Island Hopping in Hawaii - The Big Island
Feature by Lizzie Guilfoyle
HAWAII, or the Big Island as it’s more commonly known to avoid confusion with the state name, is twice the size of all the other islands put together and it’s still growing, courtesy of Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes.
Kilauea is, however, just one of the island’s five volcanoes – along with the extinct Kohala; Haulalai, which last erupted in 1801; Mauna Kea, dormant now for 4,500 years; and Mauna Loa, which last erupted in 1975.
Unfortunately, my visit to the Volcanoes National Park in the year 2000 coincided with a period of relative quiet. For although the eruption of Kilauea that had begun so spectacularly in 1982 continued on a much reduced scale at the remote Pu’u O’o vent, a distant plume of smoke was all I saw of it.
I did, however, walk on petrified lava – a thick black crust that stretched as far as the eye could see; desolate and windswept and strangely beautiful; a stark reminder of the awesome power of nature. I also watched as clouds formed and completely obscured the well-defined rim of Kilauea’s crater.
Later, deep in the rainforest, in a landscape as lush and luxuriant as the lava fields were barren and bleak, I walked through a lava tube. Surprisingly big – big enough for a man of average height to negotiate without bending – it was difficult to imagine it once filled with molten lava. A black sand beach provided yet more evidence of volcanic activity. It also presented me with the first of two encounters with the island’s wildlife – green turtles, until my arrival, the only occupants of the beach.
The second was with three spinner dolphins that swam for almost an hour at the bow of the boat upon which I was wining and dining – which meant, of course, that the Polynesian entertainment, colourful and absorbing as it most certainly was, was instantly forgotten with the arrival of these beautiful uninvited guests.
My visit to the Big Island was actually the mid-point of an Hawaiian Islands tour, which could well be the reason I was so easily seduced by the sun, sea and sand of the small resort of Kailua-Kona on the leeward (or sheltered side) of the island. I admit, I spent an entire day doing virtually nothing. But why not, I was on holiday and Hawaii is, after all, a virtual paradise….
The Big Island does, however, have much to entice visitors away from such unaccustomed delights; not least the Hamakua Coast. You can drive from the capital Hilo (on the opposite side of the island) to the Waipio Valley Lookout and be rewarded with one of the most beautiful views in all Hawaii. And along the way, valleys will tempt you with lush rainforest and sparkling waterfalls, like the 420-foot Akaka Falls.
It was here, on the Big Island, that Kamehameha the Great was born. Hawaii’s greatest leader, he united the islands and, in 1795, became their first king. He also died here although his buriel site remains a secret – to prevent anyone from drawing on his mana (power) by taking his bones, teeth or hair.
It was here too, in 1779, that Captain Cook met his violent and bloody death, witnessed by Kamehameha who was himself wounded by British gunfire. A white monument marks the spot – at Kealakekua Bay to the south of Kailua. It’s a lonely, inaccessible spot but one of great historical significance nonetheless.
The Big Island is, of course, also home to Pele, ‘the goddess of fire, maker of mountains, melter of rocks and devourer of forests’ – a creator as well as a destroyer. According to legend, each time she made her home in the crater of an island she had created, the goddess of the sea drove her out. Eventually, she made her biggest and deepest volcano home and there she remains……
Finally, Hawaii is an island of flowers and most notable perhaps is the lehua blossom of the ohia trees. But beware: if you pick the bright red blossom, it will rain – not ordinary rain but the tears of the princess Lehua weeping for her lost love, the commoner Ohia, lovers brought together as blossom and tree by a kindhearted god – or so legend has it.
As well as wild flowers, there are orchid nurseries where these lovely exotic blooms are on display, making it easy to see why they’re so widely used in the creation of leis – the flower garlands that welcome visitors to the islands.
The Big Island is indeed everything you’d expect from a tropical island. It’s also very different……