Departure

It was sad to wake up and know that this day would be our last in Hawai'i and the end of our honeymoon. Neither Susan or I were ready to leave. We woke up just before 6AM to a beautiful sunrise. We packed our bags while trying to finish what was open in our refrigerator or we couldn't take home. We pet Black Kitty and fed the horses. And we finally packed the car and drove down to Waipi'o Valley Artworks and returned the electric gate opener. We wandered the store one more time and picked up a book on Hawai'ian words. Then we drove down the road and up into the hills to the Hawai'ian Vanilla Company. We were greeted by a very nice family who bought the company eight or so years ago and have added a restaurant and gift shop to the premises. They had us watch a video, which made me feel like I was getting a time-share pitched at us. But this was followed by vanilla lemonade, which was really refreshing, and lunch. Susan had a grilled chicken panini and I had the ham and cheese panini. Both came with a tomatoe-red pepper soup and tarot chips. The lunch was fresh, and delicious, and the vanilla was present, but never overpowered any of the dishes. We bought a 4oz. bottle of vanilla to take home with us. The lunch was too much food for me, along with cleaning that refrigerator out, and I would be uncomfortably full for the rest of the trip and on into the first couple of days at home. Susan felt the same, but recovered a bit quicker than me.

We took the scenic freeway back to Hilo, past a botanical tropical garden and through the jungle....even seeing one of the streams emerge from a lava tube near one of the many bridges. All the while it was starting to rain a little more as we closed in on Hilo. Once there, we returned to the little trade store that we bought beach mats in and Susan picked up a few last things to bring home. We were several hours early for the airport, so we walked around downtown Hilo in the rain, exploring, until we were too wet. Then we hopped back in the car and explored that way. We drove the Banyon Grove and explored a small Japanese Garden along the south side of the harbor. Then we headed to the airport, dropped off our car and sadly got on the plane to Honolulu, where we transferred to the flight to Portland. The one great thing about our flight home is we both slept almost the entire way.

My mom picked us up at the airport. It was really nice to see her. She dropped us off at home to some very happy pets and Susan and I napped on the couch for the rest of the morning. Sad to leave Hawai'i, but happy to be home.

Our Last Full Day on the Big Island

We started out day with a little fresh fruit and coffee and watched the sun rise from Cliff House. We decided to spend the majority of our day on the sunny side of the island, and we packed and prepared for the beach, taking with us the leftover pizza and macadamia nuts. We got an early start and left the house before 9AM. We stopped at the Waipi'o Valley Lookout in order to view the valley floor before heading back through Honoka'a and then Waimea, where we tried to stop for a cup of coffee unsuccessfully. Most of the town was closed, it being Sunday. We headed towards Kailua, detouring to check out a cinder cone at Waikoloa. The cone was surreal with a big round lava vent in one side. When we arrived in Kailua, we parked and got a cup of good Kona coffee and walked the city boardwalk. It's very touristy, but it's a nice little town. The sun was intense even for the sunny side of the island. We watched some huge waves at the rocky shoreline in town. And then headed back and had a beer in a mexican cantina before hopping back in the car and heading for the beach. The first beach we went to was a bit north, off milepost 74 on Hwy 190 and was at the Mauna Lani Resort. The beach was in a very protected cove and you had to walk a mile from the parking lot through a lava field filled with lava tubes once used as homes by the early Hawai'ians. We also came across a group of beautiful fish ponds that are still being maintained....it was truly a little oasis. There were no waves at this beach, due to the protective harbor, but you could rent snorkel gear for really cheap ($10 total for both of us, for an hour), and there is a reef just off the shore. Susan flipped out over snorkeling. She loved it and we spent well over an hour in the water and only got out because the current shifted and the water became too cold for us. We saw countless types of fish of all colors, lots of different coral, and sea urchins too. After the nature walk back to the car, we were shocked that it was already after 3PM. Time can fly when you're in the water. We wanted to have a drink at the Mauna Lani hotel, but it was closed for renovation, so instead, we headed up to Mauna Kea Beach, hoping to catch some of the big waves we had seen earlier in the day. Mauna Kea was a resort and golf community, protected by security, but they will give you a pass to use the public beach. The beach here was really nice, similar to Hapuna, but a bit more upscale. Unfortunately, the waves from this morning were gone and the ocean was very mellow. We still played in the water for a little bit, dried off in the sun, and then used the showers before returning to the car.


We headed into the town of Kawaihae and straight to Seafood Bar, a real tiki bar that we had read about the night before. Seafood Bar did not disappoint. The served fresh fruit Mai Tais and we had a couple of Pu Pu's, a California Roll Tempura and an excellent fried squid, which consisted of the body of the squid instead of the usual tentacles. We stayed there and watched the sunset, admiring the thatched roof of the bar, the mango wood construction and the various tiki lamps. The staff was really nice and the bar was full of locals.

We saw the Blue Dragon, where Gary was playing, on our way out of town. We were too tired to stay, but drove through the parking lot in order to take a closer look. At the far end of the lot, there was a small farmer's market selling fresh fruit and beautiful orchids. As we were leaving the lot, we saw Gary getting out of his car but kept going so that we wouldn't have to give any excuses as to why we couldn't come in and stay for a bit....the truth was, one more drink would have sent us over the edge and we wanted to get back to Cliff House in order to enjoy our last night there. We stopped in Waimea on the return trip at a grocery store called Maika'i. It was a lot like Fred Meyer. We picked up a couple of Poke because Susan wanted to try them...they were delicious. We put the poke on top of a Hawai'ian cracker with a bit of cream cheese...it was a lot like sashimi. We also picked up a bunch of rum because it was so cheap. We got a bottle of Trader Vic's Gold, two bottles of Trader Vic's Dark, and a bottle of Meyer's Platinum, saving almost $30....our total bill was under $60.

When we returned to the Cliff House, it was dark and we could see a pair of cat eyes in the bushes. As we were laughing at the cat hiding out, I saw a giant Hawai'ian toad cross the driveway in front of us. I got out of the car and found him in the grass. Susan came over and we looked at him for a couple of minutes before he hopped back across the driveway and through the fence into the pasture. Susan made us drinks and we saw a really weird bug on our deck...it looked like the top of a flowering blade of grass. We then took our drinks down to the lawn chairs in the grass, turned out all of the house lights and watched the stars. We both saw shooting stars. It's so dark here, I've never seen so many stars. You could see the milky way with no effort at all. We finished our drinks and went to bed....our last night on Big Island.

Horses and a Lazy Day

We woke up, fixed coffee and set out for Waipi'o Valley Artworks in order to be picked up for the horse ride that we booked the day before. I didn't sleep very well the night before, due to the downpours of rain and my anxiety of riding a horse for the first time in my life. The valley was still obscured by clouds as we left the house, and our hopes were up that it would clear by the time we started the ride. We were excited about the prospects of roaring waterfalls with the overnight storm. We packed a small lunch of a couple hard boiled eggs and some sweet bread. The guide with the van was a little late picking us up....apparently, he had to change a tire before coming down. He drove us up a steep farming road, five minutes out of town, to the horse stables. We signed waivers and they placed us on two horses. Susan was on Noni and I was on Kapa'a. Noni was the leader horse and always wanted to be in front. Kapa'a was more mellow, liked to follow, and his name means "sure footed."

The ride was wet....it rained really hard several times on the ride and I gave up wearing the hood to my provided overcoat as it obstructed my view and ears and it directed water down the back of my neck. The ride was still great, despite the rain. When we made it to the falls viewing point, a ledge on the edge of the valley, it cleared up just enough so that we could see the full falls and the valley floor below. The ride took us through a planted and never harvested eucalyptus forest, and the hawai'ian guide picked orchids for the girls and shared strawberry guava from the trail and macadamia nuts from his home. The other guide, Gary, was a houlie who had been on the island since the early 1970's. He was a former music arranger for Motown after they moved to LA. I took the opportunity to pick his brain about what life is like for a former musician on the island. We might go see him play with a few of his friends on Sunday night in South Kohala. The hawai'ian guide took two of the riders, natives from South Kona, on the 5 hour adventure.

Luckily for my butt, we were on the 2 1/2 hour adventure and we returned after making it to the top valley lookout, where the clouds cooperated for just a few minutes and we saw a spectacular view of Waipi'o Valley and the coastline. I really enjoyed the horse ride, and Susan and I plan on doing it again some time...even while back on the main land.

We decided to enjoy the house this day. And so, after the ride, we headed into Honoka'a and did a little shopping. I got a great Hawai'ian shirt with matched pockets and bamboo buttons. Susan got a hand painted sarong and a really cool coffee mug for her states of the US collection. We also hit the grocery store and a fruit market. In the middle of our adventure in Honoka'a, we went to a local hamburger stand called Tex's, and ordered a Hawai'ian 12" with Kahlua Pork and fresh pineapple. Kahlua Pork is made from the local wild pigs that roam the island. They bury the pig in a bbq pit and roast it for an entire day. It's very flavorful, and a bit gamey, which we really enjoy. Needless to say, once again, the local food is great.

We returned to the cliff house and spent the rest of the day making fresh fruit pina coladas and hanging out with Black Kitty and the horses. Susan fed the horses a banana and the three of them almost got in a fight over it. At dusk, I saw a rare Hawai'ian Hoary bat out our front window.

For dinner, we had grass-fed, free range, local ground beef burgers with pineapple and local greens and onion. They were so good, that we each had seconds! We turned in after dark and attempted to watch TV, but I think we were both asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

From Waipi'o to Kohala

After watching the moonrise, we watched the sunrise. Pretty oranges in the band of clouds that's always lining the coast here. We had cocktails for breakfast; it was that kind of day. We decided to hike down to the bottom of Waipi'o Valley and set off on foot from the house. We reached the top of the valley in less than 5 minutes, visiting someone's lawn mower, a goat, along the way. We talked to the ranger at the top of the road about walking and driving down....he suggested we have water with us and if we were to drive, the car needs to be in 4wd.

We started walking down the road, and at first, it didn't seem so bad. But by the not quite 1/2 mile mark down the valley wall, we realized what the locals were telling us, "One mile down, ten miles back up," was absolutely true. We turned back and went and got the car. Even in the car, the road down is insane....it's unlike any other US Hwy anywhere. It is a 25% grade! At the bottom, we first took a right towards the beach. We made it down the rough road almost to the beach before a huge puddle turned us back. With no insurance on the vehicle, we played it safe. While turning our Jeep around, we encountered one of the wild horses in the valley. They're pretty mellow, he came up to the windows of the car and looked in. He tried to bite our bumper in order to see if it tasted any good and stood in front of the car and refused to move as well. We next took the inland road towards the falls, but turned back at a spot where the falls' river crosses the road. We later found out that you can't drive to the falls at all, even though it looks like it. We didn't feel right about parking and hiking, being on private land, it's a sacred spot, and you can tell the locals aren't thrilled you're driving around down there.

We returned to the cliff house, did a bit of research and decided to drive over to the sunnyside of the island and hit a beach. We put our target on Hapuna Beach because Susan had read that it was the Best Beach in America. With all the beaches in our country, it would have to be good. It was just less than an hour's drive from our doorstep and we were marching down a well maintained, even though under construction, path to the public part of Hapuna Beach; white sand, mellow waves, turquoise water and lots of sun. We played in the surf for awhile, even attempting to body surf, which turned out to be really fun. We layed out in the sun as well, before having to get back in the ocean in order to cool off.

We got wise in time, before getting sun burned; packed up, used the public showers (it's so nice not to be salty and sandy when you have an hour's ride home), and cruised south down the coastline a few miles. This area is a desert. No rain falls here ever and everything was brown. It is a nice residential neighborhood where some of the wealthier island immigrants live. At one of the public access points, we stopped and walked down a short path to a rocky entry. A sea turtle was grazing on a rock in the gentle surf. He was about 10 feet off the shore. We felt lucky to pick this particular spot for a quick look. We turned back and stopped at a small market. From the outside, it looked like something you might find on NW 23rd, but inside it was more like one of those corner stores in the Tenderloin in San Francisco. We got some M&Ms and a club soda and sat at a table on their porch with our tourist books and figured out what to do next.

We decided to head up the coast to an artist community called Hawi. It's quaint, but a bit overrated in the books. I prefer Honoka'a, as the gallery owners are less pushy and more local. But we did come across a few interesting bits. After walking the main strip of the town, we spotted a "tiki bar" called Luke's. It's a nice place, with a local clientelle, but not a real tiki bar.

They do have a thatched roof, but so do a lot of other places on the island that don't masquerade as a tiki establishment. No tiki statues, a budweiser drinking crowd and when we asked the waitress for a couple mai tai's, she fumbled, pretended she knew what it was, and made us drinks with Dewer's, OJ, and Rum! Not very good, but they were very strong. We opted for the local Kona brew on tap for our second round. We traveled down the road a little further because I wanted to see the original statue of King Kamehameha which was in Ka'apu. And this did not disappoint. The statue was well lit, even in dusk, and was quite impressive.





There is something mystical about the Hawai'ian rulers and their gods, and this particular spot had it. We walked the grounds and laughed at the "Beware of falling coconuts" sign. Not because we didn't think coconuts could be a danger, it's just not a sign I am used to seeing.




On our way back towards Hawi, we stopped at a small Episcopal Church not far from Kamehameha's statue. It had a striking red door against it's all white exterior. This was also another mystical spot. The church was surrounded by an old cemetary and some of the graves dated from the 1800's. We enjoyed our stay, but made it short so as to not tread on the spirits' grounds.








We took the mountain freeway back to Waimea, over Kohala. It was a pretty drive and we pulled off to watch the last of the sunset by a farm overlooking the Kona coast. It was a very deep red color and only lasted for a couple of minutes before the sun is down and the world goes completely dark. In Hawai'i, I presume because of the ocean and lack of light pollution, it goes from daylight to dark in a matter of minutes.....less than 10. We drove back through Waimea and Honoka'a and returned home, exhausted again. As we pulled into our garage, our antenna must have clipped something....it started shaking, regularly, but almost violently. It was kind of spooky, and when tested later, it didn't behave at all the same way....Hawai'i is a mystical place.

Susan made us an amazing dinner of Ono, bok choy and vermicelli, with shrimp tempura as an appetizer....I don't know how she does it....I was so tired I was a zombie. We went to bed with the TV on, but passed out right away...the night was cooler and there were a lot fewer bugs.

From Mauna Loa to Waipi'o

We started our last day in the rain forest with another outside shower and soak in the furo. We concentrated on gathering our things quickly and getting out the door by 8AM and we made it. We headed straight for the park and returned directly to Kiluah Iki trail. We were immediately rewarded for returning this morning. Instead of the blackness of night and mountain fog, we were greeted with a beautiful sunny morning and a stunning view into the crater. We could see steam vents right away. We descended on a well maintained trail, running into very few people along the way (there was only one other car in the parking lot). After a 10 minute walk through jungle, we were on the crater floor. The sun was hot in the open and we made our way across the crater, stopping to view various steam vents up close.









One side of the crater is smooth, pahoehoe. The other side is rough, aa. They are separated by a ridge in between, where I would guess the fountains of lava sprung in the 1970's. Ascending the south crater wall was comparable to Susan's gym's stairmaster. We had both broken into sweats upon reaching the rim. We returned via the west crater rim, still on the Kilauea Iki trail, within the rainforest jungle. Somewhere along the trail, I was stung by a large black bee on the back of my left arm. It was one of the most painful stings I've experienced. First, two sharp pains, followed by intense burning. Once it swelled up to the size of a golf ball on my arm, it began to feel extremely warm. This was followed by cycles of pain for most of the rest of the day, decreasing in intensity. The following day, it felt like a mosquito bite. We also came across a small family of Hawai'ian pheasants, one male and two females, on the trail back to the car.


Upon completing the 4 mile loop hike in about an hour and a half, we drove to Jaggar Museum and checked out the huge Kilua Crater from the view point. We also went through the museum, which was very informative.


We left the park and preceded further down Hwy 11, just past mile marker 30, and up a road to Hawai'i Volcano Winery. We sampled their wines and found them surprisingly good, especially their locally grown Symphony Dry and the dessert Macadamia Honey wine.

Not wanting to waste one last opportunity to go to Kapalana, we drove straight from the winery to our favorite black sand beach. The sun was intense and the surf was a bit more rough, but we had a fantastic time sun bathing and swimming. On the drive back, we took a narrow, one lane road in order to return to Hwy 130. In the middle of the jungle, we ran into a small artist residence, where Eddy, a mainland transplant, made Easter Island style Tiki's. We talked to Eddy for 30 minutes before moving on down the road and driving to Waipi'o. We got caught in a bit of rush hour traffic in Hilo around 3:30PM. Susan was getting very nervous we wouldn't make it to Waipi'o Artworks Gallery in time to get our directions and entry to the Cliff House. The drive out was again, beautiful, Hawai'ian style. The highway crosses numerous small canyons where waterfalls tumble on your left and bays open to the ocean on your right. We made it to the gallery just in time, at about 10 minutes to 5PM. We picked up our directions and a garage door opener for entry through the secured gate. We were greeted by chickens, horses and a cute black cat. Susan and I ran into the house, used the bathroom, took a fast look around, and hopped back in the car in order to return to Honoka'a, the nearest town with services, so we could pick up groceries for the house. Once back at the house, we grilled grass fed, local Hawai'ian rib eye steaks, Molakai sweet bread, mustard cabbage (we never had this before), scalloped potatoes out of a box (for the convenience factor, but they were delicious) and fresh fruit cocktails made in a blender. We had pina coladas and papaya coladas. We retired after dinner to Dish TV.

The Cliff House deserves it's own description. It's literally on a cliff, 1000 feet above the ocean. Great views from the front room and kitchen, a deck viewing east and north, two full bedrooms and a full bath....I couldn't believe we were staying here and made Susan double check that we had the right place. And it even comes with its own black cat! There are lots of bugs out here, and bees have currently invaded the bathroom wall (we'll be calling Richard later today, just to let him know....even with my anxiety of being stung after yesterday, we aren't going anywhere!).




We woke up sporadically throughout the night, but not from lack of a good rest.....only so we could continue to check out the changing view. The moonrise this morning, a small crescent, was unbelievable. The dark side of the moon was very visible, as there is no, I mean zero, light pollution on this part of the island.

Driving, Driving, Driving

Today was an adventure in the car, but we did get to see a lot of the coast on the Mauna Loa side of the island. Our plan was to go to the black beach of Puna Lu'u, sit in the sun for the morning, and then return to Volcano National Park for the afternoon, evening and night.

Puna Lu'u was beautiful, but not as secluded or as inviting as the black sand beach near Kalapana that we enjoyed on our first day. In fact, we merely stopped there and viewed the beach and the ruins of the old pier which was destroyed during WW2 in order to prevent the Japanese from landing there. Since it was still early, we challenged ourselves and preceded south on the road, up the mountain through a beautiful little town untouched by tourist trappings, through a giant lava flow and around the southern tip of the island into South Kona. South Kona is pristine island farm land where they grow macadamia nuts and Kona Coffee. The views from the road, and the houses on the steep mountainside are spectacular and we considered making South Kona a destination on our next trip to the island. Be warned, the island is so young here, there are very, very few beaches. It's almost exclusively rocky shore. We stopped at a small and quaint farm on the side of the road called South Kona Fruit Stand that was selling fresh fruit.

We bought a dragon fruit and a guava as well as fresh passion fruit lemondade which was delicious.


We headed down the road and took the coastal exit to The Place of Refuge where we toured a park featuring the old Hawaiian king's palace, temples and tiki gods.




It was a very quiet and spiritual area on the coast, even with a tourist bus there. Mark Twain had visited the village and described watching the king sun himself on the rocks.





The park looked like a post card or maybe that Corona commercial. Even with all the people there, sea turtles floated in the bay. We headed back up the hill to the highway and proceeded down the road a few miles before stopping at the Kona Coffee factory for some of the best espresso I've ever tried. It had kick without any of the jitters.

There was also an amazing view of the coast and the factory below and I read up on what makes the Kona Coffee cherry so rare and special....one, it's round instead of flat. Also, a branch only produces one cherry that is this round shape and this is known as the peaberry and comprises about 3% of the total harvest. No wonder the coffee from here is so expensive. We could see the drying of the cherries occuring below us on a huge cement deck. We headed down the coast a bit further to Kulai where we attempted to find a beach where none really exist.



We ended up at the Sheraton, first at a public access bay and then actually in their swimming pool. Susan is great at pushing me to do things I'm a bit uncomfortable with at first. It's almost always rewarding in the end. We swam in the pool, which meandered through the hotel grounds with water chutes and water falls and also drank a couple of very refreshing and very expensive pina colatas. After swimming, we were getting hungry and thirsty and decided to head into downtown Kulai to get some food and drink. Once we arrived, we realized it was very developed and very busy with tourists. Parking on the street was impossible and this wasn't the vacation Susan and I were trying to find, so we headed out of town without stopping and up the road hoping to stop at a small town market for a snack and water. No luck there. We were well on our way to the junction with Saddleback road when we realized we would have to go an additional 10 miles on to Waimaia in order to get anything to satiate us. We weighed it out, along with the warnings that we read in our book about the desolation, bleakness and difficulty traveling the Saddleback, before finally deciding we were going to go for it and travel over the Saddleback, between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and back into the Hilo side of the mountain. At the start of the journey the road was rough, steep and very narrow and I was a bit concerned. But after a half an hour or so, it plateus out into an army base and the highway opens up and is easy to travel on. We saw peacocks and a very rare Hawai'ian owl as we traveled over the pass. Upon reaching the top the vegetation changes back into the eastern side jungles and it's a nice yet windy drive back down into Hilo. We had a great and reasonable sushi dinner in Hilo. Our favorites were the ahi and salmon sashimi and the Bay City Roll which was scallop in a roll with their special sauce and melted cheese over the top....very unusual. We returned to Volacano National Park well after dark, hoping to see some glowing lava, but had no luck. We even walked down the Kiluah Iki trail for five minutes in the dark and peered over the lookouts, but could only make out mist and a small light on the other side of the rim. I was scared, Susan was disappointed, but we headed back home and turned in for the night, hoping to return and do the trail the next morning once the sun comes up.

Karmic Payback Ain't a Bitch

We woke up at sunrise. The light was streaming through the tops of the rainforest and the birds were singing. Peter's basket of fruit and pastries was delightful. We snacked on papaya and a Hawai'ian scone. Susan made us a bagel with banana and honey for later and we took the hard boiled eggs with us for the day as well. First stop was the village of Volcano. It's quaint, with just the basics; a couple of restaurants, a gas station and small market, and a few bed and breakfasts and arts and crafts stores scattered throughout the jungle. There's also a couple of workshops and schools. On Peter's recommendation, we went to his friend Ira's Volcano Garden Art Center.....and it was awesome. Ira curates the gallery which meanders through his outdoor garden and from room to room in the house. He's also done a fantastic job with the grounds.

There are large sculptures, hidden shrines, a "natural" room created by a grove of pine trees planted by the former owner (where weddings take place), and Ira's goat, Ernest, keeps the grass mowed.

Ira gave us carrots to feed Ernest, who seemed to really like us and wanted to play by butting us with his little devil horns, and standing up on two legs. There were also little lizards all over his yard, sunning on rocks. Susan picked out a beautiful platter that looked like lava with a leaf impression in it. Ira assured us it was not the real thing, that it was made from concrete to look like it. We're well aware of the curse of taking things from the island, and didn't want to flirt with any of that, especially after our adventure yesterday. Susan also picked out a small turtle carving and a small frog carving for us to take home. Ira's store is beautiful and his prices are very reasonable....and he's a very nice man.

We left from Volcano towards the park, finishing our bagel and eggs on the way. It only cost $10 to enter the park and your pass is good for a week. We checked out the visitor center, which had a lot of great educational displays on the history of the island, the animals and plants that have made it their home, and the volcanos. We were feeling a bit soar from the day before's hike, so we decided to take it easy on our first day in the park.

We first did the short Thurston Lava Tube hike. It's very interesting and spectacular. It's basically a tunnel running through the jungle for a couple of hundred yards. It's easy to imagine lava flowing through it. We were both reminded of Gilligan's Island. Maybe I'm being a total tourist, but I believe they did a great job capturing the look and vibe of polynesian islands for the show.

Next, we began heading down the slopes of Mauna Loa towards the coast. A short ways down, we took a detour in order to check out the Halina Pali Overlook. It's a striking 9 mile drive out to it.

You pass through forest, which slowly thins into vast lava fields. Meadows also dot the landscape and you have to drive slow in order to avoid the possibility of running over the endangered Nene. We were fortunate to see a pair of them.

Susan and I joked about the couple being on their own honeymoon. Time seems to be slowing while we're here and I have no idea how long it took us to get to the overlook....maybe 25 minutes, maybe an hour. But it doesn't matter. Rounding the last turn and seeing the overlook is an amazing experience. Easily one of the best views of the earth we have ever experienced. You're about 4000 feet above sea level looking out upon the ocean. The coastline stretches for tens of miles in either direction...I would guess that you can see 50 miles, maybe more of the shore. You can also see where the lava is entering the sea again. It's very isolated in this part of the park and we only saw one other couple and some tents at a campsite. We're definitely considering camping here on our next trip to the island. Plus, you can't beat $7 a day for a place to sleep on the island.

The drive back to the main road was slow and beautiful and we saw our friends, the Nene, one more time. Then we continued down the slope, passing lava flows from 1973 and 1974, more viewpoints (we stopped at most of them) and views of the new mountain, Mauna Una (1970!!). We passed on the petroglyphs, only because we needed to find a bathroom, and made our way to the end of the road. I recognized that this is probably the location of old footage I have seen where lava is slowly inching across the highway on the coastline. You literally walk right to it and then over the flow to a viewpoint where we could see the other side of the lava flowing into the sea. Again, very beautiful. You can also look up the slope and see steam rising out of fissures. At night, the hillside glows (we witnessed it the night before from the other side) and this is probably the better view to witness the side of the mountain "on fire."

We were getting hungry again and also wanted to pick up supplies for the room so we drove back out of the park and back to the town of Pahoa where we had noticed a couple of local grocery stores. There, we picked up some Trader Vic's Silver Rum (delicious), guava juice, ice, some macadamia nuts covered in chocolate and prepared to go get some takeout Thai food and have a romantic evening in the sanctuary. But on the way back to Hwy 11, we came across a young hitch hiker, maybe 16 years old, who had been standing in the rain for over an hour trying to thumb a ride. We picked him up, trying to return the favor to the island. His name was Stephen and he said he was going to Hilo. Susan looked at me and asked, "How far is Hilo?" I knew she was already thinking we should take him all the way home. It was only about 8 extra miles, a 15 minute drive at the most, and I felt we should take him there as well. We started talking to Stephen and asking about any restaurants he liked in Hilo. He immediately said his favorite was Garden Snack Club. Stephen was a little shy and got quiet after that first outburst for about two minutes, and then he got more excited and started talking about how Garden Snack Club was supposed to be Thai, but it really wasn't Thai at all...it was something unique to the island. He highly recomended the Thai Pizza. We were sold and after dropping Stephen off at his doorstep in Hilo, we headed straight for the restaurant....and Stephen wasn't kidding. Garden Snack Club is amazing! We ordered the Nut Salad and Thai Pizza with Opakapaka (not sure if I'm remembering the name of the fish right), which is somewhat like red snapper. The Nut Salad was a delightful mix of imported nuts from the mainland (I guess this is fancy to the locals) and local greens and fruits. Even though the nuts are cashews and peanuts and walnuts and hazelnuts, all things we get at home, I found the dish to be very hawai'ian tasting. The dressing included pineappe juice and everything was very fresh.

And the Thai Pizza was out of this world....It's nothing like pizza at all. It's more like a quesadilla mixed up with a crepe, except it tastes better than any crepe or quesadilla I've ever had. The crust is different than the middle and very crunchy. The middle was green and spotted and moist and filled with fish and something like a potato and other local vegetables and fruit. And the portions are giant and the prices very reasonable. Susan and I could have split either dish and have been full. Instead, we took a meal home for the next day.

We also began our sit down with their Thai Iced Coffee, which must be made from toasted coconut milk and fine coffee over ice....heaven on earth. We finished our meal by splitting a bowl of their handmade durian-macadamia nut honey ice cream, which also had shredded coconut in it. If Garden Snack Club ever licenses their recipe for this icecream to a company like Ben and Jerry's, they're going to make a fortune.


We drove back to Volcano Rainforest Retreat and made cocktails and soaked in the tub. The frogs were in full effect and again, and we slept very well. We woke up just before dawn, and noticed that it's the one time of day in the rainforest where there is silence....both the frogs and birds take a break. We're looking forward to another beauful day on the island.