What's So Big About the Big Island?

We generally took it easy spending most of our time exploring the beaches or the roads.  We drove enough miles to circumnavigate the island over three times.  When walking found honua (green sea turtles) to be plentiful.

We attempted to scale (by car of course) Mauna Kea, the tallest volcano on Hawaii at 13,796 ft above sea level (33,500 ft from the mountain's base), on Sunday.  Unfortunately, 70+ mph winds on the summit forced its closure.  As a poor backup, we did some 4-wheelin' up to the observatory on Mauna Loa (the second tallest volcano on Hawaii at 13,676 ft).  It was a virtual moonscape with acre after acre of barren lava flows.  Following several hours of viewing lava flows, we needed some green so we drove to Hilo for an early dinner.  Hilo was a ghost town, probably due to the Super Bowl, but we found a nice "organic" restaurant where we had a healthy meal while watching some interesting locals.  Our drive home via the lush Hamakua coast offered a beautiful contrast to the lava flows earlier.
On Monday, Joni mustered up the courage to attempt some kayaking.  She proved to be plenty strong for rowing a few miles in Kealakekua Bay.  This is the bay where Captain James Cook, the great British explorer, was killed in 1779 and the site of some pretty good snorkeling.  We did not think of getting a picture of us in the kayak until we had returned so settled on a picture of Joni in dry dock.  To prove we really did kayak to the north side of Kealakekua Bay (the only way you can get there is to paddle, sail or swim the 1.5 miles), I have included an up close picture of the monument to Captain Cook raised by British sailors.  The land where the monument sits was granted to the U.K. by the Hawaiian Queen Likelike in 1877 and remains U.K. territory - right here in the 50th state of the U.S.A.

The next several days the winds blew quite hard across the islands raising the surf and making swimming and snorkeling challenging.  We visited a couple of parks (e.g., Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park where Joni added another National Park stamp to her new book)

A state park which protects the ruins of an ancient Hawaiian village (reportedly 600+ years old) on the Kohala coast was another interesting stop.  But we also saw the original statue of King Kamehameha in the northern Kohala town of Kapa'au and the southernmost point in the United States at the very windy southern tip of the Big Island.

And then it was, as they say in the islands, "Here today, gone to Maui!"