This view! Amazing! I was not even scared! We flew out of Maui, the lush green island, on board a 9 seat plane. Now that is what I call moving towards more exciting adventures!
We booked these tickets through
Mokulele Airlines, and loved every minute of it!However, about two days after I did book, Chris sent me an article about one of their planes making an emergency landing on the road to Hana! So I immediately began to worry about our flight. In the end, there was nothing to worry about as it was simply great. Plus, I was too busy taking photos to be worried!
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| The "airport" ! Love it! |
This flight allowed us to all see magnificent views of Maui, the ocean and Hawaii. We would certainly take this flight another time.
After landing at Kona International Airport, we first stopped at Safeway for some groceries. Then we headed up the highway to Mauni Lani, the community which was to be our home for the next week. And,Uncle Corey and Aunt Mel were meeting us there! They had flown in from a fabulous time on the Hawaiian island of
Kauai.
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| Chris & Corey snorkeling off the Beach Club beach. |
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| Mel and Amyah cooling off. |
We spent most mornings at the above beach, at the resort's beach club. This beach was lovely, sheltered, and had great beach chairs!We did not really spend any time at another beach as this one was just so nice. However, I am sure on another trip, someday, we will venture out and check out some others.
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| Max cooling off in the shade with a snack of Goldfish. |
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| Chris doing a bit of work on the beach. |
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| Amyah and Chris out snorkeling and looking for the turtle Corey had spied earlier. |
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| Beach club restaurant behind Chris. They had YUMMY nachos. |
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| Corey busy taking pics of us in the ocean. |
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| Max making a river to the ocean. |
Our afternoons were passed with lazy and fun times around the pool. We also had time for reading, games and enjoying snacks and smoothies!
This is the front of the house we were staying in, and it also backed on to a golf course. A grocery store was a short walk from the house as well. However, to get to the beach club we did drive as it would have been a bit of a hike, especially with all our stuff!
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| There were lots of walls made from volcanic rock, as it is in abundance here. |
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At the beach club was a walkway, along the ocean front plus ponds with fish and small black crabs. We assume the crabs had adapted their colour over time to match the black volcanic rock. It was a great place for the kids to explore. We also saw eels and some other fish being fed which was a quite a violent event. The fish and eels were so aggressive for the food.
Since this is the "newest" Hawaiian island, one is literally surrounded by volcanic rock. And, there is volcanic activity still ongoing. So, we did make a day trip over to
Hawaii's Volcano National Park.
We always enjoy driving around a new country or state. For this trip we set off on the Saddle Back road which goes right across the island, over to Hilo. It has been redone in the past three years and was a great way to get to the other side of Hawaii. It was also a scenic drive.
Once we arrived there was A LOT of volcano and volcanic rock to see! We had a fabulous day there. It was well worth the drive over!
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| Steam Vents around the active Kīlauea Volcano |
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| Chris and Amyah by a steam vent. |
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| Off on some small but scenic hikes. |
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| The crater in the background. |
Besides visiting this crater and the impressive Jaggar Museum we drove the crater's rim. We also visited the lava tubes, and drove the Chain of Craters Road. By the end of the day, we had become volcano experts!
We did notice a lot more vegetation around this area compared to the newer lava flow area in which we were staying for the week. The Earth never seizes to amaze!
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| A road was made through part of a lava flow. |
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| Closer view of the crater. At night sometimes one can spot molten lava under the surface in these cracks. |
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| An eerily cool lava tube. |
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| Entrance to a lava tube. |
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| Strong kids! ;) |
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| In 2003, a lava flow actually flowed down and across the highway and in to the Pacific! |
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| We were always amazed how the volcanic rock, flow... what have you, could vary. |
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| A cool arch made by lava too. |
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| Chris putting things in perspective. |
Here are more snaps from our Chain of Crater road drive.
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| Oooo, a lava cave! |
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| Max also fell on the volcano rock which is like falling on glass! What a trouper! |
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| Once a tree! |
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| Cairns of volcanic rock to guide you through a hike. |
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| Posing with Daddy and the lava flow which occurred the year he was born. |
Our flight home, after a amazing week on Hawaii, was later at night. Before we flew home we went in to Kona for a look around. We also did a small hike out to the ocean from the main highway and found a fabulous black sand beach. Next time we are for sure headed there for some sun and surf!
Traveling - It leaves you speechless, then turns you in to a story teller. - IBN BATTUTA
