Tuesday, May 24, 2022 (Our Trip to Kailua-Kona, Big Island, Hawaii - PART 3)

As usual, Steve and I were awake early Tuesday morning, so I went downstairs and put the coffee on. When it was ready we sat outside on the small deck off the loft enjoying our morning coffee and view...

A few hours later we were all ready to head off. Steve found a gecko on the edge of the bin as he took the garbage out...they really are colorful little guys...

As we were leaving, I realized that we really hadn't taken any pictures of the interior of our condo, so Steve snapped one quick picture of the main living area...the kitchen is to the left...

After dropping the keys off at the office, we were back on highway 11 heading to Volcanoes National Park...

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, this morning we are driving the Chain of Craters Road to the very end...just shy of 22 miles. Of course, we stopped many times along the way.

Our first stop was at the Keauhou Trail trailhead...Explore this 24.5-km out-and-back trail near Volcano, Hawaii. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 7 h 24 min to complete. This is a popular trail for hiking, but you can still enjoy some solitude during quieter times of day. You'll need to leave pups at home — dogs aren't allowed on this trail.

From what we could see there is no visible trail, so it's marked with lava rock cairns. A long hike across lava fields with the heat and humidity would be a real workout!

(Click on photo to enlarge)

No, we won't be hiking that today! But it was an interesting area...absolutely amazing how the plant life manages to grow in the lava fields...

Another pullout along the road...

From where we came...

...to where we're headed...

Kealakomo Overlook...

From Kealakomo Overlook you can have a panoramic vista of the Pacific Ocean and the vast lava field that covered portions of the ancient village of Kealakomo. 

Kealakomo was a village on the coast, most likely destroyed and abandoned after the 1868 earthquake and tsunami, then buried by the Maunaulu flows of 1969-1974. The Maunaulu flows created approximately 210 acres of new land. Both ʻa'ā and pāhoehoe flows can be seen from this overlook. The jagged ‘a‘ā lava flows below appear as dull black while the smooth pāhoehoe lava flows appear as silver-grey.

The ocean just blends in with the sky...

Down we go as our total descent to sea level today is 1219 m/4000 ft!

As we got closer to the end of the road it began to rain...great! Btu by the time we got parked and had a bathroom break the rain stopped...yah! The road we walked  to see Holei Sea Arch used to continue on but is now blocked by lava flows.

Hōlei Sea Arch is a 90-foot (27-meter)-high natural arch located in Hawaii, on the southern coast of the Big Island, south of Kīlauea. This rock formation was born from marine erosion, in which the waves of the Pacific Ocean create this natural bridge of lava cliffs. The arch is made of basalt. It takes its name from the Hōlei Pali, the escarpment located up on the slopes of the volcano.

Look how high those waves are crashing up against the cliffs...

An old coconut palm plantation...

Looking back from where we descended...

We had passed the trailhead to Pu'uloa Petroglyphs, deciding to stop on our way back for the hike to check it out. 

It says the Pu'u Loa Trail to the petroglyphs is .7 mile...but it sure seemed longer than that! And we're off!

Lava rock cairns mark our way...

There are some pretty interesting designs in the lava...

Made it!

There are over 23,000 petroglyphs in the area!

Apparently after a baby was born the mother would place part of the umbilical cord (piko) into a hole in the lava, and there were a lot of holes... 

It was nice getting out for a hike but, we were glad to get back to the air-conditioned car! Now the drive back up the hill...

We drove back up Chain of Craters Road, and upon exiting the Park, we turned right and continued on highway 11 to Hilo. At this point, we were all hungry and craving hamburgers so after some research, we settled on Ola Brewing (actually it was our second choice but Hilo Burger Joint was difficult to find and when we did, there was no convenient parking). Ola Brewing fit the bill though, and we all enjoyed burgers and beer! For a change, no pictures were taken...except this one that Leslie took. She was originally just taking a picture of the Ola coaster then told me to smile...LOL!

Our drive back to Kona took us up almost 2,072 m/6,800 ft just below Mt. Mauna Kea on highway 200 where we ran into fog and rain...

What a great couple of days touring the southern part of the Big Island! This is the route we took today...

Another fabulous day comes to an end...

Down to the pool to get a better view...

That was a busy couple of days and a lot of driving, so I think we'll take tomorrow off...but we still have lots to see! Stay tuned!