Panalu'u Black Sand Beach

On the way home from the Volcano National Park we stopped at Panalu'u Black Sand Beach. It was really cool and really different!

Volcanos National Park

We took a day and went to the Volcano National Park. There is no lava flowing right now, but we still felt that it was a great experience!

We got to head into a real lava tube! The first part is lit up and is a nice walk. When we got to the end, you can either head back up and back to the car, or keep doing in the unlit part--we went the rest of the way in the tube! There are no lights, and it was cool, very damp, water dripping from the ceiling and sides, rocks and drops, parts where you have to duck down, and very very dark! We all had flashlights, and even with our lights it was kind of scary!

After that we took the Devastation Trail. That led us to an overlook of the Kiluauea Iki Crater. After looking down and seeing all the steam vents we decided that we had to get down there and see it close up! So we took the 4 mile hike down the to crater floor. The hike starts out with a beautiful walk through the rain forest. Did you think there would be a rainforest on the edge of a volcano? At certain points we could see the Halema'uma'u crater in the distance with a huge plume of steam coming from the hot magma just below the surface. This spot where we were waking erupted in 1959. A fountain sometimes as high as 1900 feet of spurting lava drained into this basin. It said there was enough lava flowing that it could cover a football field 15 feet deep in lava every minute! People came from all over the world to see the lava, and looked at it from the same spot that we started our hike! Cars lined up sometimes 10 miles long just to see it. Anyway, back to our hike. We walked through the rainforest and down to the crater floor. In many spots there was steam rising up from the bottom. Apparently there is still hot magma below the surface. When rain water seeps down, it boils it and steam comes up. We were able to walk right over and into some of these steam vents! It was HOT and STEAMY!

After our hike we drove to more steam vents, and drove further on to see a closer view of the crater. It was pretty amazing to walk on new land, born in 1959, and know that not too far below us are rivers of hot magma!

We took so many pictures that I couldn't pick through them, so I put them ALL up in a gallery. Some are blurry and some many be redundant, but it gives a great peek at our day!

Click here for the gallery.

dolphins

Gary got to head out paddle surfing this morning. He and Josh and Mimi went in search of spinner dolphins. There are tons of them out every morning. They found them! They take their snorkel and masks and when they find the dolphins, they slide off the board and swim with them! Pretty cool huh!?

parasailing

We did our first big excursion yesterday. Up until now, we have just been exploring the island, seeing the sights, hitting the beach and lots of hiking. We told the kids they could pick 2 or 3 big things to do while we are here, and we'll try to do them. One thing everyone wanted to try was parasailing. It was great because our whole family could do it! The boat holds 6 people, so it was just us. It was REALLY fun! I had never done it before. You really feel like you are flying!

Waialea Beach

So, we set out to try Mauna Kea Beach. It's at a big resort, and looks beautiful! Here is a picture of it . . .

But, the parking lot was full. So we tried another beach. We started to head to Hapuna Beach, but we'd already been there! At the road to Hapuna Beach parking, another road led left. We took it. It bumped along went around a few hills and soon we could see a parking lot up ahead. We scouted it out to see if it would be an ok beach. We were in for a TREAT! We happened to stumble on Waialea Beach, or known to the locals as 69 (due to the fact it's at the 69th telephone pole). Its our new favorite! Well, another favorite! The great thing about this beach is that it is great for swimming AND snorkeling AND there was a spot to jump into the water from the rocks AND there are trees growing almost right up to the water! Instant shade! We staked out a spot and set up camp! It was an AMAZING day at the beach! Thank goodness the parking lot at Mauna Kea was full! (We'll try that beach another day!)

What a way to spend a summer day!

1871 Trail

We tried another hike last Friday. When we were at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau the week before we saw a trail head labeled Trail of 1871. So we came back and took it. At first it was hot and muggy, and not too interesting, walking through a dirt trail with nothing but lava and occasional brush to look at. Then we made our way to the beach and blazed our own trail over all the lava rocks. It was much cooler there and we loved seeing all the different lava formations, and lava colors! Due to the lava flow into the ocean, there are beautiful cliffs and caves all along the coast. The water was crystal clear, and looking down even from a height of 20 feet up or so, we could see yellow tang swimming below! There were several spots that we debating whether or not it would be a safe place to cliff dive! At the end of our walk, we came to what looked to be a tomb? We imagined a beautiful Hawaiin princess being buried there, with a view over the ocean was that breathtaking! A yellow Plumeria tree was planted over it. It seemed to be the perfect resting place. When we got back to the park I asked the Rangers about it. Turns out it was just an old concrete water cistern! Bummer! We liked our story much better! :)

One of the caves carved out by the sea.

We had to be at least 20 feet up above the water here.

The lava tubes had been closed off to the public. I read that these tubes wind there way to the sea, and at the end of the tube, you are at a cliff overlooking the ocean!

There were many different colors in the lava.

Final resting place of a beloved Hawaiin Prnicess, or water tank? Which story do you like better?

Day of Waterfalls: part 4

Our last stop of the day was Boiling Pots and Pe'e Pe'e Falls. (pronounced pay eh pay) More info here. It was towards the end of the day, and we had yet to swim in a waterfall! When we got there, some others were swimming there, so we thought, lets try it! Then we thought, well maybe the Dad's should try it first and make sure it was safe. They hiked down to the water falls and pools and jumped in. They said it was like a wall they were swimming against, the current was so strong! They almost gave up and came back but found an area of the pools where it was swimmable and headed on up to the falls. They said it was awesome! And they also said good thing we didn't let the kid jump in! It was TOUGH swimming! Here is the video of them.

We decided to take the Saddle Road back home. It's called that because it goes right in between 2 volcanoes, Mona Kea and Mona Loa. More info here. We spent 11 hours that day exploring some of the most beautiful places I've seen! It was a great day!