Back to the Big

April 26-28th I had a crazy weekend.  A friend of mine invited me to go see the Big Island earlier that week, but after trying to figure out flights, it just wasn't working out.  It wasn't until I got to work and most of my afternoon patients cancelled that I decided I was going to go. I literally bought my tickets at work, left work early, went home and packed, and called a cab to take me to the airport within about three hours.  

I met up with my friend Kahaili at the airport, and our adventure began!  We had a total marathon adventure that weekend.  We started by driving up the coast to Waimea and meeting up with Kahaili's cousin Kaika.  We partied it up at a disco-themed single's dance in Waimea with glow sticks and plenty of delicious food.  We then went to Kaika's house where we spent the night catching up with Kahaili's aunty.  What a wonderful, sweet family!  Hawaiians are amazing like that - they will literally open their home, and their heart to you.  

Saturday we were up early to go out for breakfast at Hawaiian Style Cafe.  I tried some delicious loco moco, and was completely stuffed which wasn't exactly ideal since our next activity was hiking.  We drove up to the north end of the island to Poiolu valley where we hiked down in to the black rock beach, then puffed our way back up the top.

View from the top.  This valley was steep enough that you can't see into it very well.

If one were motivated enough, there is an entire series of valleys you can hike into.  Just hike up the opposite side, then back down into the next valley.

This is Kaika.  Apparently this is what you do when you find a crab at the beach!

At the beach.  This is one of those unusual Hawaiian black beaches.  Pretty rough for swimming, but still gorgeous!

Sadly we didn't plan very well for our hike.  We didn't bring any water, so our first stop was a gas station to get gatorades and a huge water bottle.  After that we made a beach trip and spent a couple of hours swimming.  We also visited the site of an ancient Hawaiian temple, and took the time to check out a visitors museum about King Kamehameha.

That evening Kaika had to work, so Kahaili and I drove to Kona to go bowling with a friend of hers that we had run into at the single's dance.  That was a treat for me because I love to bowl, and there wasn't a bowling alley on Maui.

One of my big regrets the last time we visited the Big Island was we never saw any lava.  So this trip that became one of my focus points.  After poking around the internet, and making several phone calls, we managed to line up a sunrise volcano tour!  It was a bit of an adventure, since it was a two or three hour drive to get down to the recent flow.  So Kahaili, Kaika, and I drove to Hilo to spend the night at his aunty's so we could be up Sunday before the crack of dawn to meet with our tour.  I really think we only got maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep that night, but it was totally worth it!

Funny story, at the launch site there was more than one boat tour meeting up in the dark.  We very nearly climbed on with the wrong tour because there was another Brown registered!  Luckily we got things straightened out, and I was pleased to discover that instead of being packed onto a boat with twenty other people, we got our own private tour with just the three of us and the crew.  It was a blast to cruise around on the ocean, and absolutely amazing to see the lava flows!

Sunrise from the boat.  We had to drive about 30 minutes to get to the actual flow.

 I took an inordinate amount of pictures.  I couldn't believe how close we were able to get.  It was like being in a sauna with all the steam put off by the lava hitting the ocean.  Not to mention that the ocean temperature was drastically warmer.  I loved it!  It was a little bit eerie to see how the entire coastline had been remodeled, and entire homes, and villages had been overrun by lava flows in the past.

The first major flow we saw.  Incredible!!

Poor Kaika wasn't exactly doing so hot.  He had trouble with getting sea sick, so he was dosed with dramamine.  He was only slightly tipsy!

The lava tour was definitely the highlight of my trip.  The rest of Sunday was a bit of a haze for me due to my general lack of sleep.  After getting some breakfast in Hilo, we decided we would make a road trip around the entire island!  This was so fun because while site seeing we played all kinds of road games, and told jokes, and sang along to the radio, and imitated all kinds of accents.  I was so glad I got to do this trip with these two!

We headed back to Maui that evening, and it was back to work the next day.  Hooray!

Springtime

With my time winding down in Maui, I pretty much just spent the spring enjoying the beach and doing all the last things remaining on my list!

This definitely included enjoying the delicious food.

Caterpillar roll.  Yum yum.  Yep, sushi is one of my favs, and the fish just doesn't get more fresh than on an island!

Sea glass hunting with Sandy!

Searching for sea glass on the north shore.

Pretty sure I spent nearly every Sunday afternoon, and most Saturdays out on the beach.  A lot of the times on Saturdays my friend Sandy and I would go out early to get in some good snorkeling before the wind picked up and brought in the surf.  It was great fun, and I got a lot of use out of my sweet GoPro.  Most of the time we would be out till late in the afternoon, then head to Monkey Pod for happy hour, or get pulled pork sandwiches at the 808.

This is definitely my happy place.

We also went to First Friday a couple of times.  Every Friday of the month, one of the cities on the island would host a street fair.  The first week of the month was always in Wailuku, so we decided to check it out.  Basically they shut down the main street, and there are all kinds of vendors, bands, and delicious local food stands lining the road.  So fun!

Between work and beach Sundays, I managed to go see all kinds of fun movies, and get somewhat addicted to spam.  All in all, a pretty exciting spring for me.