Cathy & Jan's Travels: Our Exploring Trip to Hawaii

Kilauea volcano lava lake at night (on the Big Island)

In March, after spending 2 months in the Houston area, we went to our daughter’s home in McKinney, TX (north of Dallas). While there we took our long anticipated first trip to Hawaii. Instead of taking the traditional Hawaiian vacation trip (going to the beach), we went on our usual exploring type trip. We packed light (no checked baggage) and took off on a 20 day visit to 6 of the Hawaiian islands. We stayed in B&Bs (instead of resort hotels), only went on 2 tours, did not take swim suits, and rented a car on each island (except 1) to drive around and see as much of each island as possible. Of course we sought out lighthouses and managed to photo all 8 of the major lighthouses plus 12 of what are called minor lights. In addition we visited all 7 National Park sites (including Pearl Harbor) scattered around the islands plus visited some National Wildlife Refuges.

First, a few notes about Hawaii. There are 8 ‘main’ islands plus many small ones, atolls, etc. You can only visit 6 of the islands: Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and Hawaii (referred to as ‘The Big Island’). One of the other 2 islands is very private and no one lives on the other small one. The only way to get between the islands is by plane (except there is a people only ferry between Maui and Lanai). Each island was formed by volcanoes coming from the bottom of the ocean. When each volcano goes dormant, that island gradually erodes away over millions of years and sinks back into the ocean. Islands have been formed from the north to the south (Kauai is the oldest and northernmost) and The Big Island is the southernmost (the newest and has the only active volcano). There is another island forming by the volcano Loihi underneath the ocean to the south of The Big Island. The prevailing winds are from the northeast, so the eastern side of each island gets lots of rain (well over 100 inches per year in many places), then the tall volcano (mountain) blocks the rain and the western side of each island is typically very dry (maybe just 10 to 20 inches per year).

After landing in Honolulu on our flight from Dallas, we drove around the island of Oahu seeing 4 great lighthouses and visiting Pearl Harbor (Arizona Memorial). This island is where most of the people live and driving in Honolulu can be very difficult to say the least with an Interstate Highway (between what 2 states you might ask?), traffic jams, and multiple military installations that one can easily end up driving into and then having to turn around (we did this 3 times). The Waikiki Beach area is way over touristy. Overall, this was our least favorite island.

While on Oahu we took a round trip day flight tour to Kalaupapa National Historic Site on the island of Molokai. Kalaupapa is on a beautiful peninsula that is at the bottom of huge sea cliffs and is isolated from the rest of the island. Leprosy was such a feared disease, that everyone that contracted it was quarantined here in the 1800’s where they were not given the best care. Then in 1873 Father Damien (and later Mother Marriane in 1888) came to provide the much needed care that they needed. Note: Both Father Damien and Mother Marriane have subsequently been declared saints for their work here. Leprosy still exists, can only be contracted by those with certain genes, and can be cured by the antibiotics dapsone, rifampicin, and clofazimine. Some of the former patients and families still live here. The only way to visit here is to sign up for a tour and either fly in or hike or ride mules down the sea cliffs (of course, we took the easy way and flew in). This very memorable tour was ‘on Hawaiian time’ and everything was at a very slow pace (they even advised us to take a book to read while we waited for the old school bus to arrive etc.).

After leaving Oahu, we flew onto the beautiful island of Kauai which is referred to as the garden island. After driving to Waimea Canyon (referred to the Grand Canyon of the Pacific), visiting the beautiful Kilauea Point lighthouse and National Wildlife Refuge, and seeing the north shore area, we thoroughly enjoyed a fantastic flight over the island on a Blue Hawaiian helicopter with a native born pilot giving a great narration. Since over 70% of the island is inaccessible, this is the only way to really see what a beautiful place this is. We flew over Waimea Canyon, the northern Pali cliffs/coastline, and flew into the caldera of Mount Wai’ale’ale which gets over 450 inches of rain a year. We can’t think of anyplace else that is as lush and green as this place is. This definitely was the highlight of our trip.

Then it was on to the island of Maui (which to a lot of people is the best island to go to since it is not as crowded as Oahu and there are so many things to do here). In addition to our seeking out lighthouses, we got up very early one morning (to beat the crowds) and drove the Hana Highway (southeastern coast of Maui). This drive lived up to its billing for the numerous curves, narrow one lane bridges, very lush green growth, and many waterfalls. After reaching Hana, we continued on and stopped at the gravesite of Charles Lindbergh. On another day, in mid-morning we drove from sea level up to the top of Haleakala at over 10,000 feet in Haleakala National Park. We just couldn’t get ourselves up at 3:30 in the morning to drive up and see sunrise at the top (which is supposedly one of the things ‘you must do’). It was still very beautiful in late morning and we saw the unusual silver sword plant that only grows here. While on Maui, we did succumb to one of the ‘must do’ Hawaiian activities and enjoyed a luau in Lahaina.

While on Maui, we took a day trip from Lahaina on the west coast to the island of Lanai via ferry. This island used to be a large pineapple plantation, but there is very little there today and the island is pretty desolate. There are only 2 resorts (currently being remodeled) plus the small community of Lanai City in the center (population of the island is 3,200). There are very few paved roads so we rented a Jeep and drove to see Shipwreck Beach and The Garden of the Gods. This is one of those places where we can say that we enjoyed our visit, glad that we came, but we see no reason for us to ever go back.

Then it was on to The Big Island (all of the other islands could easily fit into this one). We flew into the Hilo airport on the east coast, rented a car, then immediately took the Saddle Road (between the 2 mountains) to the west coast where we stayed for 3 days visiting 3 National Park sites and driving thru cattle ranching country on the northern part of the island. We then drove to the southernmost point in the US (of course there is a lighthouse there) and on to the community of Volcano where we stayed for 3 days. This is very close to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. While in the park, we drove thru multiple lava flows, saw petroglyphs, and walked thru a lava tube. We were extremely fortunate to be there when the lava lake raised up high enough to where we could see it from the viewing area (usually all you can see is a steam cloud in the daytime and a glow at night). This is the first time that this has happened since 2008.

Finally, it was time to return to Hilo for our return flight to Oahu and then our flight back to Texas. We feel very fortunate to have been able to see so much of the islands and to experience how unique each one is. And it was a great way to finally reach our goal of visiting all 50 states in the USA.

Hope all of you are doing well.