Circumnavigation

We were up early Thursday and, after packing an ice chest, we headed northeast through cattle country. The west side of the island is arid; lava flows, brushy trees, and even some prickly pear cactus. Once on the east side of the mountains everything changes dramatically. Deep, verdant forests with thick, lush fields. We drove along a dramatically different coastline then what we had become accustomed. We crossed many steep canyons or gulches that dropped into the ocean. Huge trees and ferns over-hung the road. Our first stop was Akaka Falls.


The walk to the falls was as beautiful as the falls.


A few miles from Akaka Falls Paul pointed out a small road, the old highway. It was only 1-1/2 lanes wide with many one lane bridges. In most places the road was completely over-hung with trees. We traveled through a green tunnel with the constant sound of birds and splashing water. The road hugged the coast and offered spectacular views.





We continued through Hilo and found Rainbow Falls (with more than a little help from the GPS).


The giant banyan trees around in the area are even more impressive than the falls. It is difficult to capture the immensity of the trunks with a camera so I will leave it to your imagination.

The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is at 4,000' and much cooler. The temperature dropped from 80 degrees on the coast to 64 degrees in the park. There is no visible lava but still a fascinating place. Portions of the Crater Rim Road are closed due to sulfur dioxide vapors.


We were able to drive around the south rim to a lava tube. The walk through the rain forest was full of bird sounds but the vegetation so thick we were unable to see the birds. The lava tube is amazing


Roots hang down from the ceiling and water was constantly dripping. Very cool, both literally and figuratively.

From the Kilauea Caldera we wound our way back to the coast and stopped at a black sand beach in Punalu'u for a snack (Snickers bar cold from the ice chest, Lays potato chips, and Diet Coke). The black sand is pretty but very coarse, not something I would want to run bare foot through.


We traveled around the southern tip of the island and turned north only to experience the most winding road of our trip. We made it home just at sunset after traveling 248 miles. Just another day in paradise.

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Location:N Kaniku Dr,South Kohala,United States