Monday, May 23, 2022 (Our Trip to Kailua-Kona, Big Island, Hawaii - PART 2)

Monday morning we all packed overnight bags, along with a cooler bag of food and headed off to explore the southern most part of The Big Island, including Volcanoes National Park. To have more time in that area, I booked a condo at Sea Mountain, another resort that is part of VI.

We headed south on highway 11, with our GyPSie Guide again, narrating our tour as we passed any areas of significance...and there were plenty! Although the highway runs along the coastline, it is up high. We stopped at a pull-out to take in the view...what a beautiful piece of property this is! There are wild goats all over the island and they seem to like to feed mostly along the shoulders of highways and roadways so you really have to be careful when driving.

We stopped next to a macadamia orchard...

Not ready for picking yet...

We stopped at a viewpoint...

(Click on photo to enlarge)

In the distance is Ka Lae, the southernmost part of Hawaii...

Beautiful flowering trees...

Our GyPSie Guide recommended a stop at the Punalu'u Bake Shop...Welcoming over 200,000 visitors from near and far every year, our bake shop is the most visited bakery in the state of Hawaiʻi. Located on Mamalahoa Highway (Route 11) in the town of Na‘alehu, midway between Kailua-Kona and Volcanoes National Park, our visitor center is a must-stop! You know you’re close when you smell the sweet aroma of our world-famous sweet bread, malasadas, and baked goods.

Well alrighty then! A snack would be nice right about now! It was a busy spot with a number of tour vans stopped but the line-up for the bakery items wasn't too bad. We picked our goodies (can't remember exactly what we had but they were definitely decadent and yummy!) and ate them in the shade by the car.

Haleokane Lookout...spectacular scenery!

We left highway 11, taking Ninole Loop Road going to Punalu'u Black Sand Beach...

Punaluʻu beach is the most famous black sand beach of Hawaii. Two reasons for the popularity of this beach are the gorgeous black sand beach *and* the fact that you can often see endangered Hawksbill turtles and green turtles basking in the sun on the beach.

We actually passed Sea Mountain where we are staying tonight, but thought we'd check out the black sand beach now since we don't know how long we will be at Volcanoes NP.

Me and Leslie on the far left catching up to Dave left of center standing near the shoreline...

Looking to the right of the inlet...

A short 28 second video...

Steve eventually joined us for a selfie...

From here we continued along Ninole Loop Road back to highway 11 and Volcanoes National Park. After paying $30 for the 7 day park entrance (fee per vehicle), we stopped at the Kīlauea Visitor Center to get our bearings and pick up a park map. We also managed to catch a talk from one of the Rangers about the best spot to see the eruption...Devastation Trail. So we hopped back in the car and drove to the trailhead. 

We found this map interesting as it shows the lay of the land and the circled area is Volcanoes National Park. The Mauna Kea Volcano in the distance is 4,205 m/13,796 ft high. As a preview of tomorrows tour of the island we'll take highway 200 which runs along the base of Mauna Kea from Hilo (at sea level) to Kailua-Kona reaching an elevation of almost 2072m/6800ft! 

As far as I can tell, the actual "Devastation Trail" that goes off the parking lot is closed, instead you are directed to walk on Old Crater Rim Drive. Obviously a lot has changed with the recent eruption. Just glad we heard the Ranger's talk about where to go for the best views...

Panoramic view as we near the crater...

Signs direct us off the road and onto a gravel, roped off trail....

Kilauea volcano, on the Big Island of Hawaii, is currently erupting at its summit - flooding the floor of Halemaumau Crater with fresh lava flows. The latest eruption started about 20 minutes after 3 p.m. Wednesday - September 29, 2021; currently, all lava is confined within the crater. The eruption came after a day of increased earthquake activity at the volcano and summit.

Thankfully the sulfuric smoke is being blown away from the viewpoint...

Occasionally you could see a reddish glow to the smoke coming out where the white smoke is on the centre-left of this picture... 

A closer look....

With a limited viewing area, we left so others could have a chance to see it. Back up to the road, we continued walking...until the road was closed.

Keanakākoʻi Crater...

Keanakākoʻi, meaning "cave of the adzes", likely formed during the 1400s, during the great summit collapses of Kīlauea. Until 1877, Hawaiian kahuna kākoʻi (carving experts) sought the crater's superior and rare basaltic rock for making koʻi, or adze heads. Bound to a sturdy ʻau koʻi (wooden handle), this valuable tool was used to carve vital objects like canoes and houses. But the famous adze quarry was covered by lava, first in 1877, and again during the fissure eruption in July 1974. Today, the crater is 115 feet deep.

The park closed portions of Crater Rim Drive for public safety after Halemaʻumaʻu began to erupt in March 2008. During the summit collapses of 2018, the road was damaged further. A portion of Old Crater Rim Drive is now open to foot and bicycle traffic to a point just beyond Keanakākoʻi.

 After a hot walk, we were glad to get back into the air-conditioned car. We drove a little ways along Chain of Craters Drive but decided to turn around and do the rest of that drive tomorrow...it's about 20 miles to the coast and the end of the road. We stopped to take a look at another crater.

Some of the lava fields look like buckled asphalt parking lots...

We drove back on Crater Rim Drive to the other side of crater. We stopped for a look at the Steam Vents...At Wahinekapu (Steaming Bluff), you can feel hot water vapor as it billows from the ground in steam vents. This striking phenomenon is created as ground water seeps down to rocks heated by magma deep underground. The rocks are so hot that it vaporizes the water, returning it to the surface as steam.

The views of the crater are quite distant from this side...

Viewing into a steam vent...

It seems to be a wishing steam vent with all the coins...

Another steam vent in the distance...

Looking directly across towards the viewpoint we came from...

Panoramic view...

And that concludes our tour of Volcanoes National Park for today! One more stop as we head back along highway 11 to Sea Mountain in Pahahla....Vol+cano Winery...

Ancient Hawaiians visited the Keauhou ili to retrieve canoe logs, gather feathers to use in feather capes for high ranking Ali’I and to worship Pele. Because of its close proximity to Kilauea caldera, Keauhou was traditionally an area of significant cultural value. The area is part of the traditions that involve the foundations of Hawaiian creation. After the Great Mahele land division of 1843 foreigners acquired land and began western agricultural businesses in the area. By 1860 ranching began to gain momentum and was the main land use in the area. Although ranching still occurs in the surrounding area the 64-acre winery parcel became available in 1985 and original owner Doc McKinney started Volcano Winery in 1986.

Fantastic volcano photos adorn the walls...

We picked out a couple of bottles of red wine and were on our way to Sea Mountain. It is in a very secluded and remote area and guests are told to do their grocery shopping in either Kona or Hilo before coming. We brought enough provisions for dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning, since we are only staying the one night. Here is a bit of info they said about the resort..."It is very easy to get lost on your way to Sea Mountain, especially if you are traveling at night. It is very dark, the street signs are small, not easily visible and the area is not well lit." It was still daylight when we arrived just after 4:00. We checked in with two very friendly ladies in the office who gave us directions to our condo. 

The condo was very nice, with one bedroom and bathroom on the main floor and a loft with with bed and bathroom upstairs. One thing we forgot to mention about the other condo is there is a $10 a day charge to use the one portable air conditioner in the unit which happens to be in main bedroom (there's a lock on the cord plug.) Here there was no charge and it is in the living room. 

The view from the small deck off the loft...

Time for bevie on the lanai...

Leslie and Dave were in the kitchen preparing dinner when I said I was taking a picture of the "happy cooks"...this is the pose they gave me! 😂

Our route today...

After dinner, we all relaxed watching a little TV and then called it a night. Tomorrow we continue with our tour of Volcanoes National Park and then the drive to Hilo...and back to Kona.