Monday, February 27, 2006
Honolulu to Hilo: Friday, February 24
Our flight from Honolulu to the Big Island on Aloha Airlines offered spectacular views of southeast Oahu, Molokai, and all of Maui. Recent heavy rains had washed lots of red soil down the southern flank of the Molokai pali, producing very colorful ocean waters. The cloud-fringed flank of Haleakala was a spectacular sight. Below are some aerial images of Diamondhead on Oahu and of Maui.
Hilo is on the windward side of the Big Island. Naturally, it was raining as we arrived at the little international airport. We’d reserved a Jeep Wrangler, thinking we’d eventually need a 4WD vehicle to traverse the Saddle Road that runs across the high pass between Hilo and the Kona coast, but after driving it 20 miles along the coast we found that the stiff suspension, lack of lumbar support in the seats, and inadequate space (and lack of protection) for luggage necessitated a change in vehicle. After fighting the Dollar Rental Car telephone system for 20 minutes via cell phone, we drove back to the airport and persuaded a lovely Dollar agent to place us in a real car with genuine upholstery and a trunk for luggage.
Hilo is a small, funky town with a row of hotels along its waterfront and a small but lively downtown area of older stores, restaurants, and theaters. The landscape is extremely verdant, since this is one of the wettest spots in the Hawaiian Islands. We visited a small state park north of town and then walked in Liliokalane Park and Coconut Island near our hotel (the Hilo Hawaiian). Once there were many small shops in this area, but they were destroyed by storm-surges or tsunamis during the 20th century and the water-front area has been converted to parkland. A small breakwater protects the harbor, which is visited by large cruise-ships during the day. We did not have good internet access in our hotel, and we had limited facilities for food preparation, so we ate out both nights.
On Friday I saw a black-crowned night heron in Liliokalane Park, along with many Pacific Golden Plovers, and on Coconut Island I saw several Ruddy Turnstones and the first of several Wandering Tattlers!
Hilo is on the windward side of the Big Island. Naturally, it was raining as we arrived at the little international airport. We’d reserved a Jeep Wrangler, thinking we’d eventually need a 4WD vehicle to traverse the Saddle Road that runs across the high pass between Hilo and the Kona coast, but after driving it 20 miles along the coast we found that the stiff suspension, lack of lumbar support in the seats, and inadequate space (and lack of protection) for luggage necessitated a change in vehicle. After fighting the Dollar Rental Car telephone system for 20 minutes via cell phone, we drove back to the airport and persuaded a lovely Dollar agent to place us in a real car with genuine upholstery and a trunk for luggage.
Hilo is a small, funky town with a row of hotels along its waterfront and a small but lively downtown area of older stores, restaurants, and theaters. The landscape is extremely verdant, since this is one of the wettest spots in the Hawaiian Islands. We visited a small state park north of town and then walked in Liliokalane Park and Coconut Island near our hotel (the Hilo Hawaiian). Once there were many small shops in this area, but they were destroyed by storm-surges or tsunamis during the 20th century and the water-front area has been converted to parkland. A small breakwater protects the harbor, which is visited by large cruise-ships during the day. We did not have good internet access in our hotel, and we had limited facilities for food preparation, so we ate out both nights.
On Friday I saw a black-crowned night heron in Liliokalane Park, along with many Pacific Golden Plovers, and on Coconut Island I saw several Ruddy Turnstones and the first of several Wandering Tattlers!
# posted by Ken @ 2:08 AM 
