Big Island of Hawaii - 1-7 to 1-8-2009

We had originally planned to go to Molokai to see Kalapapa. Kalapapa is a Leprsy Colony start by Father Damian in Hawaii. It is on a very remote point of the island. The only way to get there is to ride a pack mule down a very steep cliff. Well, we learned a sad fact that you have to be 16 years old to go! So, Kaiya obviously isn't 16 years old and we ditched that idea!

The next idea was to go to the Big Island! I had little faith because we attempted that plan with the Triple Ms but the airfare was RIDICULOUSLY expensive!! But, I checked anyway . . . I was shocked to find ticket prices to Kona for 1/4 what they were the week before!! All of us got fly round trip for what it would have cost for two to fly round trip the week before!! So, we did it!

I will say this right now . . . I was sad that the Triple Ms didn't get to go, but post two days of solid driving . . . I am glad we didn't drag 4 little girls on that 3 hour to drive the volcano park only to find that there really was nothing to see.

On our drive, we stopped at one place to see a BLACK SAND BEACH! I stated I wanted to see one! Kaiya was asleep when we pulled up and showed no interest in waking up! So, Grammy and I hit the sand while Granddad chatted on the phone and sat in the car with Kaiya!!






While checking out the sand we discovered another sea turtle sunning itself. So, we went back to see if Kaiya wanted to wake up to see the sea turtle! I am so glad she decided to wake up because in the wake of walking to see the sea turtle sleeping on the beach, we discovered TWO OTHER SEA TURTLE in the shallow rock pools right on shore! One was eating moss/sea week off the rock and the other was swimming!! We turned around to get off the rock only to discover a third and climbed on the beach right next to us without us even noticing! That was the coolest things for Kaiya to see them actually moving! We spent about 20 - 30 minutes there and hit the road again!


Kaiya made the observation that . . . "THE BEACH IS NOT WHITE MOM!" as we walked up to it! Smarty!!


We used the restroom at the visitor center and headed on down the road! All the spots you would want to look at were a good hike that at least 3 of them would never have made it . . . and Kaiya is one of the three! Here is my picture of our 10 minute stop to use the restroom, see there was nothing there, and ask if a road was paved or unpaved!

We found out where to go to see the lava running into the ocean. And proceeded to drive another 1.5 hours to that point! Only to arrive to find out that the lava flow had changed paths and was on the other side of the bluff!! We decided to walk to the end of the path any way and see if we could get lucky!! One bad fall for Grammy that left her with a fat lip, bruises knees, and a destroyed camera we arrived at the end of the lava field to still only see steam! Maybe I am disappointed because I wanted the RED HOT LAVA to be seen, not steam!! Oh well! Now I can say I have seen a live volcano . . SORT OF!!



After that, we drove about another 30 minutes to Hilo, ate dinner, and then hit the road for another 3 hours to get to our hotel on the other side of the island! The only thing I wanted to see in Hilo were the Rainbow falls, but it was dark before we got there!! We made a complete circle island tour in one night! We arrived at the hotel about 8:30 p.m. and every one of us wanted OUT OF THAT CAR!!!!