The Big Island

Aloha, Hawai’i!

I only had a few short days on the Big Island, but man were they great! First of all, inter-island travel is a breeze, surprisingly. Flying into O’ahu is pretty standard, but don’t worry about getting to another island. Just hop on a small jet, and you’ll be to the Big Island from Honolulu in less than an hour.

The most taxing parts of this trip were getting from the airport to our home base, since six of us and all our luggage had to be quite cozy for a few hours, but how can I complain if that was really the worst part of the trip! Once we got where we were going, I knew the trip would get good. We stayed in a tree house on the Eastern side of the island. Yes, you read that correctly: a treehouse. This was not your run-of-the-mill backyard treehouse though; it was amazing. A man named Sky had built it in a forrest area on the island. I mean, look at this thing–it was incredible! It was big enough to fit all six of us comfortably and had the coolest bathroom, with an open window wall and cedar planks in the shower that smelled amazing.

Our time on Hawai’i was short, but we still managed to get everything in. Our first stop: the grocery store. I will say, Hawaii is worth the trip, but things are definitely a little more expensive on all the islands; however, you will run into some interesting treats. I was terrified to see squid and octopus in plastic containers like we would have chicken in here in Tennessee. I didn’t try it, but I’m sure it’s not that bad.

Our first big adventure on the Big Island was the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. We travelled our first night to the Jagger Museum area. When weather is good, visitors can see the lava in the bottom of the Halema`uma`u crater, but of course it was a little too foggy to see, in Wilds family tradition. The next day, we travelled to the visitor center and got some maps for trails around the park. We decided to take the Kileau Iki Crater Trail off Crater Rim Drive. Also in Wilds family tradition, we had trouble finding the trail head, but once we did we started our trek. Holy cow, this was one of the coolest hikes I’ve ever done. You travel down the side of the crater through a new-growth jungle. This is pretty easy since it’s all downhill. Once you reach the base, you walk through the crater. Volcanic rock is dotted with olivite as you walk where lava once flowed. I highly recommend picking up the booklet with the numbered guide, as it gives you all the historical and geological information about where you’re walking.

Stacked rocks guide you to the other end of the crater. It gets a little tricky here: what goes down, must crawl back up tired and sweaty. The sun beats down on you some as you’re hiking across the crater, although it is relatively flat, but then you must go back up the side of the crater. This comes in a series of switchbacks, but once you get back up to the top, you get this awesome view down into the crater.

What a great start to this trip! This was a beautiful hike in another one of America’s beautiful National Parks. I didn’t think I could top this experience on this trip: but then I saw my first sea turtle.

I say that the sea turtle is my spirit animal, and I really believe that. In Hawaiian culture, the honu, or sea turtle, is a symbol of good luck and endurance (the green sea turtle is one of the oldest species still living on Earth today!). So when I saw my first sea turtle, I shed a tear or two. We drove down to Punaluʻu Beach, towards the Southern tip of the island. The amazing thing about this beach: the sand is black. The volcanic activity close to this beach causes the sand to be black instead of the normal white sand we are used to at beaches. Here, there is a special area where the protected green sea turtle basks in the sun. Seeing on of these creatures in real life was beautiful! The picture to the left is a little dark, but if you look in the bottom left corner, you will see the honu sun bathing in the black sand.

After spending a little time driving around, hanging in the treehouse and eating in the diner in the Volcanoes NP, our time on the Big Island came to an end. I definitely recommend seeing both of these beautiful places if you’re ever on Hawai’i!

We were sad to say goodbye, but it was time to say “Mahalo Hawai’i” and move onto Maui!