Archive for Cycling Hawaii's Big Island, Jan 2008
Last post on the Big Island
Well, I’m home again. I’ve had a wonderful three weeks cycling Hawaii’s Big Island. It really is a big place. It is a great place to to bike and to camp, too. I’d like to visit the island again someday. Thank you to all of the helpful, friendly people I met while on my tour. And, thank you everyone for reading about my adventures. I hope to either see or connect with you all soon. I look forward to it! Shaka.
South Island: Punalu’u and Ho’okena
Lucky for me, the rain petered out about 10 km and 500 metres lower, down, out of Volcanoes National Park. Since I wasn’t feeling well, I biked only a short distance to a black sand beach, called Punalu’u. What makes black sand special, you say? Well, they’re unique to young active volcanic islands, like Hawaii’s Big Island. When lava enters the sea, it often hardens and shatters into sand-size particles on contact with the water, creating “black sand” beaches. Here’s Punalu’u beach.
The other cool thing about Punalu’u are turtles. They come up onto this beach often because it’s black sands are extra warm which is I guess is mana for sea turtles.
I left Punalu’u the next day, because the rain clouds were still looking a little threatening. I headed back to the “dry” side of the island. The changeover was dramatic again, similar to what I’d encountered on my ride through Waimea, on the northern part of the island. The clouds thinned out and the trees too. Dry, scrubby lava appeared again. Aparently, the south part of the island is the cheapest real-estate in Hawaii, because of the impending threat of eruption from Mauna Loa. Geologists predict that Mauna Loa could go “anytime”, which geologically speaking could mean tomorrow or a thousand years from. If you’re a gambling type, you can get some prime ocean-view real-estate here. Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984.
My last campground before I head home is Ho’okena. It was a pretty spot albeit a little crowded with the loud car radio crowd. I could pitch my tent right on the beach. Here’s the view from tent. I swam in light blue warm water, a perfect remedy my cold. I also walked over to an ancient Hawaiian place of refuge, or Pu’uhonau o Honaunau (my spelling may be a little off). Hawaiian chiefs of ali’i lived here. It’s a very calming place, also a nice remedy for my cold.
Volcano!
o’hiaAgain, it’s been a while since the last post. And so much has happened! I left Hilo town last Wednesday, climbing — wait for it — 1,200 metres to Volcanoes National Park. Perhaps this is a mere mole hill for avid cyclists, but it was an achievement for me. Phew. I was very happy when that ride was over. The best parts of the long long slog uphill were a couple of funny little wooden signs someone had put up along the way. I don’t know who they were meant for but they were welcome little mental boosters for me. One said “Aloha!”, that’s all. Here’s the other which I saw at a little over halfway up:
Here’s my bike at 3,500 feet (which is over 1,000 metres)
The national park is a pretty cool place. It covers the area of Kiluaea, the world’s most active volcano. One of it’s vents, Pu’u O’o, has been erupting almost constantly since 1983. Remember those subdivisions I told you about where lava ran right over the roads and some houses? Well, that lava came from Pu’u O’o. The flow direction changes periodically. I’d hoped to be able to see it during my visit to the park but when I was there, active lava flows were pretty much out of reach of all trails and roads (which I guess is kinda of a good thing, for Hawaiians at least). I did see some other pretty cool stuff, like Kiluaea iki caldera, which apparently was a seething lake of lava in 1959. Yup, that’s me standing next to some steam vents. The same hike took me through some beautiful native Hawaiian rainforest too. Pretty, eh? At the park’s visitor centre I learned that 90% of Hawaii’s plants and animals are endemic to the islands. They’re found nowhere else on earth. Here’s one such plant, called o’hia. It’s a flowering tree that I see growing everywhere. Of course, lots of plants have been introduced to the islands, like avocado and poinsettas and guava, which incidently grow like weeds here. I’ve seen countless avocados lying alongside road shoulders here. Poinsettas grow bush-size here and I’ve seen folks weed-wacker them.
Unfortunately, I only had only had one nice day of weather at Volcanoes. The next day I’d planned to explore the park more but it rained most of the day and I also got a cold. I decided to leave a little earlier than I’d expected, to get out of the rain and get over my cold.
North Kohala and Mauna Kea
I took a bit of time away from the bike and rented a car. I wanted to see an area on the far north of Hawaii, called North Kohala. I also wanted to visit the top of Mauna Kea, the largest of Hawaii’s volcanoes, at just over 4,000 metres. I stayed in a campground called Mahukona for two days.
I visited an interesting little town called Hawi and made a new friend, Hawi dog
My campsite was also visited somewhat regularly by semi-wild cats. Check out this fellow, handsome
The current header image was my view from the tent. (Sorry for the crooked horizon line.) It showered here and there at times which created some amazing rainbows. I could also humpback whales, but they were too far away for me to take a nice photo.
Here are some views from Mauna Kea, shortly before sunset:
cinder cone at Mauna Kea summit
I saw the sunset and a full moon rise but unfortunately the camera’s batteries died. Oh well, I won’t forget what it looked like. Visiting the summit was an truly amazing experience. The stars were so clear (which is why all of those telescopes are up there) and the place felt special. Ancient Hawaiians use to hike up here because they believed this is where their gods lived. Here are some little yellow flowers that grow at 3,000 metres. Can you tell me they are?
On my way to North Kohala, I stopped to see Akaka falls
And, I also hiked in a beautiful valley, called Polulu.
Flowers in Polulu Valley — green ones and red ones
What are they?
Thanks again for the comments! Tomorrow, I go to Volcanoes National Park. I hope to see this Pu’u O’o vent, the sources of the current eruption.
Puna
From Hilo, I cycled Puna, an area in the south-east area of the island. It was a great ride! Most of it was along the coast:
Puna coast, with 1955 lava flow shoreline
This part of the island is in high danger of being covered by future lava flows from the current eruption of Kilauea volcano. The active vent, Pu’u O’o is only about 20km away from most of this region. I saw subdivisions where lava had gone right over the roads. People still lived in some of the houses! I also stood on a beach that was younger than me:
Kaimu beach, formed during a 1990 lava flow
This 1990 flow also completely destroyed an old Hawaiian town and a newer subdivision.
Puna also has hot springs, right next to the sea. I dipped my toes in this one:
