Destination: Big Island

Yes, you all have guessed it.  Big Island is where we went.  Somehow I am so in the island mood that even after coming back for a week, I still felt too lazy to do anything.  There is so much do in the island so I felt I was squeeze out of my relaxing beach time.  

Lisa had said it all in the comment.  The most interesting thing about big island comparing to the rest of the Hawaii island I had been to is to drive through the vegetation and weather changes when you went around the island.  It went from lava field to sandy beach to meadows to tropical forest to desert and some even resembles what I see at the forest of Oregon and farms and ranches of Midwest.   You know how in movies when they try to demonstrate time passing by, you see that fast forward scenery and weather pattern changes, you get that same feeling driving around the islands.




Here are some favorite experiences:

• Hiking through the lava field.  The hike started green like a rain forest, then it descends to the bottom of the lava crater.

Think it is flat? It could be strenuous for the little one.  My daughter didn't whine much like she normally does in a hike.  She somehow took the word "sleeping volcano" literally and thought her cries might wake the volcano up.  It wouldn't be good if the volcano start erupting during our hike, would it?  We just took advantage of that and didn't correct her.  Bad parents, I know.

• Viewing turtles at the shore.  I don't know what is it.  You see turtle at the aquarium and somehow it doesn't give the same excitement.

• Waiting for sunset at the beach

• Walking in the rain forest

• Chasing the waterfall

• Watching the moon through a telescope at Mauna Kea visitor center.   I put my camera lens over the telescope lens and got this photo.  A bit blurry but I still think it is pretty cool.

•  Feeling the wind at south point.  The wind is so strong that all the trees grew sideways.

• Looking at exotic tropical flowers. 

• Waipo valley look out. I wish I have a 4 wheel drive to go down there.

• Eating locally made ice-cream. We accidentally discover this little ice cream parlor because we just wanted a place to sit during the parade and it was hot that day. Once I try it, I was so hooked. I had to go back to the same ice-cream shop for the same flavor of "volcano" and "dark chocolate macadamia nuts".  First one is a banana flavor with chocolate chip. Second one was so chucky you get the nuts in every bite. Yum.... 

• Looking at fishes and sea urchins and little crabs early in the morning without a snorkel.  Too bad I didn't have a camera with me.

• And last, but not least: Taking outfit pictures, pretending you are in a Anthropologie catelog, haha :-)