Where: Hawaii Island, Hawaii
When: June 1995
With: Dad & Ashley
This post is going to go back...wayyyy back. Back to 1995, when my bangs were fluffy and my camera was hot pink. To my first real adventure of a vacation. Prior to this one, all my family had ever done was road trip to Massachusetts and Florida to visit family. This changed everything.
It was at the end of my oft forgotten one year stint living in Pennsylvania. My parents had just split and I was moving back to the motherland of New Jersey. In an attempt to save the family, my dad decided to blow it out with a massive vacation unlike anything he had ever done in my lifetime: a 12-day trip to Hawaii. While it's interesting to think of the reasons for the trip now, at the time, I was just in awe of the concept of going somewhere other than Disney World.
The first half of our trip would be spent on Hawaii Island, or "The Big Island". Not a surprise, it earns its name from being the largest island of the chain. The book lists the following as the things to do (not that the book existed then or that I had any control over my scheduled activities):
When: June 1995
With: Dad & Ashley
This post is going to go back...wayyyy back. Back to 1995, when my bangs were fluffy and my camera was hot pink. To my first real adventure of a vacation. Prior to this one, all my family had ever done was road trip to Massachusetts and Florida to visit family. This changed everything.
It was at the end of my oft forgotten one year stint living in Pennsylvania. My parents had just split and I was moving back to the motherland of New Jersey. In an attempt to save the family, my dad decided to blow it out with a massive vacation unlike anything he had ever done in my lifetime: a 12-day trip to Hawaii. While it's interesting to think of the reasons for the trip now, at the time, I was just in awe of the concept of going somewhere other than Disney World.
The first half of our trip would be spent on Hawaii Island, or "The Big Island". Not a surprise, it earns its name from being the largest island of the chain. The book lists the following as the things to do (not that the book existed then or that I had any control over my scheduled activities):
Arriving in Hawaii was pretty much as magical as I ever could have imagined. The lush green mountains and palm trees that surrounded us felt like stepping into a post card. There was the scent of jasmine everywhere. And there was a rainbow in the distance upon arrival. I know we're not in Disney World...but, c'mon, is this fake?
Our hotel was in the northwest corner of the island, in the Waikoloa Village, and it was just amazing. While the reception area had the look of a fancy hotel, there were no doors or windows, it was all just open, allowing the ocean breeze to come wafting through. What is this place??
After the very long flight in (east coast to Chicago, and then direct from there!), we crashed upon arrival. As a pre-teen, I was just starting to embrace my horrible sleeping habits of staying in bed until noon, but on a 6-hour time difference, I could "sleep late" and still be wide awake by 6am for sunrise. That first morning left a pretty indelible impression on me.
We had the whole hotel to ourselves to explore. First stop, a koi pond.
Next stop: a boat.
It's amazing the novelties that impress you as a kid. I had never laid in a hammock before and we were very excited to give it a try.
Our hotel sat right along one of the famous beaches on the island, Anaeho'omalu Bay. While not the best for surfing, its calm waters make it ideal for just about every other water sport: kayaking, windsurfing, and snorkeling. This first morning, under the first orange rays of sunrise, it was all ours to explore.
Warm water, warm temperatures. Time to go in.
Frolicking in the water.
Walking and wading along the shoreline, we started finding lots of fun marine life.
Currently thinking we'd do this every morning - after all, I practically slept in! Ah, the ambitious dreams for my first time in a different time zone.
The cool part about this bay is that the "beach" that borders it is more like a barrier wall that divides the bay from a pond that sits further inland. These ponds were manmade and intended to catch and hold fish when high tide would hit. These fish were then used to feed Hawaiian royalty.
The fantastic part of our hotel was that it was all-inclusive. All those fun activities listed above were part of our stay. There were daily catamaran sails, morning and night, plus all the water-sports we could dream of, and all we had to do was sign up. So on this first day, we opted to sign up for a catamaran snorkeling cruise. It was my first time out on a catamaran, and I was so excited. (Ashley, less so.)
We cruised up and down the western coast. The views were amazing, with palm tree-lined beaches backed by lush rolling green mountains.
As the Big Island is still a very active volcanic island, much of the shore line would suddenly turn from white sand beaches to craggy, black lava rocks tumbling into the water, but all against that stunning, impossibly turquoise water.
While we sailed along, we even got some visitors. I'd never seen dolphins before and couldn't believe they were so close!
When we laid anchor, the snorkeling was equally amazing. The water was perfectly clear and the assortment of colors when I stuck my mask under it was dazzling. There were fish I thought only existed in aquariums all around us, and the coral looked fake it was so bright. I could have stayed under for hours.
Back on the boat, and I'm loving life and thinking about how we can do this every day for the next five days!
Sadly, Ashley's sentiments on the matter are more accurately reflected here.
Ashley felt nauseous and so, this would be the first and last catamaran sail of our trip. And I have never let her forget that she spoiled this for me, all these years later.
Since catamaran sails were now officially out, it was time to find some other all-inclusive activities to do with our time.
The high winds and calm waters of A-Bay make it the best place on the island for windsurfing. And I was now learning that I was pretty much game for anything. So let's give windsurfing a try.
Here is the land part of my lesson. Seems easy enough.
In the water, a little different. While I had the balance, I did not have the arm strength. I also don't think the wind was that strong - I felt like it was mostly me holding up the sail and standing.
That sail was so heavy!!
At least my photos look like excellent action shots even though I don't think I was really moving.
Another activity included in our stay was snorkeling right from the shore. The views weren't as good, but it was something!
While Ashley wouldn't go out on a catamaran, she was willing to go out on a kayak. This didn't help me, but I'm glad she enjoyed it.
She even got brave enough to go it alone.
My dad loves his ocean sports.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And if you can't catamaran, kayak.
Even when I'm wildly annoyed at my sister, and no matter how old we've gotten, we can't help but play in the ocean. It always ends up that she carries me.
So needless to say, A-Bay ended up being where we spent most of our time while on the Big Island.
We did, however, take one day trip off the hotel property. Our destination? Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Being on the west side of the island, there were two ways to get to the park on the east side - through the middle or around the coast. On the way there, we decided (who am I kidding, I was 12, my dad decided) to go through the middle.
The cool thing about the Big Island is that it contains 8 climate zones, from dry and arid to rainforest to snow topped peaks. While we didn't drive to the highest of them, we definitely crossed through a few, particularly the "continuously wet" rainforest climate. It was here, in the center of the island, that we stopped at Akaka Falls State Park to hike along its quick half mile loop path to see my first natural waterfalls ever.
The first fall and namesake of the park is Akaka Falls. Standing at 420 feet, it is rare to find a waterfall of this size that is so easily accessible.
Continuing along the hiking trail, we came upon Kahuna Falls, the other waterfall within the park. This one is just as tall as its twin, but the pathway doesn't provide as stellar of a vantage point. In fact, if the flow of water is minimal, the waterfall is barely noticeable from the profile.
A glimpse of me on the pathway, having been granted the "adult" camera. I remember this moment well. Who knew how telling that would be for my future?
Continuing our drive across the Big Island, we came out to the west side at Onomea Bay.
And from here, it was a straight shot south to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Once inside the park, the topography changed drastically from the lush, palm tree filled Hawaii we had come to know. There were no trees in sight, and with the midday sun over our head, it just seemed extra bleak and barren, all the way to the ocean. However, the empty landscape was cut by random streaks of black lava rocks across the landscape. It was crazy to actually see the lava flow.
The drive from the park entrance towards the water, and ultimately, the volcanoes, is called "The Chain of Craters". The most fascinating part about this drive is how much it has changed over the years...because it keeps getting covered over in lava. In fact, I think the road we drove on was destroyed by a lava flow in 2003.
Along the Chain of Craters, there are several, as you may have guessed it, craters. And despite the very active volcano just a few miles from here, you are allowed to get out and hike into these craters. Here we are in a few of them.
No big deal, just some steam rising up out of the ground.
The other thing I distinctly remember about this drive was the incline. I was still young and far from driving, but I remember learning about burning out brakes and coasting in neutral from the descent into this park. It is intense.
And particularly intense when your end goal is a giant plume of volcanic steam caused by a lava flow cascading into the ocean.
The volcano causing this is Kilauea, the most active of the five volcanoes on the Big Island. It is so "young" (only about 300,000-600,000 years old) that it doesn't have the signature peak that we associate volcanoes to have. But it's given scientists a window into how volcanoes form and develop.
At some point, cars are no longer allowed and we had to continue on foot. I am on a mission to see some lava.
It's funny, as a kid, when someone said volcano, I simply had the image of the cartoon volcano in my head, spewing red hot lava from an impossibly tall peak. And I remember being vaguely disappointed that I wasn't seeing that. But now as an adult looking back on these images, and comprehending what was happening, I'm filled with awe at this sight. Thank goodness for photos.
Eventually we hit the end of the road. Literally. This was definitely the image that stuck with me on this visit - realizing that a lava flow had occurred recently enough to have covered over a paved road. I've tried to identify what year this lava flow happened, but honestly, the road has been overtaken by lava so many times, it's hard to pinpoint. In fact, I don't even know if this part of the road even exists anymore.
So no lava today. This is as close as it gets for this trip.
I'm so confused in this moment. Where is the lava?
On our drive back to our hotel, we made one final iconic stop. All that lava pouring into the ocean on the east side of the island has been churned up and broken down until it has actually turned some of the beaches black.
Against the turquoise waters of the Pacific, this black sand beach is definitely a stunning view.
Even though I was a young kid, and I didn't really know much about travel or the world at the time, I did know that Hawaii was special. The Big Island remains one of my favorite places in the world today. Next stop, Maui!
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