A mad-dash tour of Hawaii's Big Island.

Barb and I visited the Island of Hawaii recently to get away from the Rogue Valley smoke and heat, our "home base" on the island being a resort on the western shore just south of Kailoa-Kona. We have lots of pictures to share, some ninety-plus of them if Posthaven will allow that many (it did!). I won't describe each photo, opting instead to post (with scant explanation) groups of pics by districts as the Hawaiians know them. But first....

Out of curiosity set an airfare alert last spring with the travel site, Kayak - which is a great service, by the way. Have used them since before they advertised and became well-known. We bought our tickets (coach) at the second lowest point during the 26-odd weeks spent tracking prices (one alert sent per day). It's mind blowing how the airlines screw with prices, though. A couple who booked their flight just one day after we did paid $320 more. If tickets were bought five days after we did, the lucky pair paid nearly $600 more for their seats. Same flights, same day, same seating, same ticket restrictions. Yeah, I know. The airline Jerks In Charge call it price optimization or some such thing. I call it conniving robbery. Here's what happened to prices a few days after we bought our tickets. The price we paid is far below the "low" seen between August 14 to August 22. Lower than all, actually, with the exception of two days in March.


A few notes before posting the pics:
We rented a Toyota Rav4, or similar. Our similar turned out to be a Ford Escape 4WD with the 1.6L turbo-charged engine. I didn't know it at the time, but this SUV was a mistake waiting to happen. While the Escape is a semi-nice vehicle considering it is "American" made (for a decade I sold Chevy's and used cars, remember?) I know how bad "domestic" cars are and why. The SUV really pooped out trying to summit 13,796 foot high Mauna Kea (the mountain peak is 33,100 feet above sea floor). Sure the rental agreement said "No rental cars beyond this point", meaning a spot around 7,000 foot altitude at the Onizuka Center, but I watched a front wheel drive Toyota Tercel loaded with five fat people go charging up the road 30 minutes ahead of us. Listen to the audio at the end of this post to hear what happened. The quick summary is.... Lesson learned. Rent an import if you want to summit.

Got a kick from the double-take by the woman checking in rental cars. I guess adding a thousand miles to the odometer in a week on the Big Island is kinda rare. Was going to mention the squeaky brakes that developed while descending Mauna Kea, but thought better of it. Besides, the brake rotors were no longer glowing red and the nasty sound was gone by the time we returned the Escape. I think the car was in pretty good shape, all things considered. I have no idea why she did such an obvious double take.


A note of caution. This article is not in any way, shape, or form a comprehensive "What to do on the Big Island" review. Hell, Barb and I never research what to do and see at any place we visit before getting there. We also don't ride around with 5 or 75 strangers on scheduled tours often, except when we are on a cruise and sometimes not even then. So I'm sure we miss some good places to see. But we also find interesting, off beat sights that tour guides don't mention because we talk with locals while wandering around hopelessly lost. We are comfortable being lost and talking with sometimes menacing-looking strangers, but I know many would not like to travel that way. Buy a dozen tour books before you go if that's what makes you happy. 

Lastly and before we begin (how's that for a contradiction?), most of you remember me as the guy toting a camera everywhere. Well, I recovered from that affliction. I'm a sound recording addict now. Yep. Replaced a gaggle of lenses with an assortment of microphones, cables and dead cats (if you have to ask, don't). Instead of shooting pics I have been teaching Barb about lighting and composition for the last two years and have to say, something clicked in her brain six months ago. Her eye for what a lens sees suddenly improved by leaps and bounds (the key to good photography, it isn't the gear). Most of the photos you'll see are her creation, not mine. She did damned well, I say. (You can scroll through each gallery "as is", or click on each gallery to see a bigger version of each photo.)

Enough jabber? Agreed. On with it. The Big Island (the "real" Hawaii) is partitioned into six districts. First up...

Kohala District

The northwest corner of the island, closest point to Maui. You'll find cute, hard scrabbled villages with a working class feel. Beaches are primarily filled with locals. Hwy 270 takes you along the beach from Kawaihae to Hawi, the King Kamehameha statue, and ends at Polulu Valley Lookout. If you want the most direct route east to Honokaa, you'll have to hike across steep hills and valleys. Good luck with that. Waimea, the biggest city in this district, is near the intersection of Highways 19, 250 and 190 and is bordered by ranches. There are lots of state parks to choose from along Hwy 19, which runs near the western shore.


Hamakua District
The northern part of the island, dominated by Mauna Kea. Beaches to visit along Hwy 240 are rare as the northern edge of the mountain is battered by trade winds and sea water. Hwy 190, which is actually in the Kohala District but I include it here because it feels right (you have to drive it to understand) is where you'll see high altitude ranches, tilting trees, and grazing cows being blown over by the freaking wind. Saddle Road, also called Hwy 200 and the most direct path (if one can call it that) between Kona and Hilo, also takes you to the entrance to Mauna Kea. Bring a light jacket, an oxygen tank, and get above the clouds. Pack lots of food and water if you are driving a turbocharged Ford.


Hilo District
The east facing part of the island and home to the biggest city on the island, Hilo. Frankly we didn't spend much time in Hilo. Seems too much like just another big(ger) American city. But the entire length of Hwy 19 is scenic and has many exits to great state parks by beaches in the area just north of Hilo. Hwy 19 ends at Kukuihaele (in Hamakua District) and there's a beautiful valley at the end of the road. A rigorous hike into the valley and across private land is allowed, just be courteous and remember to close gates that you open. Take a short run up Hwy 220 off Hwy 19 and you'll see 442 foot tall Akaka falls. Well worth the sidetrack. Look for road spurs to the beach side of Hwy 19, just north of Hilo. They will take you to some of the most enjoyable sights of Hawaiian life you'll ever see that isn't tourist or coffee bean centered. In particular, find the 4 mile scenic road just south of Onomea Bay.


Kona District
This district includes the majority of the western, beach oriented side of the island. Or orientated, if you are a English teacher without standards. Think of this section of the island as the Hawaiian version of Key West and the Florida Keys, without bridges. Kona is more spread out than Key West, though. The section of Alii Drive that shadows the beach will remind northwest residents and expatriats of Alki drive in West Seattle to a spooky degree, but is warmer and prettier. In the shadow of two mountains to the north and south, the Kona District is plenty green but less rainy than most parts of the island (Ka'u District being the exception). You'll find lots of sand beaches for getting sunburn caused cancer, and lava-clad beaches that are great snorkeling spots to see spinner dolphins, coral reefs, turtles, and a wide variety of fish. Kiholo Bay, north of the Kona airport, is supposed to have good snorkeling in the morning though we can't vouch for the claim because we didn't get there. If you don't want to drive far from Kona, Barb suggests snorkeling at Kahaluu Beach Park. It's not wall-to-wall crowded and has a better assortment of marine life than the numerous beaches north to Kona. Venturing south on Hwy 11, the best snorkeling was found near Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. Hang a right instead of entering the park and you'll immediately see the best spot Barb found to snorkel. A bit out of the way, but worth it. Turn left onto the unmarked road north of the beach if you are returning to Kona. You'll plop into Kealakekua Bay where you can see the monument marking where Caption Cook was killed. Bring binoculars or a kayak.


Ka'u District
The southern section of the island, which includes Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on it's eastern edge and largely inaccessible Mauna Loa (13,680 foot tall above waterline) at the northern part of the district. I wondered how the biggest-mountain-in-the-world-by-mass could find a way to hide from us while we traveled the southern portion of Hwy 11 before realizing at the volcano park that we had been driving on the damned thing. I can be dense sometimes. Mauna Loa doesn't have shear cliffs and craggy edges, just a long, constant slope in every direction. Finally saw the entire mountain a couple days later, including peak, from the north side while on Saddle Road when the clouds lifted. Impressively huge. The caldera and steam vent at the Volcano Park are worth the time to get there, as are the lava tubes. Check with a few tour operators a few days before departing if you want to push a stick into flowing lava. From what we heard the lava vent flowing into sea water had capped itself two weeks prior so people hoping to see flowing lava hit ocean waves are seeing only steam (boat tour operators are mum about this fact). A new spout has formed 2.5 miles inland, accessible only via guides who know people who know people who allow groups to traverse private land between a road and the lava vent. Stop at Punaluu County Beach Park to check out the amazing black sand beach. You'll likely see turtles resting on shore, too.


Puna District
The south east corner of the island, we managed to miss seeing most of it. Yeah, weird. Drove a thousand miles and we still didn't get to the Puna District. Will hit it the next time we visit. Until then, if you run across a guy named George who used to live in San Clemente but now lives off the grid somewhere outside of Keaau, tell him Glenn and Barb said "Hey 'ya". George said there were numerous beaches good for snorkeling on this part of the island. Had a long talk with him that day and trust his judgement. Check it out.
Since I didn't take photos in the Puna District, I'll add a couple shots taken on the trip home of a very calm Pacific Ocean. Those ghostly shadows you see are reflections of clouds off the water. I hope no sailboats were down there because they will have a long wait for wind.

Postscript

The Island of Hawaii is our fourth Hawaiian island visited. We have toured Oahu, Maui, and Kauai... which is our Marriott VacationClub (AKA time share, but nobody likes calling them that anymore) home base of nearly ten years. Kauai was my favorite because the island is the least Americanized but the Big Island has replaced that sentiment, shoving Kauai to a close #2 on my list. We found so much variety in terrain, villages, trails, and sights in general on the Big Island. The constant was meeting smiling, friendly Hawaiians giving us their welcoming hand sign at first glance. Seems like we found spots everywhere on the island that reminded us of areas found in seven states on the mainland, yet found even more that was unique to the Hawaiian Islands (and mongeese, mongooses, mongoos', aw hell, those furry four legged critters). Lava is what you see most often, in fascinating amounts and locations and states of regeneration. There is also a lot of vegetation and areas reaching toward the stars - in a weird and seemingly incoherent mixture. In short, well worth visiting when you can put the scratch together to go.

A quick note: Listen to the audio recording below to hear what we are celebrating with this trip. By the way, Barb complained after returning home that she had added two pounds to her 60 year old frame during this trip. It's all in the photo below, taken on our last full day on the island.


I recorded about 20 tracks of sounds and our impressions of what we saw and did, but haven't even started listening to them much less editing any. So I'll close with a raw cut recorded with too much mic gain, of Barb and I by the ocean shore wrapping up our trip on the last evening. Mahalo, which is "happy listening" in Hawaiian. And if you believe that don't even think about asking about the dead mongoose used with my hand held audio recorder.

38 minute tour of south east Alaska

If you have never visited Alaska, here is your chance to get a glimpse of what part of the Alaska panhandle looks like: Ketchican, Juneau, Skagway…. plus Vancouver Island and Victoria, B.C. in Canada, and a glimpse of my hometown, Seattle.

Download the movie here, stored on my public Dropbox account: AlaskaPanhandle2012.mov

Note: Damned glitches. Just tried playing the linked file on my computer and noticed two nasties exposed themselves: The resolution of the streamed version is lousy. This is why I hate doing video on-line, too many freaking variables to account for. Also, when I tried playing the video the streaming version cut off part-way through the show – roughly half way through. Downloading the file (6.01 GB), then playing it should solve both problems. /gst

Photographing the panhandle was a challenge. To begin with, all shots were taken with either an iPhone 4 or Nikon S8000 point and shoot camera. I’m still trying to adapt, and not doing very well, to using viewer-less, compact, automatic cameras. Plus, the scenes in Alaska are enormous. It’s hard to to do justice to both the infinite variety of detail and big-picture grandeur that is everywhere one looks.

Even more challenging, we were mostly on either a cruise ship or shore excursions so I didn’t have time to to stalk scenes as I normally would. One has to make instant decisions and live with them. Toss in the constantly changing weather, which meant lighting conditions changed rapidly and… well, it was one big challenge to capture and do right. Some photos are slightly out of focus. Others aren’t but look like they are, because they were shot through a downpour of rain while holding the tail of my coat over the camera.

I also didn’t record as much audio as I typically do on trips. So instead I added recordings made of friends who are talented musicians (the last two songs are obviously commercially produced). A good set of speakers or headphones would be a bonus.**

Enough with the caveats, already. Enjoy the tour

P.S. Barb is the 60 year-old dark haired gal in the photos, her younger sister has the lighter brown hair. The clean shaven guy is Barb’s sisters husband, and I’m the scruffy, balding mess wearing glasses and hearing aids who is mercifully rarely seen.

** The piano songs are composed and performed by Kim Levy, the youngest daughter of our friend Kathy. Kim is a self-taught pianist whose skills were honed when she was accepted to a school in Los Angeles. Must be a pretty good school, as one of her classmates was the son of Stevie Wonder. Kim only recently learned to read music. She's one of those musicians who can nail a song, playing by ear, after listening to a song performed only a couple times.

Our friend, Steve Fain and his string bass, plays on the jazz tracks with the Charlie Pagani Trio, a local group of musicians who play at bars around the area. Steve also plays with other groups and at his church. He's not only a joy to listen to, but also to watch. Steve plays with enthusiasm that is obvious to the eye.

Washington Grizzly Stadium

Barb & I finally saw a University of Montana home football game. The Griz beat Northern Arizona 24-21 in what was largely a defensive battle. That is, until each team scored a touchdown in the final two minutes. Montana's final score came with only 3 seconds left in the game. Below is a clip when the game clock showed less than four minutes to go and the Northern Arizona offense faced a critical third down play. Montana fans know how to make noise, especially when it counts.

Trip to Kauai.

 We returned to Kauai, the "home port" of our Marriott Vacation Club, for the first time in six years. It was nice to see "our" place again, on the south-east tip of the island.

We were joined by our friend, Sue. She has been a friend in spirit for five years, but this was the first time we have met in the flesh. Sue was as expected - fun, thoughtful, and short.

The week couldn't have been more enjoyable. Did only one "touristy" thing (thankfully, because while I enjoy doing a tourist, I abhor doing touristy stuff). We took a charter boat from Port Arthur to the Na'Pali coast and did some snorkeling.

Other than that, we explored the dirt roads of the island in search of beaches and trails off the beaten path - thanks to a trusty Subaru AWD. Barb and Sue were good sports for tolerating my blasting down pothole-filled roads, to who knows where and most often in search of who knows what. It was disconcerting at first when Barb and Sue talked about offing me and striking out on their own, but after a while I didn't put too much stock in how serious they were about their plan.

Rather than bore you with details, I have set up a gallery for you to browse through. A couple photos are pretty good, while most are of the "memories" variety. So with school back in session it seems only proper to ask...... what did you do this summer?

 

 

Cathedral of Junk

We're in Austin,TX. No, this isn't The Cathedral of Junk. It's around back, behind the house, and is freaking amazing (but you gotta see it in person to appreciate it, thus no pics posted.) Got the chance to talk for quite a while with the guy who built it, Vince Hanneman - a strange and interesting experience. The CoJ is worth seeing, if for no other reason than to meet him. [Update: unfortunately, it appears the CoJ will no longer be. Maybe I should circle back and post pics after all.] Hung with a few students for a while on the beautiful UT campus, and learned the 'proper' way to do the "Hook'em horns" hand signal! Also went to the LBJ presidential library on the UT campus. 

photo by /gst, from my iPhone

Barb, in San Antonio

We went into a golf course pro shop to check out the furniture and displays. Strange, I know. Who checks out the woodwork in pro shops? Well, we do ever since Barb's sister, Lin, married a guy who designs and installs displays in pro shops throughout the US (and lately, in other countries too). He didn't do this one, and it shows. His work is much better, we've visited a few. Loved San Antonio, though. The Alamo, river walk, restaurants, parks, missions, and experienced Texas pride. Below, is Barb with her "don't you dare take a photo" look. She has her Texas hat on and is ready to go kick the ever-livin' crap out of a bull that she's been eyeing since we came to town. 

 

photo by /gst, from my iPhone