speed traps, we never saw any cops out there (and we drove it at all times of the day and night), and we were able to drive at (California) freeway speeds, crossing the island in about an hour. If we had attempted to drive over the top or around the bottom of the island on the other roads, it would have taken, easily, 2-3 hours.
Rather than rambling on, I'll let the photos tell the story of what we did, ate & saw. All pictures are clickable, leading to a better quality version, if you're interested.
Tuna poke from Da Poke Shack. Think sashimi grade tuna, with seasonings, onions, rice and seaweed. Really damn tasty.
The grounds at the B&B. This place was absolutely gorgeously landscaped.
Along the Onomea Bay Donkey Trail. Fairly short hike down to the coast through a dense jungle. We saw tons of crabs on the rocks.
Akaka Falls State Park. Really nice hiking trail through lush foliage, with many tropical flowers, ends at this view.
The Kahua Ranch offers a dinner/BBQ type event. It was kinda touristy & hokey, but the food was decent, and the views were amazing. A large chunk of the northern half of the island is historic ranch land.
Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. Note the huge sea turtle in the lower left. We saw several of them climbing over the rocks to rest on the sand. This beach is gorgeous, and is 100% black (volcanic) sand.
After the black sand beach, we drove another 45 minutes or so further southwest along the (only) road to get lunch at Hana Hou. This place has the distinction of being the southern most restaurant in the 50 states. Even without that claim, the food there was awesome. No, the plate wasn't small, their portions are just that big. Best carrot cake I've ever had.
The view from South Point, the southern most point in the 50 states, looking northwest. It was ridiculously windy (note the wind farm in the upper right), and we had to drive this miserable beat up dirt road to get down there. Yet there was still a steady trickly of other toursts showing up.
Lapakahi State Historical Park. This is along the extreme northwest coast of the island, where they get almost no rain, and its really hot. Its an partially excavated, recreated prehistoric Hawaiian village. Also note the island of Maui off in the distance.
View while hiking (down) along the Pololu Valley Trail. It was really steep, but absolutely breathtaking the entire way down. The trail wasn't that long, we did it round trip in less than 90 minutes.
More views on the Pololu Valley trail.
More poke! This time at Kaleo's, which was this really great restaurant in the town nearest to the B&B.
Views from the summit of Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain on earth (when measured from its base, which starts about 15k feet below sealevel. However, we were still nearly 13800ft above sea level. Hence the snow, and the complete lack of plant life. The air was ridiculously thin up there, and it was cold & windy too.
Classic Hawaiian food, rice, chili, fried eggs, and macaroni salad from Cafe 100 in Hilo.
Ahalanui Park. A natural swimming hole, with volcanic heating which kept the water around 90F all the time. Kinda rocky on the bottom, but it was still quite nice. And yes, that's the ocean just off in the distance. At high tide, the waves come over the wall, naturally "cleaning" out the pool.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Yes, this is the one with the (still very) active volcano. While we weren't fortunate enough to see actual flowing lava (it stopped just a week before we got there), there was still quite a lot to see. That red glow is real lava in a huge crater.
More classic hawaiian food. This time Loco Moco (rice, brown gravy, a hamburger and fried egg) at the Big Island Grill
Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park
Lunch at the Hawaiian Vanilla Farm. Everything they served was made with their locally grown vanilla. The tour of the farm afterwards was short, but nicely done. Its a bit of a drive to get there (its up in the northeast corner of the island, but up in the hills).
Hundreds of other pictures are posted HERE.