Big Island - Big Scenery
Today we decided it would be our day to drive all around the island. There is a reason they call it the big island. There is a lot of ground to cover and many ecosystems, so after our breakfast of Cheerios, OJ, pineapple and bear claw, we left the lush tropical 'Marriott ecosystem' and traveled east through the arid ecosystem (which reminds us of Texas) and moved into the 'Tropical rainforest ecosystem'. This is our favorite ecosystem. It is so beautiful and the road was more beautiful than The Road to Hana in many places.
Our first stop was Akaka Falls. We walked a descending path through the rainforest with many beautiful and unusual plants and trees.
Karen stopped to take a picture of a torch ginger bloom and Bill noticed a vibrant green gecko sitting on the flower. Isn't he the most beautiful thing?
Then we continued to the falls which are taller than Niagara Falls, but not as wide.
The scenery was so lush and beautiful that we skipped stopping at the Tropical Botanical Garden because we figured we were driving through a tropical botanical garden.
Next we stopped at Rainbow Falls - another lovely scene.
Now it was time for lunch. Bill had already picked out a place from Trip Advisor. It was a good thing that Bill put it in the GPS because it was way off the beaten path. Once we found 'What's Shakin', we were very pleased. They had great food and fresh fruit smoothies. Nearly every ingredient was grown right here on their property. We thoroughly enjoyed the food and the location in the rainforest overlooking the ocean.
Moving on we entered the 'Volcano ecosystem' at Hawaii Volcanos National Park. Our first stop was at the visitor center and we asked the question that thousands of people ask every day "Where can we see lava?" The answer was that it was a long way away (a 5-mile hike one way) but when Bill was at the info desk, the phone rang and the ranger was told that Jaggar Museum, right at the edge of the crater was just seeing some lava, so she told Bill that we show go there right away and not dilly dally around. So, off we went. When we got there, we could see two areas where lava was spraying up.
The ranger there said that it had only been going on for 20 minutes. We don't know how long it lasted but it was stopping when we left, so it only went on for about 45 minutes. We were very blessed to see erupting lava today.
No trip to Volcano National Park can end without walking through a lava tube.
We took the long drive back through the 'lava ecosystem' which reminded us of a moonscape. An evening stroll and a lovely sunset completed our long and busy day.
Our first stop was Akaka Falls. We walked a descending path through the rainforest with many beautiful and unusual plants and trees.
Karen stopped to take a picture of a torch ginger bloom and Bill noticed a vibrant green gecko sitting on the flower. Isn't he the most beautiful thing?
Then we continued to the falls which are taller than Niagara Falls, but not as wide.
The scenery was so lush and beautiful that we skipped stopping at the Tropical Botanical Garden because we figured we were driving through a tropical botanical garden.
Next we stopped at Rainbow Falls - another lovely scene.
Now it was time for lunch. Bill had already picked out a place from Trip Advisor. It was a good thing that Bill put it in the GPS because it was way off the beaten path. Once we found 'What's Shakin', we were very pleased. They had great food and fresh fruit smoothies. Nearly every ingredient was grown right here on their property. We thoroughly enjoyed the food and the location in the rainforest overlooking the ocean.
Moving on we entered the 'Volcano ecosystem' at Hawaii Volcanos National Park. Our first stop was at the visitor center and we asked the question that thousands of people ask every day "Where can we see lava?" The answer was that it was a long way away (a 5-mile hike one way) but when Bill was at the info desk, the phone rang and the ranger was told that Jaggar Museum, right at the edge of the crater was just seeing some lava, so she told Bill that we show go there right away and not dilly dally around. So, off we went. When we got there, we could see two areas where lava was spraying up.
The ranger there said that it had only been going on for 20 minutes. We don't know how long it lasted but it was stopping when we left, so it only went on for about 45 minutes. We were very blessed to see erupting lava today.
No trip to Volcano National Park can end without walking through a lava tube.
We took the long drive back through the 'lava ecosystem' which reminded us of a moonscape. An evening stroll and a lovely sunset completed our long and busy day.
Comments
Post a Comment