Fun things to do in Hawaii (Big Island)

When I first laid eyes on the volcano it surprised me that it wasn't like Mount St. Helens or Mount Vesuvius. The volcano is actually a shield volcano, broad sloping mountain with what they call "calderas" in which the lava rolls out of instead of spews forth. There are two types of lava in Hawaii. The first kind ropey and smooth in texture and it is known as "pahoehoe". It looks like pancake batter. The other type which is rough, sharp called "clinkery" is known as "a' a'" The Hawaiian name is apt because if you fall or slip on the a'a lava that is what you will be saying, "a'a! a'a, a'a"

There are many areas to see. It's probably best to start on the Chain of Craters road, but a note of caution: the volcano is still active, so portions of this road can be closed to volcanic activity so it's best to call before setting out. For Lava flow info: 808-985-6000

Visit the Kilauea caldera. It is 400 ft. deep and 2 1/2 miles across at the widest point. What I found fascinating and a bit unnerving was the steam emanating from its cauldron.

A bit of folklore here, make sure that you do not take any of the rocks from the park. Madame Pele considers every rock one of her children. If you take one of her "children" legend has it that you will be plauged with bad luck until her child returns. It must be true because the rangers frequently receive packages of rocks from visitors who have taken rocks home, experience bad luck and then mail them back to the park service asking the Rangers to return the rocks back where they belong. I can personally attest that this is true. One of my girlfriends, despite warning, took some rocks to build a gas barbecue in her backyard. Upon her return home she had her brakes go out, all four tires blew out within a period of a week, her washing machine overflowed ruining her new floor, and she was fired from her job. She promptly boxed the rocks up, enclosed five dollars and a note telling the rangers where she had taken the rocks from.

Parker Ranch is a good example of what I wasn't expecting to discover in Hawaii! This is where you'll find cattle, horses, and the Hawaiian cowboys known as paniolos, who hold a rodeo every 4th of July in addition to their regular cattle ranching work. The ranch is bigger than the whole island of Oahu, and is located in the high meadows by Waimea, at around 2,500 ft. elevation. It's a beautiful area, with red dirt roads and mountains in the background. You can arrange to go horse riding on the ranch if you want.

The ranch was founded about 150 years ago. We toured both the original Parker family homestead, which still has much of the original furniture, and also part of the more recent home. It's a great place to get a sense of Big Island 19th and 20th century history, plus they have a nice collection of French Impressionist and Asian art.

The last owner, Richard Smart, left the ranch and its art collection to the people of Waimea.

In this picture is a good example of Pa'hoehoe lava which looks like burned pancake batter. The lava which comes out of the Pu'u O'o vent flows rather than spews as it makes its way downhill to the sea. There has been only one time when the Kilauea crater actually exploded and that was in 1790.

Walking on these flows the lava was still warm and make sure you have good sturdy shoes on because you do not want to fall down onto the flow...Ouch!

We sat out until dark and we were able to see the glow of the lava as it slid into the sea.

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Halema'uma'u Crater is the crater-within-the crater of Kilauea Crater. This is believed to be the home of Madame Pele. When Mark Twain visited, he desribed it as "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone," as it was a bubbly pool of lava then. While we were there, you could see both craters, but it wasn't active.

We had a chance to view the craters from both the air and from the rim at Volcanoes Natl Park. The Halema'uma'u Crater was more visible from above.

On the east side of the island around the Hilo area, the climate is sooooooo much wetter than on the west side! North of Hilo there's a lovely little paved walk you can do to Akaka Falls. It's about 1/2-mile or so circular nature trail through beautiful and strange tropical vegetation - orchids, bamboo groves, ferns, and other plants I'm not familiar with. A delightful interlude. The falls plummet over 400 feet down.

Kilauea is the big volcano in Hawaii that's been erupting continuously for 19 years. Kilauea Iki means "little Kilauea". We did a four mile hike across and around the Kilauea Iki Crater. You descend about 400 feet, then walk across the crater from one end to the other, where you go back up and around to the start. Talk about some weird landscape! Follow the cairns (stacks of rocks) across the face of the crater, picking your way between steam vents and fissures. It's a good short hike if you only have one day to spend in the park.

Still on my list of things to do here - hike to where you can see live lava from Kilauea pouring into the sea. A more dangerous but also more spectacular proposition!

Kahalu'u Beach is a great place to snorkel. There is a family of turtles that live here and when I was snorkeling what I thought to be a big rock got up and swam. He was not afraid of me and I was able to take many pictures.

When you first get in the water it is cold, this is because of fresh springs which feed this little bay. Swim out about 100 feet and the water clears and becomes warm.

The water inside the reef is generally pretty calm but watch out during high surf when rip currents can occur.

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Tucked away on the windward side of Hawai'i's Big Island is the only plantation in the entire USA where Vanilla is grown, harvested and sold for commerical use. The Hawaiian Vanilla Company is family owned and operated by Jim and Tracy Reddekopp. We discovered this little gem from a show done on PBS (Public Broadcasting Station).

We visited the Mill on a lovely, bright day. We decided to do a tasting (less calories than the luncheon) but we still got to try several dishes both "savory" and "sweet" made with the vanilla beans grown on the plantation. Eggplant Brushetta, vanilla ice tea and vanilla ice cream were on the menu for our tasting which cost $10.00. The luncheon is offered at $29.00 for those who are interested. The tour hours are limited and are by reservation only.

Guests are not permitted in the greenhouses--the growing process is delicate one. It takes about 16 months to grow vanilla beans and it is a labor intensive process. During the tasting or the luncheon you will learn how the process is done.

This tour is a family oriented. Jim and Tracy's 5 children help out on the farm and with the luncheon. There are items to purchase as well. I am looking forward to cooking holiday dinner with the pure vanialla extract and vanilla infused sugar I purchased.

An interesting note here, items that state they are "vanilla flavored" are flavored with "Vanilan" a by-product of paper!

The Original Chocolate Company of Hawaii uses Hawaiian grown vanilla to flavor the cocoa beans grown on the island to make their chocolate and candies. All I can say is "Yum"