We flew out of Atlanta on Friday, June 28th. It was a long day of travel and waiting. And some how we managed to have no window on either flight (I blame Thomas for that one). It was very disappointing- especially for our flight getting into Hawaii.
We arrived in Hawaii around 7pm (1am eastern time) and for our first night, we decided to use AirBNB. If you've never used it, check it out! This is our second time using the service and we've had 2 great experiences (the first was in Venice, Italy). We only had a short drive to our AirBNB home where we promptly crashed for the night.
The next morning, however, we were up very early and ready to take on the day. We hadn't fully been able to appreciate our accommodations the night before due to sleep deprivation- so we took the morning to walk around the property and take a few pictures. AirBNB rentals range from renting a bedroom to renting a full home or apartment. This particular rental was a private suite in someones home. And it was great. We had our own little private patio and we were very close to the local town. Not to mention that the homeowners were very nice and helpful. Check it out if your ever looking to stay close to the Kailua-Kona Airport- it's called Carrie's Cottage.
This is Liko, their family dog. He was very sweet to join us for an early cup of coffee!
We decided to venture into the little village of Kona for breakfast and groceries (to take to our next destination). Our airBNB host recommended a little place right on the water and it turned out to be a great choice.
We were a little hungry.. and wanted to try everything.. I'm sure that's evident :)
After breakfast, we went back to our AirBNB home, packed up our belongings, and left for our journey to Volcano, HI (which is on the other side of the Big Island- the east side). The Big Island is fairly underdeveloped so there is really only one highway to use to get to the other side and it skirts the perimeter of the island. I think, overall, the drive was about 3 hours. However, we stopped many many times in between :)
Our one major stop was at Mamalahoa Hot Tubs and Spa. I figured it was the first day of vacation- we might as well start out with a nice massage, right? This place was very cool. Our time there included a 1 hour salt water hot tub and private outdoor shower followed by a 1 hour outdoor massage. In hindsight, 1 hour of hot tub time is A LOT when it's hot outside, but we still enjoyed the experience.
Our own personal tiki hut!
After our time at Mamalahoa, we stopped at a few antique stores and an expresso/snack bar and then we made the rest of the journey to Volcano.
We rented a Jeep on the Big Island, which ended up being a lot of fun!
We arrived in Volcano around 6:00pm and we had just enough time to get checked into our cottage, cook dinner, and meet our cottage owner. These cottages were another lucky find and ended up being a great choice (I dont know who planned this vacation, but they did a GREAT job ;)). They are called Volcano Places. This one in particular is Kate's Cottage. The owners, Kathryn and Kenneth Grout, built them themselves.
We loved this outdoor porch and spent a lot of time out here reading and playing yatzee! :)
The average temperature in Volcano is mid 70's and fairly rainy. It's also 4,000 ft above sea level- and only a mile or so from the National Park where Mt. Kileaua Volcano sits.
On Sunday, we woke up and went to the local Farmers Market (only held on Sunday's so we were very lucky to get to go to this!). It was a great experience. We bought homemade pastries, jellies, coffee, produce, and enjoyed a little people watching! We also came across this fire station that we thought was pretty neat. Only I would notice that they were using a Blaze truck as their regular/everyday fire truck :)
The farmers market started at 6:00am and we were there.... right at 6am. We were still adjusting to our new sleep schedule. After leaving there, we headed directly to Hawaii Volcano National Park where we spent an entire day exploring. We started out at near the top of the volcano, and then we made our way down the mountain (Crater Rim Dr.) and explored many other things along the way (lava tubes, craters, sea cliffs created by the lava rock, and steam vents). Overall, I think our favorite was seeing the cliffs- albeit a bit scary because the water was very rough below and the cliffs have been known to break apart in areas.
Killing a little time before the Visitor Center opened
Lava Rock fields were everywhere- and I mean everywhere!
Notice where all the different lava flows came down the mountain
For dinner this night, we went to a restaurant in the national park that had spectacular views of the Volcano's caldera. The food left a little to be imagined, but the experience was nice. What your seeing is not the lava itself, but the reflection of the lava off the sides of the caldera.
Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3!
No comments:
Post a Comment