Stopping for a selfie at a lava field on Chain of Craters road in Volcanoes National Park
Two quick stops with a long flight in between. From Bora Bora the goal was the Big Island back in Hawaii, but instead of trying to arrange a connecting flight we stopped for a day-and-a-half back in Tahiti. Same hotel that we liked, the Hilton, but this time we made reservations in advance to have dinner at a very nice French restaurant in downtown Papeete. Definitely better than resort food once again.
I walked around Papeete a little and it had the potential to be a cute place for a day or two. Nothing you ever need to see but possibly charming.
Steak tartare at L’O A La Bouche, a lovely French restaurant in Papeete
Then it was back to Hawaii, a six-hour flight north and then a connecting flight to the Big Island. (The island is officially called Hawaii but since that would constantly confuse people wondering if you were talking about the island or the state, everyone calls it the Big Island.) Our first stop was again pretty short, just two days in a rustic lodge very near the entrance to Volcanoes National Park.
If you are really into geology and how the earth was formed and all that, Volcanoes National Park would be just your cup of tea. There were lots of trails to hike around various volcanoes and lava flows, and lots and lots of boards explaining how this had happened and why that had happened. It turns out that I was just never a science guy and after just a few of those my eyes were glazing over.
One of the smaller craters we hiked by. If you’re from northern Minnesota it looks a lot like an abandoned iron ore pit…
With that said it was still interesting to walk around and see stuff. We hiked quite a ways around the rim of Kīlauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Lots of steam but sadly no spewing orange fire balls. And we did a drive along the Chain of Craters road that passed by lots of smaller craters and lava flows.
That’s me out on one of a million lava flows
Beyond that I loved just the peace and quiet of the place. The park is up at a pretty high altitude and so the weather was surprisingly cool, a nice change of pace for us. Our little cabin was a decided change from the fancy resorts we usually stay in and it was a nice diversion. It was in a pretty remote spot so I could do long walks on quiet country lanes that were beautiful.
And that was that, four days and a long flight. We have one last stop on the other side of the Big Island before we go back to the small island we call home.
The Tahiti Hilton at sunset. Not too shabby.
The deck on our little cabin made for a great spot to read and maybe have a little scotch. The lodge was in the town of Volcano, so there we were, staying in a volcano!
That may look like a hiking trail but in fact Mark is just a couple feet from the door to our cabin
Part of my very cute and very relaxing country lane walk
Our hike along the crater rim
Mark up above the crater. We were high above the floor at this point and back further it got a lot deeper still.
Hiking the trails of Volcanoes National Park
It may not look it but that’s a long way down
At the entrance to a lava tunnel. Fortunately they had electric lights in there or it would have been a pretty challenging walk.
The Hōlei Sea Arch at the very end of the Chain of Craters road