Hi all from Kailua-Kona, on the west side of Hawaii island!
Today we woke up early and drove to Hilo airport to check two things:
- Itai wanted to fly out of Kona instead of Hilo to save the drive back, and
- I wanted to take an air tour to see real lava from above. It turned out
that returning the car in Kona is too expensive, and the air tour company
didn’t work that early.
So, we returned to our original plans.
We took Saddle Road, which runs between the two active volcanos on Hawaii island, and went up the summit road of Mauna Kea, the highest mountain on Earth (as measured from its base). I had headaches throught this drive so I spent most of it resting. There was a great deal of fog and rain so we couldn’t see much from this road. However, we did reach the visitor center on Mauna Kea summit road, where I saw a film about the astronomical observatories there. We decided not to continue to the summit as it requires a 4×4 vehicle, which we didn’t have.
Instead, we continued towards the other side of the island, and up north through another mountain pass towards Pololu, where a got great view of the northern cliffs. We headed back through the (western) coastal highway to Kona airport, where I tried my luck again at getting an air tour. It turns out an air tour was just departing, and I could join it for $200. I immediately took the offer, paid and was all set to board the Cessna Caravan aircraft (FAA reg# N281A) operated by Big Island Air. As I was the only one travelling alone, and no passenger had a pilot license, I got to sit in the co-pilot’s seat, so I could monitor all the instruments in flight.
The flight was about 1:45 hours, and took us all around the island. We headed south on the Kona coast and saw coffee and macedemia nut plantations, flown past the south point, catching a great view of past lava flows, and then headed toward the Volcanos National Park. We flew over chain of craters road, past the end of the road signs and the hiking trail, and up to the active lava bench we saw real red lava pouring into the ocean and creating new land. We the flew up to the actual rim of the most active volcano on Earth, and saw real red hot molten lava bubbling inside. It was an amazing view.
The flight was not over yet, we flew around the Hilo side of the island over the subtropical rainforests and waterfalls, and then over the north of the island, up to the same point I’ve seen from the ground a few hours earlier. We then headed back to Kona airport and landed (safely) on runway 17, right after a Hawaiian airlines jet took off. After a short taxi we were back at Kona airport.
Itai didn’t want to go, so in the meanwhile he checked his options for flying from Kona to Kauai instead of back to Honolulu from Hilo. We decided to take a hostel at Kailua-Kona for tonight and have Itai fly to Kauai, while I drive back to Hilo and fly to Honolulu.
So, we went to the hostel recommended by Lonely Planet (Patey’s Place), and got a private room for $65 (dorm was full). I stayed in the room to rest due to my headaches, and Itai went to the beach to swim. I’m using the free WiFi internet here to send this message, and then I’m going to sleep/rest.
As always, an approximate map of today’s journey is available, and photos will be available later.
May 13th, 2007 at 07:49
Posted by
epsalon |
Hawaii, Travel |
no comments
Hi All!
Yesterday we went to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We took a drive around the summit caldera of Kilauea volcano, visiting the main attractions along the road. We then went on a hike through the Kilauea Iki crater. The hike begins with a steep descent through a tropical rain forest, then an amazing walk across the volcanic crater, and finally a climb back out of the crater to where we parked the car. I forgot to take sunscreen with me so I got somewhat burned during this hike.
After completing the Crater Rim Drive, and seeing some Nene on the way, we went on to see some sea turtles at Punalu’u black sand beach. Well, the sand was black, and we saw two sea turtles there, sleeping. Next, we went to South Point, the southernmost point in the USA, but at 18.9111 degrees north, it is not the the southernmost point I ever was.
Next, we went to the southernmost restaurant in the USA at Na’alehu, HI and ate some overpriced lunch there. We then concluded our detour to the south and headed back towards the volcanoes national park to see some lava. Even though we followed all rules and guidelines, and hiked quite a long way in the dark, we still could not really see any lava. That was quite disappointing. This is why I plan on seeing the lava today or tomorrow from the air. Hopefully, this would be a fun experience, and I would see some real lava.
That’s all for today. Click here for an overview of today’s route.
May 12th, 2007 at 18:40
Posted by
epsalon |
Hawaii, Travel |
no comments
Hi all from Hilo!
After nearly missing the interisland flight to Hilo, I am safe and sound in the hostel (Arnott’s lodge) in Hilo, Hawaii. As I wrote in the pervious mail, our flight to Honolulu was delayed. It finally landed only 50 minutes before our next flight was scheduled to depart. During that time we had to claim our bags, walk 400m with the bags to a different terminal, check in for the flight at least 25 minutes before departure, pass security and board the flight. So, by 19:25 (35 minutes to departure) my bag arrived, and I ran all the way to the other terminal in the other edge of the aiport. I checked in about 2 minutes late and immediately passed security including taking off
shoes, and taking laptop out) and ran towards the gate and on to the tarmac to board the plane (no jetways in the commuter air terminal).
Itai’s bag arrived later, and he boarded the plane only 5 minutes before scheduled departure. If I had not notified the ground crew that he’s coming they would have left without him. It seems that Amazing Race-style connections do happen in real life.
Hilo International Airport commuter terminal looks like a wooden shack. Baggage belts are permanenetly labeled with airline names, and the car rental station is another wooden shack.
Our accomodation for tonight, Arnott’s lodge, is a simple yet clean and comfortable hostel. We’ll probably stay here for two more nights, and then back to Honolulu.
If you want to know why we had to take a flight inside Hawaii, look closer at this map:
May 11th, 2007 at 11:33
Posted by
epsalon |
Hawaii, Travel |
no comments
Hi All!
Update from the road to Hawaii - San Francisco Int’l Aiport. Two flights down, two to go. For those who don’t know I’m flying to Hawaii for 12 days for a conference and trip. Today I’m flying TLV-AMS-SFO-HNL-ITO.
The flight from Tel Aviv to Amsterdam was on an old 737 with no entertainment system, but only lasted 5 short hours. I spent most of the flight sleeping and chatting with Itai who came with me.
The second flight (Amsterdam-San Francisco) was on a nice Boeing 747-400 (for those who don’t know, that’s a jumbo jet). I had one of the best seats on the flight, in the front of Economy class, with lots of room and I spent some time of the 11 hour flight sleeping on the floor. Other time was spent checking some papers and eating the lots of food that was available. The cabin crew was very nice and the flight was much easier than I thought it would be.
Note that this flight departed on 11:00 and landed on 13:30 (local time), which means it was continuoulsy noon onboard the flight for 11 hours! I’m not sure if I was in an airplane or a time machine…
I had a tight connection to my next flight, so I rushed off the plane. I was the first person off the flight (even before Business Class) and rushed to passport control, which ran smoothly with no lines whatsover. The only problem was my connecting flight to Honolulu was is more than an hour
delayed. Now I am expecting a tight connection at Honolulu. Therefore, I am expecting to actually send this mail (and additional updates) only when I reach our accomodations at Hilo.
BTW: All timestamps are Hawaiian time, which is 13 hours earlier than Israel time.
Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz.
May 11th, 2007 at 10:47
Posted by
epsalon |
Frequent Flyer, Hawaii, Travel |
no comments
