Hokitika Gorge and TranzAlpine Express
7 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
We left the salmon farm just after sunrise and began the drive up to Hokitika Gorge. It was about an hour from Paringa to the gorge, not including our stop in Hokitika for gas. When we got to the gorge, it was dead; we had the whole place to ourselves because it was so early and the tour buses hadn't shown up yet. We walked to the viewpoint, but weren't able to see much. The lower suspension bridge was blocked off, so we went back through the parking lot to the other side of the trail and began the walk to the upper suspension bridge (the trail is a loop, but blocked off early on at the first viewpoint annoyingly...so you walk most of the loop and can't complete the last couple hundred meters). The walk was worth it though, the turquoise water was incredible, even in the drizzling, overcast sky. I'm not sure how deep it might go because unlike Kawarau Gorge, the water sits below the cliffs a fair bit, but that's not the same with Hokitika. The gorge looks more like a turquoise river. At the end of the trail (before turning around and retracing our steps) we were able to go down to the water which was pretty cool. The color was just mesmerizing and I could have spent a lot of time there admiring it. But, we are busy people and there is so much more to see!
Before heading off from the gorge, we boiled some water for breakfast and ate something. Then it was about an hour drive to Greymouth where we are getting the TranzAlpine Train. We decided to treat ourselves to a shower, (I mean it has been a few days and a big hike yesterday...) so we went to the rec center in the town. A few misunderstandings and an argument with a grumpy gardener later, we left because the sauna wasn't open and they weren't sure how hot the water was. We drove up the street to a campground that supposedly has showers, but there was no one in the office and the showers required $2 coins and were $4 for 6 minutes...not ideal. Tucking tail, we went back to the rec center to pay the $7.50 each to access the showers. In a surprise turn of events, she said she couldn't charge us because the water wasn't 'hot' it was body temperature (I'm not sure if this was the reason because surely she would've said that the first time we showed up...but they, not questioning the kindness).
After a much needed wash, we headed to Monteith's Brewing for a quick beer before the train. It was an unexpected, but welcome suggestion from Allan. We had the tasting tray enjoying a range of beers as well as a cider and a hard lemonade. The cider was strangely colorless, but very good. The hazy IPA was my favorite and Allan was between the porter and the lemonade.
We left Monteith's and headed to the campsite just across the bridge from the train station. We parked up and had a short walk back over to the station. We checked in and we were informed that the train was running late, so we hung around until it arrived and then boarded. The train was pretty empty, surprisingly so. Once we left the station we had our pick of carriages and ended up with a whole carriage to ourselves. The carriage had standard train seats, but large glass windows for the views and also has open air carriages so you could "go outside".
By the time we left we were running about 45 minutes late, which at the time just seemed annoying with trying to get back to Greymouth once the train arrived. What we didn't think about at the time, was it was 45 minutes less of the sunlight for the mountain views along the journey. Prior to Arthurs Pass, we had some nice mountains and some with snow. There were rolling hills and occasional small towns or lakes. We didn't go over many bridges, unlike when we're driving. About halfway into the journey, we got our dinner that we prepurchased. Turns out it's a microwave meal from their fridge 🙈 and a glass of wine. Allan lamb was definitely better than my beef, but it was better than nothing when we were feeling hungry.
When we got to the tunnel, they hooked a second locomotive up to the back of us to help push us up the steep 8.5km tunnel. When we got to the top and out of the tunnel, we were able to go outside for some fresh air. I didn't stay out long; it was cold and windy and rainy, not ideal for outside leisurely standing. Back on the train, some passengers disembarked so the train was even emptier!
The sun had gone down at this point and it got dark pretty quickly. Allan encouraged me to go out to the blustery open air car to see the last light leave the sky. It was beautiful with the snowy mountains and easier to see them from outside rather than the inside with the glare on the window. The rest of the journey we could only see the shadowy outline of mountains and hills, but at least most of the mountains were behind us and it was mainly small towns we were going through on the last bit to Christchurch.
Once we arrived in Christchurch, we were quick off the train and straight into an Uber to the airport to pick up our relocation. As much as I didn't want to do the 3 hour drive back to Greymouth, at least it wasn't costing us anything with the relocation. The drive was on the same road back through the mountains. I'm sure in the daylight it would be a great drive, but we were just focused on staying awake on the winding mountain roads.
We got back to Greymouth ok and used the out of hours key drop for Hertz, which was handy because it meant we could shoot off in the morning. We got back to the camper just after midnight and got ready for bed. We have a busy morning ahead of us with an early wake up well before the sun planned in order to get to pancake rocks and the ferry in time. Czytaj więcej
Pancake Rocks and Ferry to North Island
8 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
No rest for the weary is the theme of the day today. After getting to bed late last night after our train and drive, we were woken up several times in the night to the total downpour of rain. It was very loud! We were up well before the sun to get a move on north towards the ferry, but we had a stop to make first along the way.
Pancake Rocks was about 45 minutes from Greymouth. We pulled into the parking lot right off the highway and began the walk across the street. The loop was just over a kilometer long, but with lots of viewpoints and stops along the way. The pancake Rocks were everywhere. I expected it to be like the Moeraki Boulders with stacks of rocks on the beach, but these were like pillars coming out of the sea with weathering and erosion to look like the stacks of thin pancakes. They were all over this section of the coast as well as some interesting formations that created cool effects with the ocean and waves. The surge pool was one of my favorites. You could hear the boom of the waves crashing and swirling in the circular rock hole almost creating a pool. The wave surged under the rocks, into the pool and against the wall of rock on the shoreline. It was magnificent and engaged so many senses: hearing with the booms, smell and touch (and taste arguably) with salty spray, and sight with the movement of the water and splashing against the rock. Not far from the surge pool was the chimney pot, a blowhole caused by ocean movements sending water that sprays all the way up a small tube in a cliff. There was also a salty spray section. There was so much to see in such a small space, and little amount of time, on our way to Picton. I wish we had more time to linger, but we had to get to the ferry!
The drive to Picton from the pancake rocks was about 4 and a half hours. The roads were wet from rain, and winding, but we managed to make up some time and get to Picton before check in closed. We even had time to grab Subway and some gas! Luckily gas was right across the street from the ferry check in.
We got our boarding pass and waited about half an hour to board the ferry and make our way up to the passenger seating areas. Sadly we couldn't stay in the car and have a nap in the bed. In and amongst some admin, I popped outside for the good views. Unlike the west coast this morning, the sun was shining and minus the wind, it was very pleasant out on the viewing deck with the gorgeous New Zealand islands and coastline. As we started getting closer to Wellington, the sun was starting to go down and we saw it dip past the mountains and start to light the clouds up a nice pink color. This ferry was a little quicker than the other one, probably the currents, and I feel like we didn't accomplish nearly as much planning as we did the last ferry.
We drove off the ferry and started making our way north. We made a couple of stops at a dump station and another for a quick pizza because we weren't going to finish the 3 hour drive to our campsite at a reasonable time to be making and eating dinner. We pulled in at the National War Museum and found it was surprisingly busy! Definitely one of the busiest campgrounds we've been to. Thankfully we found a spot, even if it wasn't the flattest. We're up before the sun again tomorrow to finish the drive to Taupo! Czytaj więcej
Taupo and Hobbiton
9 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
Today wasn't an overly busy day, but somehow still felt that way!
We were up before sunrise and away to Taupo for a 9:30 boat cruise to Maori rock carvings. When we arrived and began to make a quick breakfast before the tour, we saw an email sent an hour before check in time that they cancelled the boat due to lack of passengers. We did find it odd when we parked where the boat should have been and it wasn't there. Luckily there were a couple other boat tours going out to the carvings at 10:30 and the tours still have us time to head up to Hobbiton for my tour. The 10:30 start time also meant I had time to organize some fraudulent charges on one of my accounts and we made a couple bookings for Waitomo Caves. So it wasn't all bad!
We had breakfast and boarded the Ernest Kemp, an old timey steamboat and headed out onto Lake Taupo. The rain cleared up a little, but it was still pretty overcast. The boat took us along the coastline on our left hand side before cutting into the coast on the right where the rock carvings are. It was much bigger than I expected. The face was framed by intricate Maori designs and lines. The carver abseiled down from the top of the small cliff in order to make the carving. The nearby rocks leading into the water also had smaller carvings on them of animals and people that we didn't even notice at first. We made a couple circles to get a good look at the carvings before making our way along the other coastline back to port. The sun made an effort to peak through the clouds very briefly before the clouds swallowed it up again.
Back at port we were about to head off towards Matamata to do some grocery shopping before my tour, but had an email about a parking fine from one of our first days in New Zealand! Upon investigation, we shouldn't have gotten it, but had to spend time sorting that out. We didn't have time to go shopping now, but I wasn't going to be late for The Shire, so it was still ok.
As expected when looking at the forecast yesterday, it was pouring rain the whole drive up to Hobbiton. When we got there, it was only a drizzle which I hoped would stay. Allan and I had a look around the gift shop while we waited for my bus to take me to the set. I got on the bus, and he headed back to the car to drive out to see a friend.
Hobbiton was incredible. The rain held off for the most part and only occasionally got heavier for brief spells during our tour. The walk took us to all 44 hobbit holes and the guides shared movie clips and facts along the way. It was just like the movies and at any moment it seemed like Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, or even Samwise Gamgee could have come walking out of the holes. Of course, they really couldn't have as only a few aren't just the facades under the hills. Bag End was huge. Even without going in, it was massive and had a whopping 12 windows. It was easily the highest and biggest hole in the Shire. All scenes inside the hobbit holes were filmed on sets and none were filmed here, it was exterior filming only. They explained the percentage of size and height to make certain characters appear smaller or bigger by walking and filming past different sized doors and holes.
Something that's only been introduced in the last few years is the chance to go inside a hobbit hole. Like I said, no filming was done inside of them, so no interiors were made. Two holes were dug out a few years ago and I'm a combined effort with the movie tour people and the art directors, plans and designs were made and executed for the two interiors. I only saw the inside of one, but it was amazing. There were so many small details and it was so much bigger than I expected. They really thought of everything right down to the toys in the kid's room, tea cozies on teapots, and shelves of awards like "biggest brussel sprout award". Even the kitchen had a little well with a moveable bucket that went up and down and the stovetop was warm. There was also a real, roaring fire in the fireplace and it was so cozy I could have stayed there all day.
We left the inside of the hobbit hole and made our way down the path to the Green Dragon. We walked over a little stone bridge towards the cozy looking pub. There were colorful lanterns strung up all around outside and when we walked in there was a roaring fire in here too. There were a couple of cozy armchairs in front of the fire and several wooden benches and chairs around tables throughout the space. I grabbed a Southfarthing Stout and sat on a bench with pillows near a window. I chatted with fellow LOTR fans until it was time for dinner and then we went through to quite the sumptuous banquet. The tables were laden with food: sausages, lamb shanks, chicken, Poh-Tay-Toes, roast veggies, vegetable pie, and so much more. I had two plates and I was stuffed. We cleared the room for about 10-15 minutes while they cleared away dinner and went back in for some cute, and very British, desserts. There was a lot of fruit, bakewell tart, sticky date pudding, apple crumble, and pavlova.
Dessert was a bit of a rush before we were whisked back outside, this time with cute little lanterns. We walked back along the water and saw all the hobbit holes with their windows lit up and lanterns outside the doors. It was super cute to spot them all dotted along the hill. I got a picture at one of the yellow hobbit doors before getting back on the bus to leave Hobbiton behind.
Back at the parking lot I waited for Allan, who was running a tad late. With the weather it was understandable. But then things got complicated when the road to get back to me was blocked by a landslide with all of the rain today. He had to go back the way he came, drive south, and then find a highway that connected back north. He did eventually get here (several hours after my tour had finished around 11pm), and we had to drive a further 20 minutes to a campsite for the night.
I suppose it's all a part of the adventure! Czytaj więcej
Waitomo
10 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
We took it easy this morning after last night. We didn't have much planned for the morning so we headed off to Waitomo after our slow morning and some breakfast. It took about 2 hours to get there and we decided to do a small bush walk, the Ruakuri Bushwalk. It was a short 45 minute loop through the bush forest with some interesting cave formations and archways along the way. The path made a small figure eight to match with the cave tunnels. Towards the end of the walk we saw a big cavern with rushing water flowing into the underground caves that we couldn't see. The water seemed pretty powerful after the rain yesterday.
After the bushwalk we drove up to Haggas Lookout to try and see Mount Tongariro which you're meant to be able to see on a clear day like today. When we got to the lookout, it had piles of gravel and overgrown trees and the signs had been taken away. With the overgrown bush and trees, you couldn't see anything. Disappointed, we made our way back down towards the town where we had our caving tours.
Allan got dropped off first at Waitomo Adventures for his 100m abseiling and cave adventure. I said goodbye to him and would head back to pick him up in four hours. I drove a couple minutes back down the road to Legendary Black Water Rafting and checked in for my Black Labyrinth tour. They tell you to check in half an hour before, and I was a bit late after dropping Allan, so I rushed to pack a bag. When I checked in I was told to sit and wait for like 20 minutes. But annoying, but at least I didn't miss anything.
The tour started with getting kitted out. We got wetsuit overalls, a wetsuit jacket, booties, and rubber boots. My body shape is not designed for wetsuits, so it took me some time to get into it, especially with it being wet. Eventually all my gear was on, and I was waddling around in my poorly fitted wetsuit. We got a picture taken before we left and then loaded up in a van for a short drive to the cave.
When we arrived, I recognized the parking lot. We were back at the Ruakuri Bushwalk parking lot! We loaded up our black inner tubes into the van and drove a little bit further down the road before getting out at the cave entrance. We got a safety briefing and then we climbed down some limestone steps into the cave. As soon as went in, there were some glow worms hanging out at the entrance, as well as some big ass crickets. Having only ever seen the glow worms at night in the dark in all their luminescent glory, I'd never seen their little "fishing lines" that dangle from them. It was pretty cool.
After our initial steps into the cave, we sat in our tubes to drift under a wall of limestone. The water was pretty high, and with my head all the way back touching the water, my nose was still less than an inch from the ceiling. Thankfully it was very brief and my panic attack didn't take form at being trapped under the stone. The water was absolutely freezing, partly because it's a cave, and partly because of all the rain the last couple of days.
Once we finished our short drift, we stopped at a small waterfall. We went to the edge and put the tube under our butt before launching off backwards. I mean, it wasn't far, but you still get a pretty big shock from not being able to see when you hit the water and the fact that the water is so cold. After that backwards jump, I was soaked through, hair included. Everyone else was pretty similar in their shock when plunged into the cold cave water.
Post plunge, we stopped in a little tunnel with some glow worms above us. Our guides gave us a little chocolate marshmallow fish and told us about the worms. They are kind of like maggots and use their sticky fishing line to catch bugs that are attracted to the bioluminescent light. Once they reach adulthood, they go into something similar to a cocoon and emerge like butterflies that have about 5 days to fly around and mate before they die because their digestive systems no longer exist. The male dies after mating and the female flies around the caves laying little pockets of eggs before she runs out and also dies.
After our science lesson we continued through the cave. At some points we floated through on our tubes, at others we walked and clambered carefully over seen and unseen rocks. We also had a bigger waterfall that we had to jump off, backwards again. That one I let out a bit of a squeal, as did many others. About an hour later, we floated down our last section of cave before climbing back out. My feet were pretty numb and cumbersome as I climbed out of the cave and walked down the path back to the van.
Back at the Legendary building, we all struggled and pulled at the wetsuits. Once I finally got everything off, it was a numb walk to the shower. The hot shower definitely helped me feel better, but it was the warm soup back in the cafe that further warmed everything up. I headed out to the parking lot and started making soup and Allan got dropped off there. We had our dinner and then did the 2 hour drive down to Tongariro. We are starting the Tongariro Crossing pretty early tomorrow so once we got to our campsite about 25 minutes from the starting point for the hike, it was straight to bed for us. Czytaj więcej
Tongariro Alpine Crossing & Mt Doom
11 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Today was TOUGH. And long. And a bit painful. And one hell of a day.
I had been psyching myself up for this day even before we came to New Zealand and Allan first mentioned the Tongariro Crossing and climbing Mount Doom (aka Mount Ngauruhoe). When we were climbing Ruminahui in Ecuador and had to slide precariously down scree, he mentioned the similarities to Mount Doom. I hated the scree on Ruminahui, so it did not fill me with confidence or excitement for Mount Doom.
When we got closer to deciding to do the hike, I decided to do the whole Tongariro Crossing, a feat in and of itself at just under 20 kilometers, and add on Mount Doom because I could always quit if it got too hard. The problem was, when I wanted to quit, was on the way down, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
We were up early before the sun to make some hot water for breakfast and then we made the short 15–20 minute drive to Tongariro National Park where the hike would begin. When we got there, it was already super busy, but weirdly most pf the people were all hanging around at the shelter at the trail entrance rather than getting started. The sun was almost up by this point, and it was looking like it was going to be a beautiful day (we picked this day for the stunning forecast). It was chilly though, so we had layered up before starting.
The beginning of the trail was pretty easy. We meandered along the well-marked path which was pretty flat to start. We wound our way through the valley and occasionally had a small incline. We got a gorgeous view over the valley as the sun rose past the low-lying clouds. Once the sun was up, it started to heat up pretty quickly and burn off those clouds and our need for layers. After a few kilometers of easy trail, we began the walk up the Devil's Steps, which again, weren't as bad as the name suggests. They were well marked stairs rather than rough and bouldery and despite the steepness of some sections, I felt pretty ok! We were also getting closer to the base of Mount Doom, and it all started to feel pretty manageable! Boy did that feeling come crashing down...
Once we made it up Devil's Steps, we diverted towards the base of Mount Doom. I was still feeling apprehensive at this point, because I knew it as steep and there was over half of the actual Tongariro Crossing left to do, including the steep sections, but I was feeling good and the distance to the top of Mount Doom didn't seem so bad. We started the walk to the base and found a good-ish place to leave the backpack so we wouldn't have to take turns carrying it up and back down (wise decision and even wiser in hindsight). We had some water, shared a banana and started making our way up.
The entire mountain is made up of volcanic rock of varying sizes: tiny scree pebbles, chunky rocks, and boulders large enough to climb. We couldn't scramble straight up the scree covered mountain, so we zigzagged up a combination of scree, loose rocks, and boulders. Scrambling and climbing over the boulders was difficult at times, but at least it felt like we made forward progress compared to the small sections of scree between the boulder sections. The rocks were pretty sharp and a mixture of red and black lava, getting progressively redder the closer we got to the top. Despite it only being about 5 kilometers, the 1400-meter ascent made the climb take longer than anticipated. Allan was incredibly patient, and often scouted the route ahead to make sure it wasn't too tricky for me.
We clambered over the last section of loose rock and boulders reaching the outer side of the crater, we had to go down into what was almost like an inner valley and back up to get to the inner crater and look inside the infamous, and active, volcano that is Mount Doom. The inside was littered with rocks of varying sizes and colors. Allan ran ahead, excited to be at the top. I was pretty terrified of slipping on all the loose rocks on the sidewalk sized edge of the crater, so I took my time; it was a long way down into the volcano, and to the bottom on the other side. I got closer to Allan, admiring the view from the top, and thankful that I had made it up. Based on everything Allan had said, and my previous experience with scree, going down would be a little scary, but wouldn't take nearly as long as going up. I took the time to admire the view and watch Allan as he ran all the way around the crater, and then for funsies decided to run down into the crater itself. Thankfully, he didn't go all the way to the center, but it was definitely a little dangerous! I kept an eye on the blue shirted speck down in the crater on one side of me, and looked down at the red scree and rock to the other side where we would soon be exiting the summit.
After Allan returned to the edge of the crater, we took our final pictures, marveled at the achievement, and then started to look for the way down. Because of the way the crater went in, we couldn't see over the initial part of the mountain to the lines of scree where people had gone down before. We looked for the least rocky sections for areas of scree where we could slide through and therefore down the mountain. It was not easy. I think we may have zigzagged more sideways across the mountain going down than we did on the way up. We would find sections that were ok with fewer chunky rocks, only to be thwarted after a few meters and have to cross horizontally to a different area. It was also steep. Very. Fucking. Steep. I couldn't stay on my feet. It was a horrible cycle of slide a few steps on my feet, shuffle, fall (hard) onto my ass, and then begin falling down the mountain by sliding on the lava rock frantically trying to stop myself. Allan was a few meters in front of me and I then got concerned about all the rocks that I caused to fall in his direction every time this happened. He then had to shout "rock!" to anyone below us as the rocks I stirred up from slip and sliding down the mountain gathered dangerous speed down the steep mountain for unaware people at the bottom.
We continued this pattern, me mostly falling and being terrified as I struggled for purchase to stop my sliding down the mountain. About halfway down, it looked like it was mostly soft scree without the chunky rocks. Allan gave me some tips and pointers on how to get down quickly by shifting my body weight and sliding my feet, had me show him, and then he ran down the mountain when he felt I was getting the hang of it. I did start to get the hang of it on the softer section, problem was, the soft section didn't last very long and it was back to predominantly sharp and chunky rock. The cycle resumed of horizontal criss-crossing in a bear crawl to a slightly less sharp section, tentative steps down, and a hard fall onto my ass before I started to slide down. The fear of not being able to get off the mountain overwhelmed me and on a harder fall and scrap along my palms and wrists and a narrow miss on a boulder to stop myself, I sat in the rocks and cried for a couple minutes. Then, I got up and kept trying. My ass hurt, my hands and wrists were cut up, and I was tired. I was also on my own, as Allan and all the people who had climbed the mountain were already down which exacerbated my fear of being stuck up there. With nothing to do but keep going, I kept shuffling and falling the rest of my way down eventually reaching the spot where we had left our bag four hours prior.
The tears of relief didn't come like I expected, but I looked up at the fucking mountain glad I would never have to climb it again. I got some hand sanitizer on my cut hands and had a wrap that Allan had made while I struggled down the mountain. After a brief rest, we had to get up and keep moving because there was still a good 12 kilometers of the hike to go, including the peak. I was dreading it, and concerned about how long it would take me to finish because all my energy was spent on Mount Doom.
We walked diagonally through a lava field to rejoin the path and not long after rejoining it, we began the main section of ascent on the trail up past Red Crater. The crater was pretty cool and reminded me of the red clay in Hawaii. I guess if its all volcanic based that would make sense. I huffed and puffed my way up the steep section to the fake top, and let out a small groan when I realized there was one more small steep section before the actual highest point on the trail. When we made it up, I looked back on Mount Doom in the distance, a bit incredulous that I actually managed to get up and down the thing, and then walked over the crest of the trail with the mountain disappearing behind me.
This middle section had some good views with a variety of lakes. The first was a series of green lakes with steam vents all over the place. The Emerald Lakes were true to their name and a vibrant green color. After taking a picture of them, and the Blue Lake in the distance, we started the walk down. I got deja vu because the sliding rocks on this path and the steepness felt similar to the scree and rock on the way down from Mount Doom. Not only did I not want to fall again because it would hurt, but there were a hell of a lot more people now to witness it if I did. Slowly but surely I made my way down, all the while hoping the whole rest of the trail wouldn't be like this because my legs were in agony and it would take me forever, eventually making it to the shore of the Emerald Lakes. The smell of sulphur was strong here and the ground was clay like in some parts. I took some pictures before I headed back onto the main path to continue the trail. Allan decided to run around the back section of the lakes and explore some more.
We met back up at a fork in the path and continued together to the still and beautiful Blue Lake. Allan and I sat together briefly looking at the view and had some water. He then said goodbye to me and went back the way we had come to the car. Because this is a thru hike, we parked at the start, but didn't want to pay the extortion fee to get a shuttle bus back to the start to our car. Allan offered to run back to the start and drive to the end to meet me. We were now about 12 kilometers in with 8 to go. He also had to go back up to the top before his all down section (I kept insisting he turn around earlier, but I think he wanted to make sure I was ok).
On my own now, I picked up the backpack and kept pressing forward. I could feel the fatigue in my legs, and I just hoped I would get to the end before the sun started going down. The rest of the trail was pretty uneventful and similar terrain. I went down switchbacks down an old lava flow covered in little lava vegetation. On the sections with stairs, I definitely felt it in my legs, but I felt less concerned about the dark and finishing because of all of the people that were still on this section of the trail. Not only was I still passing people, but there were plenty of people having a rest in areas too. I kept a steady pace and enjoyed the last section of the Tongariro Crossing, fueled by the fact that I was almost done and the accomplishment of my biggest day hike yet.
With a couple kilometers to go, the trail changed from open, hill and valley terrain to forest. It was a little wet and muddy in here because the sun never gets through the trees, but this also meant shelter from that same sun. The cool shade was very welcome, and I was glad for the change of scenery. The green foliage was nice, and there some small waterfalls and rivers running through the forest. At the start of the forest section, I got a text from Allan saying he had made it back tot he car and was getting cleaned up a little before coming to meet me. Unsurprisingly he did his 12 kilometers quicker than I did my downhill 8, but I didn't want him to come and walk more to find me. Therefore, I tried to pick up the pace. I managed a slightly faster walk, but I was pretty spent.
About a kilometer left, Allan messaged to say he was heading towards the finish parking lot. I texted back to say I only had a kilometer left so I wouldn't finish long after he arrived. I really didn't want to give him more walking to come and meet me like I knew he would. However, with about 300 meters to go, I saw him walking towards me. We finished the last couple hundred meters together and took our victory picture at the sign before I got changed in the car on the way to Gollum's Pools.
With Mount Doom being in Mordor in Lord of the Rings, it's no surprise that right down the road was the filming location for Gollum's Pools. However, the sun had set by this point, so it was a race with the residual light to get there and see them. We didn't make it in time to see with the light, but we brought the head lamps and took turns shining them to get pictures. We walked the 500 meters back to the car and did the hour and a bit drive to the campground in Taupo. Boy was I glad when we got there and saw some spaces. It's a busy one and I didn't want to have to work to find an alternative, but we got a space so all was well.
Feeling utterly spent, we made some dinner, cleaned up, and then it was straight to bed. I will never watch a Lord of the Rings movie the same again after climbing up that mountain. Czytaj więcej
Taupo and Rotorua
12 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Taupo and Rotorua are thermal areas. The last time we were in Taupo we didn't visit any of these thermal areas, so that was our plan for the next couple of days in this area of New Zealand.
After getting up and making our gameplan for the day, we decided to go to a nearby park for our first thermal hot spring. This spring was public and therefore free (we like free). When we got there, we didn't see a lot of steam rising from the pool and waterfall. I wasn't sure about getting my bathing suit on and going in if the water wasn't hot because the air was a bit chilly so lukewarm water and chilly air didn't make for a good combo in my opinion. Allan is a lot braver with cold water than I am and didn't really hesitate. He was, however, disappointed. The water wasn't hot and was borderline warm. He was dedicated though, and tried out the waterfall and the other pool just to make sure that the temperature of the water wasn't hot. There was an English couple who also went in (mostly because they saw Allan go in) and they didn't last very long in the water. We talked with them about their travel plans while they, and Allan, dried off and then we carried on with our day.
The next stops for us were Huka Falls and Aratiatia Dam. Huka Falls were pretty with the turquoise blue water and the powerful flow. But, after all of the waterfalls we have seen on the trip, it didn't feel unique to us, especially with all of the beautiful gorge water we have seen in New Zealand. It was still worth the quick stop to walk around the different viewpoints and with more time might have been nice to walk one of the many trails around there (and if it wasn't the day after the Tongariro Crossing...). So we got back in the car and headed to Aratiatia Dam. The dam opens at the same time everyday, and we arrived in time for the dam opening at noon. We got there with about five minutes to spare. Allan went on one side, where the dam opening is, and I went on the other side of the bridge where the water would flow and begin filling up the gorge and then flow. A big buzzer sounded before the dam opened, and then the water began to flow. It began filling up the area directly across from the bridge, and once it overflowed and began to make a small river down the gorge, we moved to the next viewpoint.
At the next viewpoint, in the middle of the water flow, we could see the bridge in the distance and the water was flowing like rapids from the bridge area (the dam entrance) down to what I assume is an actual river in Taupo. I stayed here watching the water get stronger, and Allan ran to the end viewpoint. After about 10 minutes, the dam shut again and the water flow became less and less as it emptied out of the basin-like area it flowed into when it immediately left the dam. Once it was pretty slow, I went back towards the main path and waited for Allan. About 10 minutes later, he came running back after an unexpectedly difficult adventure to the final viewpoint.
We left the dam and headed towards Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area with steam vents and mudpools. The entire area is boardwalked over the steam vents and pools. Because of this, it is pretty immersive, and it was cheap which was an added bonus. We wandered around looking at the different steam vents and colorful mud. There were also some huge mud pits, with thick, bubbling, gray mud. It was the kind of jacuzzi Shrek probably would have enjoyed, but would be an excruciating death for everyone else.
After Craters of the Moon, our geothermal day continued after a short hour long drive to Rotorua. This village is well known for its thermal hot springs which I was really looking forward to soaking in after yesterday. We arrived in the mid afternoon, which was great because the only free campsite here was in the village and apparently fills up quick. Because we didn't waste any time in Taupo, we arrived early enough to get a space (thank goodness). The parking for the campground was right across the street from a huge thermal spa, Polynesian Spa, right on the lake. Before we did anything else, we checked a deal website and found a deal for the fancy spa, and booked in for later in the evening as a small treat.
We spent the rest of our afternoon wandering around Rotorua. There's not much to the village, but it felt like a really welcoming place and had some really cute buildings with decorative trims. Our first stop was Sulphur Point which overlooks the lake in Rotorua. There are some dangerous mud pools and hot water here, so it was important to not wander from the path. The water and mud were white and pretty reflective. Strangely, there were a bunch of seagulls on mud sandbars on the lake. Apparently the volatile environment doesn't impact them.
We walked to the nearby public park which is littered with little wooden fences around boiling pools of water and volcanic mud as well as steam vents. In the center of the park are some hot ponds with little ducks swimming on them and a cute little bridge across them. We continued walking around the park looking at all the different geothermal areas that are just here in the park where people walk normally with their children and dogs.
Also in the park are foot baths. These are built up, but use the heated water from the earth. They were a little bit busy with some tourists, but we found a spot to sit down and soak our feet. It was very relaxing and I didn't want to leave, but there were other things to do.
Our next stop on the way back to the car for dinner was the Pig & Whistle, a historic pub. The building was huge and beautiful. We got there in time for happy hour and enjoyed discounted prices on a couple of pints of locally brewed beer. It has become a bit of tradition to have a pint after a big hike as a little reward, and it was a pretty delicious pint. We were tempted by some other things on tap, but we resisted temptation and headed back to the car walking through some lovely lit up gardens on the way.
We made dinner and had enough internet to stream an episode on Netflix while we ate which was a nice touch. After to we cleaned up from dinner, we watched another episode before we got ready to head to the spa. At the spa, we were told which pools we had access to and made our way to the changing rooms.
The area we booked had about 9 different pools to choose from. One was a green colored mineral pool that was warm and made my skin feel very soft. The others were a mixture of alkaline and acidic pools of varying temperatures. The alkaline and acidic pools are meant to heal/aid different bodily ailments. The alkaline pools are fed from the Rachel Spring near the parking lot where we are camped for the night! It was dark, but the pools all overlook the lake that we walked around earlier in the day when we went to Sulphur Point.
We spent the next couple of hours bouncing from pool to pool at this historic spa. The water all felt so nice, and even too warm at points with the hottest temperature being 40C. We stayed in as long as we could before they were getting ready to close. A trip to the spa also meant access to showers which were much appreciated after the hike yesterday. We had a wash, and feeling warm, clean, and relaxed made our way back to the car and to bed. Czytaj więcej
Rotorua Hot Springs & Waimangu
13 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C
Today we didn't venture far from Rotorua for all of our activities before making our way to Auckland.
After breakfast, we drove about half an hour to some hot springs at Kerosene Creek. Allan had been to these before and had good memories of it. When we got there and bumped down the dirt road, there was only one other van parked there. Our plan to leave and arrive early to have the creek to ourselves seems to have worked. We got our things packed into a backpack and wandered into the forest and down the path. We followed the creek until the forest opened up a little bit and there was a ledge in the dirt where people clearly go in and out of the water.
We got our bathing suits on, and Allan went in first. After the last free, natural pool was a bit chilly, he tested it out. He said it was much warmer than the one yesterday in Taupo, so I climbed down and met him in the tea tree colored water. It was warm, but it wasn't hot. It was the temperature of a nice bath that you've sat in for about 15 minutes and is still warm, but starting to get too cold to sit in for long. There was a waterfall here that Allan popped under, but it was a bit too powerful to sit under for long. When we dug our feet into the sand, we could feel the heat coming from the earth. It was the only thing keeping me warm enough to stay in the mineral-rich water.
Once I got too chilly to stay in, we made our way back up the creek to a different section to see if it was warmer further up, rather than downstream. We waded into the small pool, and the temperature didn't feel that different. The waterfall was smaller and gentler here though, so Allan enjoyed a waterfall back massage while I dug my feet into the sand to feel the warm earth. When I got too cold again, I got out and into my dry clothes and Allan got out shortly after. We walked back to the car and drove five minutes down the road to the next thermal pool.
The Hot 'n' Cold pool was under an overpass on a small road. We repacked the bag and walked down some sketchily constructed steps towards the water. Allan, again, went in first to test it, and he said these were the hottest pools yet, like proper hot. I changed into my bathing suit again really hoping he was right (we have very different definitions of 'hot water'). We were the only ones there minus an eclectic local guy wading the pools with a metal detector looking for lost jewelry.
Once I was dressed and belongings safely on a limb, I waded into the actual hot water. Finally! This is exactly what I had been waiting for. The water felt amazing. The only downside, was the ground was rocky and had some logs and sticks, so it wasn't as nice to walk around on. But the water was hot and that was good enough for me. Not long after getting in, we moved further up the stream past the dam into stiller water and further from the road. It was nice to sit in this water on a large rock, and after a while, it actually got too hot and I couldn't stay submerged! It was definitely better than the alternative though, so I wasn't complaining. After about an hour relaxing in the pools, the sun came out and cast a beautiful glow on the water through the trees. It was pretty amazing, and a great way to end our time in the natural thermal pools.
We left Hot 'n' Cold, got dried off, and drove down the road to the Waiotapu Mud Pools. There's a big 'wonderland' nearby the mud pools with lots of geothermal things to look at, but it's expensive and there's no swimming or anything. Plenty of free stuff if you do your research. We had some lunch before walking over to the large mud pool. The gray mud looked thick and deadly. Whatever goes in that stuff has no chance. The bubbles were varying sizes and speed of boiling in different areas of the mud pool. We could also see old boundary fences where the pool has obviously grown.
After the Waiotapu Mud Pools we drove over to Waimangu Volcanic Valley. I found a deal for this park on a website and I was looking forward to walking through it. Allan had been here before, so the plan was for me to go and explore on my own while he started to organize the van. However, when I checked in, the woman didn't look, or didn't care, and gave us two spots for the shuttle bus back from the bottom of the walk. That meant Allan could come too, free of charge!
The Waimangu Volcanic Valley is the youngest geothermal ecosystem in the world. It is also where the largest hot water spring in the world is located: Frying Pan Lake. We took our brochure/map and made our way down the trail, following the markers and reading out the information as we went along. The eruptions here in the late 1800s and early 1900s sparked tourism, but also killed tourists and a hotel business with the subsequent eruptions and many geyser eruptions. There was so much to see here: craters, hot water lakes, so many colors from minerals in the soil and rocks, and as we got past Frying Pan Lake, some really cool stuff came up.
The pool nearby Frying Pan Lake, still goes through a sort of eruption process of emptying and filling every 30 days or so, and we were here when it was full and active. The boiling water overflows and creates a stream down and out of the Waimangu Valley impacting the land the entire way until it meets a nearby cold river. There were little fountains of water, some pretty insane colors from the minerals and plant life growing from the water, and little geysers. It was a really unique walk and was quiet with almost nobody around.
When we got to the bottom, and the end, of the walk, we waited for the bus to take us back up the hill to the visitor center where we started. Back at the parking lot, we got in the car and drove back to Rotorua to clean out the van. We had to dump any water from using the sink, and anything in the little portable toilet. Once those fun jobs were done, we started putting things back in our backpacks so that we could drop off the van.
We drove about 3 hours back to Auckland where our New Zealand journey began a few weeks ago. We picked up our rental car, switched all the bags over, and then drove to drop off the campervan. While I was glad to see that thing go, it did also mean that our time in New Zealand is almost over, which is sad. It's a really amazing place. With the camper dropped off, we drove into Auckland to check into our hostel and get some dinner. The hostel is in the center right on the main road, which is both good and bad. Good because it is a good location, not so great when needing to park a car. We parked somewhat illegally to get all the bags in and then drove to get some dinner.
After getting back to the hostel after dinner, parking was much easier to get right out front of the hostel. We went in and got settled, but didn't stay long. Despite being up early, and not having time for a nap, we were back on the road around 10pm to head to Coromandel. Czytaj więcej
Coromandel Hot Water Beach
13 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Our excursion out to Coromandel for Hot Water Beach was a sleepy one. We hit some rain and road works that has us diverting all over the place which also didn't help the already 2 and a half hour drive there.
When we arrived just after 1 in the morning, we parked and changed into our bathing suits. We walked on the cold sand further into the beach in search of bubbling hot water to dig a hole and make our personal pool. With my bare feet, I could feel some sand get warmer in parts, but a swell would roll in and wash over the sand making it cooler and therefore harder to find the hot pockets to dig.
After wandering around, we ran into some other people who also found a warm spot and they started to dig. We wanted to find a different hot spot, but it was just impossible with the waves washing so high up the shore, even though it was low tide. The group of people gave up on their digging, so we went over to check out the spot. The sand was hot and you could see the water bubbling up out of the sand. It was very hot, which was so strange on the beach like that with cold sand and water everywhere else. Unfortunately, with the low tide being so high for some reason, we weren't able to dig the hole to make our pool and had to settle for digging our feet in.
The tide and swells started to get above our knees at the back of the beach, so we too gave up on our little foot bath and went back to the car. It was another 2 and half hours back to Auckland which wasn't fun at 2:30. We got back safely, but very tired. We had quick showers after our mineral pools and beach excursions and then went straight to bed. Czytaj więcej
Auckland & Piha Beach
14 maja 2025, Nowa Zelandia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Today is our last day in New Zealand. I can't believe it, but also, I am exhausted; New Zealand has been a total whirlwind of activity and sightseeing, and today is no different.
We spent our last morning exploring the city. Our first stop was Auckland Harbor Bridge. Prior to coming to Auckland, Allan described it as a poor man's Sydney, and he wasn't far off. The bridge was a lot shorter than I expected for such a big city, and did look like a Sydney copycat. We parked at the harbor and walked along the waterfront taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful day. We drove across the bridge and parked on the other side nearby Sulphur Beach. There wasn't much to see at Sulphur Beach, but we got another view of Auckland CBD and the bridge.
After our brief Auckland exploring, we drove just over an hour to Piha Beach. Piha Beach is a black sand beach, and while the sand was dark, I wouldn't go as far as black. Certainly not like the black sand beaches I am used to from Hawaii and Iceland! This beach was the filming location for a beach in Rings of Power. We officially hit the Lord of the Rings saga trifecta! Phia Beach was also listed as one of the best things to do in Auckland, despite being on the other side of the island. We walked around the beach looking at the rock formations and the well weathered cliff faces. We also had our lunch here before making the drive back to Auckland for a reservation at the Sky Bar.
Back in Auckland, we parked at SkyCity where the Sky Bar is. We had a quick walk to the main plaza to see it and then walked back in time for our reservation. We went up and up and up in the elevator and popped out into a classic round, all glass window room. We timed it so that we would be here for sunset and it was shaping up to be a good one. We deliberated on which drinks to pick and how to meet the minimum spend as cheaply as possible with the prices. I got a spicy mango margarita and Allan got a delicious sounding old fashioned that I was also tempted by. He also ordered a pistachio cake because he was driving, but I was going to save my spend for a beer.
We sat and watched a gorgeous golden sun start to set while drinking our delicious drinks (I definitely preferred Allan's). As the sun got closer, Allan and our kind waiter surprised me with an early birthday surprise. On the plate of the cake Allan ordered was a sweet message for me and a birthday candle. I was super cute and it tied in with the sunset. It was the perfect ending to our time in New Zealand and the last proper travel section of our trip: Hawaii.
We shared the cake and the beer before heading to the airport to leave New Zealand. At the airport we got checked in without hassle and didn't have a lot of time, but managed to squeeze in some very tasty bagels with our lounge pass as well as a quick trip to the actual lounge for some drinks before the flight. It is an overnight flight, but not very long so let's hope we can get some sleep and do this whole day over again! Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 1
14 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
After a relatively short flight, especially compared to the one that got us to Australia, we arrived into Honolulu around 8 this morning. We were fed very well on Air New Zealand with a decent chicken stir fry, salad and ice cream for dinner last night and a cheese omelette with hash browns, sausage and beans for breakfast with fruit and yogurt. I was very full which isn't normally the case on flights!
After passport control and picking up our bags, we got an Uber to the Hokulani Waikiki. It was about 10:00, so not surprising that our room wasn't ready. We hung out in the small business center area with a couch until about 2:00 when our room became available. We got our bags upstairs, Allan had a shave and a shower and then we went up to the pool deck for the midweek mai tai. Nothing like starting your first day with free mai tais!
We stayed and drank our mai tais until about 3 and then got an Uber to the NEX where we met mom and dad to pick up some groceries. Allan also managed to pick out an aloha shirt!
After our shopping excursion we headed back to the hotel, dropped off the groceries, and then went to Waikiki Brewing Co for dinner. A burger and a beer later, we went back to Mom's room, grabbed our groceries, and walked about 15 minutes back to our hotel. It was a nice night and a pleasant walk after all the food and drink from the last couple days. We had a shower before bed, and both the shower and the bed felt like luxuries after our time in New Zealand. Thanks mom and dad 🥹 Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 2
15 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Today was such a chill day compared to our time in Australia and New Zealand.
It was so nice to wake up in a big comfy bed and make coffee and breakfast standing upright! We had a leisurely morning before walking to the Sheraton Hotel nearby for some pool time. Hannah used to work at the Sheraton (as did I once upon a time) so she hooked us up with some pool wristbands, towel cards, and coffee tokens. Allan desperately needed a haircut, so he went off to a barber before he met us. It was a bit of a weird experience walking through the hotel and shops. It was all familiar and coming back to me, but I didn't quite remember things until I saw them and it jogged the old memories.
When I met the family at the pool, they had already claimed some sun loungers. Teddy was looking very cute in his swimsuit and pool hat. We went and got some very tasty, iced coffees (cold brew with haupia cold foam for me) and then made our way back to the loungers. We got sunscreened up and then chilled out. Teddy just took turns crawling from one lounger to another and getting people covered in whatever snack he happened to be eating by the time he got to your lounger. Watermelon, cookies, and goldfish were popular items. Hannah managed to also get some drink tokens, so we ordered some drinks poolside which was a huge treat.
Sarah, Hannah, and I took Teddy into the pool, but it was a little bit chilly for him. We tried to help him go down the small slide, but Sarah just put him down the slide and didn't go with him, so he toppled over towards the end and got sad (it was also a bit funny...). Because Teddy got scared, we didn't stay long in the pool and took him back for more snacks to cheer him up. We also ordered some lunch from Rumfire, the Sheraton's restaurant. I ordered Allan a mahi mahi sandwich which he shortly joined us to enjoy, and I had a teriyaki chicken bowl. Mom and dad couldn't linger because they had to go and pick Nick up from the airport so they missed out on the yummy lunch.
It was pretty hot, so after lunch we took Teddy back into the pool to try the slide again with Uncle Allan going down with him and mommy at the bottom to catch him. He still got a little scared. We walked over to the baby section and let him sit and splash around instead which he did enjoy. After playing in the water, we got back out to dry off and then headed back to the hotel room to get ready for the luau.
The Paradise Cove luau is definitely one of the better ones on the island. When we arrived we were greeted with flower lei and got our pictures taken as a family. We've been to this luau when we first lived here a couple of times with friends who visited, but it was nice to go again with Allan. After our pictures, we made our way over to the imu for the ceremony when they take the pig out of the ground that's been cooking all day. It was a short display, but jazzed up with a bit of dancing to make it more interesting.
After we left the imu, we got some drinks before taking our seats and then heading up to the buffet for dinner. There was different fresh salads, kalua pork, fresh fish, chicken, rice, poi, and a few desserts like pineapple, chocolate cake, and haupia. I loaded up my plate as much as I could before sitting back down and digging in. Teddy was getting little bits of everyone's food, and you had to watch his quick little baby hands didn't snatch the edge of your plate or drink.
During the end of dinner, there was dancing that symbolized the different Hawaiian Islands. It was a more informal performance while people ate and we waited for the sun to go down. Around sunset, the dancing stopped and there was a sort of intermission to get final drinks and/or sunset pictures before the proper show started.
The main show showcases dancing from different Polynesian islands. I always love seeing the different styles and costumes. The feathers, colors, and different instruments the dancers use all add so much to the performance. There's also fire dancers who spin two, and then four, double-sided fire torches. One guy caught his grass ankle piece on fire, and I'm surprised there's not more that catches fire with how much fire they wield. It really is mesmerizing!
Once the final song was sang and the last dance danced, we closed the chapter on our last ever luau and said goodbye to Paradise Cove. It was bittersweet because I never expected to be back and doing something like this with the family, or Allan, but it also felt very final, for good this time.
The drive back to the hotel was quicker without the rush hour traffic. Once we were back, it was just a case of getting ready for bed and getting some rest before another big sightseeing day tomorrow. Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 3
16 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
North ShorNorth Shore! This was the one place on Oahu I have been most looking forward to going back to. My high school years were pretty much spent up here and it is by far my favorite place on the island.
We left after breakfast to make the long drive up from Waikiki, the total opposite side of the island just about. On our way up, we made a pit stop at Wheeler Army Airfield, where we used to live. We stopped at the retired helicopters on display to visit Nick's old project and see dad's helicopter before we continued on and drove through our old neighborhood. It looks exactly the same just about; I guess that's the beauty of having lived in the historic houses, it has to stay the same!
We continued our drive leaving Wheeler behind and going through Wahiawa, the local town where Sarah and I went to high school, on our way to the road to get up to North Shore. Our next stop on the way up was the Dole Pineapple Plantation. This is the home to the largest pineapple maze in the world! We stopped in for some Dole whip (so delicious), but it started raining, so we gave a walk around outside a miss. There was also a lot we were trying to fit in today.
We left Dole and kept travelling up Kamehameha Highway further north. The start of North Shore is a town called Haleiwa. This is a cute little place with colorful wooden buildings, a burgeoning food and shopping scene (it has really grown with tourism), and beautiful scenery. We drove over the white rainbow bridge marking the entrance to Haleiwa and I nostalgically looked to the left at the place I used to paddle as we continued our drive in stopping at Killer Tacos for an early lunch. We used to go to Killer Tacos on our visits to the Big Island, but they got really popular and were able to open a branch on Oahu too. Allan and I shared some kalua pork tacos and some chicken tacos. He also got a fish taco to try.
After lunch, we finished the drive north up to the beach to Waimea. Waimea Beach is known for its huge swells for surfing in the winter and the rock your can jump off of when the tide is good. When we got there, it was a bit cloudy, but we stayed optimistic that the sun would come out. The tide wasn't great for the rock, but some locals were tentatively jumping every now and then. Teddy had never been to the beach, and boy was it a treat for him, and everyone else. He loved the sand, especially eating it and burying his face in it. Allan also enjoyed the beach for the first time because playing with Teddy gave him something to do! Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate, and it started to pour with rain. We all covered up with towels hoping it would pass, but it didn't. We got packed up and back in the car. Beach day tragically cut short and no time to jump off the rock.
Heading back down Kamehameha Highway, we stopped in Haleiwa again for shave ice at Matsumoto's. They have the best shave ice on Oahu, hands down. There wasn't even a very long line which was also a bonus. Allan and I both got ours with ice cream and picked some tropical flavors. Allan also got condensed milk on top of his (probably reminded him of his acai bowls). After Matsumoto's, we started making our way out of Haleiwa, but not before stopping at the shrimp truck. Hannah really wanted to go here, but I also told Allan we would have to stop so he could get garlic butter shrimp from a Haleiwa shrimp truck. It is a staple of North Shore.
Finally, our day at North Shore came to a sad end. I could have spent all my time up there; it's the best. Before making our way back to Waikiki and the hotels, we dropped Hannah off with some friends because she was going camping the night before graduation (risky business...). Then, we got back to our hotels, showered, changed, and met back up for an evening drink at the Barefoot Bar. It was really nice just to laugh and chat over drinks in a chill setting.
We stayed until the bar was about to close. Mom, dad, Nick, and Sarah all went one way to their hotel, and Allan and I went the other way to ours. Tomorrow is graduation day, and we all needed our rest. Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 4
17 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Today was Hannah's big day: graduation!
Our morning was relatively chill because Hannah's graduation was only due to start at 3 in the afternoon. We got to sleep in and have our coffee and breakfast fairly relaxed. Before lunch I headed out to meet my mom and dad to run some errands. Our first stop was to get a fresh flower lei for Hannah. It is a custom in Hawaii to give graduates lei, so we all needed to get a lei for Hannah. I picked out a purple and green orchid lei.
After running the errands, it was quick back to the hotel to get changed and then we went to go and pick Hannah up and head to the university. We were running a tad bit late, so finding parking and then seats in the arena with enough together for all of us was a bit stressful, but we got some! The ceremony wasn't too long, but the acoustics and microphone weren't great, so we struggled to hear the speeches. Hannah's kinesthesiology degree was towards the end of the degrees awarded, so we had to wait a while for her turn. It did mean that after she got her degree it wasn't long until the end of the ceremony! Most people left before all the graduates marched out, but mom, Allan, and I went down closer to the floor area where the graduates were to get a better picture of Hannah.
After graduation was over, we met Hannah at the football practice field where families and friends gathered with the graduates to give out their lei. Some of Hannah's friends came and found her as well as some of her teachers. Once nobody else was really looking for Hannah, Hannah went and found her friends that she wanted to give lei to. We followed her around until she was done and then we got in the car to head to dinner!
For graduation dinner Hannah picked Joe's Steakhouse. I think she mostly picked it for the mashed potatoes, which after eating them, were pretty good. The steaks are served individually, but the sides are more family style. In my opinion, the dishes were a bit small to be classed as "family-style" but they tasted good. After dinner, we drove back to the hotels dropping Hannah off at her apartment on the way. And just like that, the smallest Hawley is a college graduate. Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 5
18 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone
It's my birthday!
Our morning started with a walk down Waikiki to church at a local church right near the beach. They had a lot of local people singing beautiful songs in Hawaiian rather than English throughout the Mass. After Mass, we all piled into the car and headed back down Waikiki to a breakfast place. Mom and dad picked Eggs 'n Things, a cute diner, as something they really wanted to do while we were in Hawaii. Looking at the menu, I could see why!
Once our table was ready, we all went upstairs to the dining area. The menu was packed full of things that looked delicious ranging from eggs to pancakes to crepes, waffles, and even french toast! They really did have it all and with a ton of local flavors too. Not long after we ordered our drinks and food, our waitress came out with a stack of pancakes with whipped cream, ice cream, and a candle and everyone sang me happy birthday. Allan organized it because he knows how much I love birthdays. We all shared the pancakes almost like a breakfast appetizer.
When the food started coming out, I was gobsmacked. Mom and I both ordered the rainbow pancakes which were pancakes with fruit and macadamia nuts. Dad got cream cheese and fruit crepes, Sarah got crepes and french toast to share with Teddy, Hannah got a nutella strawberry waffle and malasada pancakes, and Nick and Allan got the acai waffle. I've never seen Allan so excited for breakfast in his life. Everything was amazing, and by the end of the meal we were all totally stuffed. There was definitely no need for lunch today!
After Eggs 'n Things, I planned to go back to the hotel and read my book on the rooftop deck and have a quiet birthday afternoon before dinner. However, Sarah had to change her flight and was leaving that night, so Allan and I went over to their hotel to meet them at the beach for a couple of hours and spend time with them before they left. Again, Teddy and Allan had a great time playing in the sand, and I even got Teddy in the ocean without crying! He had a bucket to play with this time as well as a shovel. He's still getting the hang of how to use them, and just kept dunking his face in the sand and eating fistfuls (lol).
We left the beach and I did go up to the pool deck and have a small beer for about half an hour before a quick shower. Everyone headed down our way to go to Duke's for dinner. I picked Duke's because it has great food and is right near the water, but mainly for the hula pie. Dinner was a little bit rushed with Sarah having to leave for the airport, but mom, dad, and Sarah managed to wolf down their food and head off while the rest of us finished our dinner and then I got my hula pie for my birthday. Hula pie is macadamia nut ice cream with whipped cream, cookie crust, and hot fudge. It is one of my favorite things to eat and always feels so special because we never really got to go here except on special occasions. It's also one of mom's favorites too, so it was sad she couldn't stay and share some.
After Duke's, I told Nick and Hannah we were going for birthday beers to Maui Brewing Co. But they decided to head home instead. Mom and dad were a bit wiped after the craziness getting Sarah to the airport, so they decided to chill in their hotel when they got back too. Allan and I had a couple beers each at Maui Brewing. They have a great selection of their own and other local brews on tap. The mango sticky rice IPA was a personal favorite of mine.
With very full bellies, Allan and I enjoyed a slow walk back to our hotel. Just like that a new circle around the sun begins, and what a way to celebrate it! Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 6
19 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Today was Nick's last day on the island before heading home, but we squeezed in a few more things before he went.
We had the morning to ourselves which we spent organizing our next few days on Oahu. With Sarah and Nick gone and graduation over, mom and dad are going to be helping Hannah prep to move so Allan and I will have more free time.
Around lunchtime, we made our way to mom and dad's hotel and got in the car to head over to Pearl Harbor. Once we got there we made our way to a small museum until our ticket time at 2pm. The museum was nice with some large models, maps, and displays that provided a lot of context into Japan and the Unites States' roles in the war up to the point of the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as some background on the war in general.
Once 2pm came around, we were ushered into a small auditorium where a park ranger explained how our visit would work. He also took the time to remind us that we were visiting a memorial site, and a grave site and to be respectful while visiting. He then told us a story about an Arizona survivor who held onto a lot of anger until meeting one of the Japanese bombers who told him they didn't know that America hadn't formally entered the war yet. There was reconciliation and the two men would honor their comrades at subsequent remembrance ceremonies. There's a lot more to that story, but the park ranger told it in a way that left the entire room silent and somber, and ready to go to the Arizona Memorial with an open mind and heart.
We took a boat over to the memorial because it is situated above the sunken USS Arizona. A rather angry navy guy was a bit aggressive with enforcing the rules, so I think we were all glad to get off the ferry. We didn't have very long to walk around the memorial, and luckily it isn't very big. There are some diagrams that help identify the different sections of the ship that are above water and easier to see. Some signs also give information about how many remain trapped inside. The very back wall opposite the entrance is a memorial name wall with all the names of people who died in the attack and men who survived, but had their ashes placed with their fallen comrades in the ship. It's a solemn place, but also an interesting one because it is so rare to be near a sunken ship. The USS Arizona still leaks oil, and it's the full fuel tanks when it was attacked that partially contributed to it being blown up so aggressively.
We were ushered back onto the next boat when the next group arrived and driven back to shore. We walked around some of the displays outside looking out onto the harbor before heading back to the car. With dad's military ID we were able to take Allan to Ford Island in the middle of the harbor which was also a location for the bombing. From Ford Island we visited the USS Oklahoma memorial and the USS Utah ship remains. The Utah remains are visible above the water and the Oklahoma is a memorial with white and black pillars to remember those lost. On Ford Island you can also get a close up view of the Arizona Memorial. When we went to look at the Arizona, it started to pour with rain, so we didn't really linger there at all.
After Ford Island we made our way to Pearl City to go to Big City Diner. We also stopped at the Leonard's Malasada truck to get some malasadas (portuguese donuts). We got some original, but also haupia filled, chocolate filled, custard filled, cinnamon sugar, and lihing powdered. I was looking forward to those after dinner. Big City Diner has some great local food. Allan got a loco moco here (rice with a hamburger patty, grave, and fried egg) and I got kimchee fried rice which was huge! And incredibly delicious. Another big reason we like Big City Diner is the super garlicky garlic fries.
We enjoyed our meal, and then had to head back to the hotel so that Nick could shower and finish getting ready for his flight. Allan and I said goodbye to him, but we would be seeing him in a couple of weeks when we came to get Freya, so it wasn't a very big goodbye. Allan and I then walked back to our hotel with our malasadas which I am looking forward to having for breakfast in the morning and fried rice for lunch! Before heading to bed, we decided to have a late night hot tub on the rooftop pool deck. It was totally dead and really nice to have it all to ourselves. Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 7
20 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone
In the back of my mind, I always regretted not getting a tattoo to remember/commemorate my time living and growing up in Hawaii. I knew that I wanted one, but I only wanted to get it if I was in Hawaii. So, the opportunity never presented itself. About two or three weeks before we were going to come, I asked Hannah if she thought it would be possible to get one and if she would help me design it. She was pretty enthusiastic, and helped me draw out my ideas. The design we came up with was a paddle with a turtle and the islands inside it. Now we had the design, but had to find an artist. Her artist wasn't available, but I found one who was and she was interested in doing the tattoo for me. It all came together and today is the day!
Allan walked with me to the studio about a half hour walk away. The Greenhouse was a cute place and very open. It was only me and a couple of friends getting tattoos together. I was a bit surprised by how quiet it was because my 11:00 appointment didn't seem particularly early. When I got there, Becca, the artist, worked with me to finalize the design. We got it printed out onto the stencil and then it was time to get started! Allan took a few pictures before he said goodbye and made his way back to the hotel.
Becca was nice and easy to talk to. I was worried that the ribs would be a sore area, but once she started at the bottom and worked her way up my ribs, I hardly noticed. I was relieved and glad that it wasn't going to be as bad as the tattoo on my foot. After doing the initial lines, she cleaned it (which hurt more than the tattoo needle) and she went over the tattoo again because of the fine lines. Once she was done, she had to clean it again. The alcohol and rubbing on the tender skin felt like rubbing sand into a fresh sunburn. It was definitely more sore than the actual tattoo.
When she was done cleaning it, I was able to get up and take a look. It looked great and I was happy with how it came out. I was also worried about the healing because of where it is and the fine lines. I had waited a long time for this tattoo and I didn't want anything to ruin it! After taking a couple of pictures, she put something called second skin on which is not something that existed the last time I got a tattoo. It was like a big, sticky piece of plastic wrap that stays on for several days and helps keep it moist and clean. It apparently heals a lot quicker and made me feel less worried about clothes rubbing on it when it was fresh.
I walked slowly back to the hotel, trying not to sweat, which was difficult with the heat, and then Allan and I just chilled out the rest of the day. We got caught up on some admin stuff but also went up to the pool deck and chilled out for a little while before we got some easy dinner from the ABC Store downstairs. It was nice to have a chill day, and I was really glad I had the chance to get this tattoo. Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 8
21 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Allan and I took the day to go sightseeing while mom and dad helped Hannah clean her apartment.
Something that I had yet to do was visit Iolani Palace. We had to get the bus there, but it wasn't a long journey on the bus which was good because the bus was unsurprisingly late. We arrived at the palace just in time for our 12pm tour. We got our tickets scanned at the ticket booth and then power walked over to the palace entrance. We were told to put some shoe covers on, and wait until the docent (a tour guide) arrived to start the visit.
Our docent arrived shortly after we sat down to wait, and introduced himself and why he works at the palace. Apparently he is a local and grew up not far from the palace. We went into Iolani Palace and I was stunned by the reconstruction. The docent explained that after the fall of the monarchy, Iolani Palace was used as government offices and most of the original furnishings were sold all the way down to the light fixtures and rugs. Over many painstaking years, Friends of Iolani Palace have worked to put the palace back to its original state after it was going to be knocked down when the government moved out. They have somehow managed to find majority of the original furniture and even light fixtures that used to be in the palace. It's pretty impressive.
In the first room, a foyer-like area, there are paintings along the walls with different Hawaiian monarchs. King Kalakaua liked the style of monarchs in other countries honoring predecessors and showing lineage by having their portraits displayed and did the same. The docent talked us through the monarchs on the walls discussing who the crown passed to when the monarch died and it was interesting to learn that women could be monarch in their own right. Some kings had favored consorts and those children got the crown rather than just passing to the eldest child. Some kings and queens had adopted children that the crown passed to rather than a blood relative.
The chairs and vases in this room were reclaimed after being sold and were original. The chairs were a great way to show the original and reclaimed nature of the furnishings because they originally had wheels on the front two legs to make them easier to move around, but when they were sold, the wheels were cut off. To restore them to their original palace state, the wheels were put back on, but an extra piece of wood had to be added to the back legs to account for the changes after the legs were trimmed when they were altered the first time from the original palace chairs.
We went into the side rooms into a blue room that was a sitting room at one point and had a piano and striking portrait of Queen Liliuokalani and her iconic dress on display. Connecting to that room with huge, open koa wood doors was the dining room and connecting butler's area for serving. The dining table was set and notably, the king's chair was not at the head of the table, but the middle. The docent explained that this is because the monarch liked to be in and amongst the people and didn't believe they were above their people. On our way out we took a peak at the pantry and a bathroom. Kalakaua worked hard to modernize the palace with plumbing and electricity. After visiting modern monarchs in Europe, he took ideas and notes from the European palaces he visited.
Also on this bottom floor was the throne room. It had the royal colors for King Kalakaua as well as his royal clothing. Everything in the room was original and restored to its former glory. Around the room were the coat of arms for different countries that offered gifts to Hawaii. It was a really spectacular room and was modeled from the British monarchy's throne room.
We moved back into the main foyer and were directed to the staircase. The staircase was the centerpiece of the room and is original. It is made out of koa wood, a strong Hawaiian wood. We all took care going up the stairs, staying on the right side in a single file. The stairs and the rug on them were both beautiful and you couldn't help but move slowly and treat the stairs with tenderness after hearing what the building had been through.
Upstairs was a collection of rooms including Kalakaua and Kapiolani's bedrooms. The furniture in these rooms is original to the palace and did belong to the monarchs. A black and white picture of Kalakaua's bedroom was in his room showing the original layout and the docent pointed out some of the furniture that was the same, and some that was still missing (just in case we ever found some at a local yard sale lol).
One of the last rooms that we went in was the room where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned when the Hawaiian government turned into a republic and became a US state. She was unjustly put on house arrest and restricted to the one room in the palace. She passed the time by writing music and books, and by doing embroidery and sewing. A quilt made up of scraps of fabric mostly from her own clothing was on display in the center of the room. It was a beautiful piece of art, and showed her strength and resilience during this horrible period of her life. It was a stunning quilt with intricate patterns and embroidery. I think it was one of my favorite things in the whole palace.
Once we were finished upstairs looking at the bedrooms, offices, sitting rooms and the bathrooms, we went carefully back down the stairs where the tour concluded. Allan and I both felt that we learned so much on the tour and our docent was incredibly knowledgeable. It was well worth the money for the experience. We were encouraged to go into the basement for a self guided visit. Down here we visited the former kitchens and saw different exhibits about the history of the monarchy and palace, the path to restoration, and the royal jewelry. There was so much we could learn down here too, but we skimmed most of the panels so that we could fit in more activities.
After the palace we went across the street to a statue of King Kamehameha and a rather grand looking building. It was the Alionai Hale, the House of Heavenly Kings. It was made in the late 1800s and is a government building. Inside we visited some rooms that mimicked trial rooms and some rooms had exhibitions about laws in Hawaii. One hallway was dedicated to the rules and regulations after the attack on Pearly Harbor and what had to be followed to help the war effort. Another room traced the evolution of government and laws in Hawaii. It was all pretty interesting, especially when it cited specific examples and cases.
I was feeling tapped out after walking around the hale and didn't fancy going to the State Capitol building. Allan loves visiting government buildings, so he decided to visit a few. I got the bus back to the hotel, which was late, and rushed up to the rooftop for the free Wednesday mai tai at the pool. I even managed to get and save one for Allan. We spent the rest of our afternoon on the pool deck chilling out until mom texted us inviting us to meet them for dinner.
We had quick showers to wash off the sunscreen and then walked to meet them at Hilton Hawaiian Village. We put our names down for a good pizza place and then walked around the nearby shops with my parents enjoying all of the samples in the cookie store. When we were finally called for a table, we certainly weren't as hungry as before all the cookie samples, but still picked out and enjoyed a kalua pork pizza.
After dinner we went for a walk around the lagoon while we waited for Hannah. She came and met us for an ice cream date at Lappert's. There were a lot of great flavors to choose from. Allan couldn't resist the ube (purple sweet potato) and I went for some fruity, tropical flavors. It was very tasty. Once our ice cream was done, we picked up some things we left in mom and dad's room before heading back to our hotel. The walk after all the food was probably a good thing! Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 9
22 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Today was meant to be a pretty chill day, but got a little bit busier (in a boring way) than planned.
Allan was going to go hiking today up Koko Head, a crater further south on the island. He was going up for sunset and had to get the bus there. With no other plans for the day, we decided to try and plow through some planning and admin stuff for the rest of our time in Hawaii. I got to work organizing an itinerary for the Big Island and Allan was updating our finances and dealing with some bank stuff for back home. I also tried to make a dent in all of the things I collected for the scrapbook. We did so much in Australia and New Zealand, those were going to take a while to get done. Before we knew it, Allan was rushing to get dressed and head for his bus to Koko Head.
I helped Allan with some bus times to help him make his connections while I finished the pages for Australia in the scrapbook and did some laundry before we check out tomorrow. Around 6pm I went downstairs to Yardhouse, a restaurant near my hotel, and waited for mom, dad, and Hannah to come and meet for dinner here. Normally this is a very busy restaurant so I went down ahead of everyone to get a table, but they had plenty of room for a change!
Once mom and dad got there (Hannah was lagging behind), I ran back up to the room to switch my laundry over and then went back to the restaurant. Hannah had arrived by this point as did the beer I ordered before I ran off to finish the laundry. I ordered the Nashville hot chicken and sweet potato pancakes. It was pretty good. Dad had steak, Hannah mac and cheese, and mom had a nice looking chicken dish which I took home the leftovers for Allan to eat.
After dinner, I went back to my hotel room and mom and dad tagged along to share the last of the hula pie I brought back to eat with them from my birthday. They also had a quick look through my scrapbook. When they left, I started packing while I waited for Allan to get back from his hike. He ate and told me about the walk before having a shower. He doesn't pack until right before we need to leave which always stresses me out. We tried to get to bed early, because we are getting up pretty early, before sunrise, to walk to Diamond Head for one last excursion before we leave Oahu. Czytaj więcej
Oahu Day 10
23 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Our last morning on Oahu, we were up early and making our way a few miles down the road to Diamond Head State Monument. Diamond Head is an old volcano and hiking the crater gives great views of Waikiki.
It was a warm walk, and surprisingly busy at 6am as we walked down the Waikiki beachfront. We had a quick stop at the Duke Kahanamoku statue before continuing on. Duke was a Hawaiian and a famous surfer who brought awareness to surfing as a sport. He also took part in two Olympic games in the early 1900s. He's a pretty interesting guy.
Once we got to Diamond Head, we got our tickets scanned and then began the hike. The sun was already feeling pretty brutal, but luckily Diamon Head isn't a difficult hike. The path is paved or dirt with little rocks. The only annoying things are all of the switchbacks on the way up and many slow people as you get further up the hill. We made good time on the way up and were walking through the tunnel in less than an hour. Then it was a climb up some stairs before we got to some of the viewpoints. It was pretty busy at the top, but we found some room to enjoy the view. It was a relatively clear, sunny day, and the views are still very much worth the walk.
After taking our time at the top, it was a walk through the crater, down some steps in an old building, and then back down the switchbacks. Instead of walking the whole way back again, we decided to wait for the bus which in an annoying and surprising change of events to every other bus we got, was early and we watched it drive away unawares that it was the one we were planning to get on Google maps. We had to wait a while for the next one, but we still got back to the hotel with plenty of time to shower and change before checking out.
Mom and dad were getting a flight at a similar time to us, so they picked us up and everyone was ready to head to the airport. First, we dropped Hannah off at a hotel for the night before her flight tomorrow and we had to get gas before dropping off the rental car. At the airport, Allan and I helped mom get her bags through customs while dad dropped the car off. Then, it was time to say goodbye and see you later (in like two weeks). We then made our way to our check in desk, got our bags taken care of, and then made our way to the gate to begin our journey to the Big Island. Czytaj więcej
Big Island Day 1
23 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
We got to the Big Island on time around 14:30. My bag came off the baggage claim belt totally open and contents spilling out which was shocking and very annoying. That meant all 3 of my bags had been searched today, what the heck!
We picked up our large truck and decided to drive down to the trail for Captain Cook's Monument. While driving through Kona, the rain was off and on, but when we got to the trailhead, it was pouring. It would lighten up, but never stopped. Allan decided this wasn't going to stop him heading down the trail to the spot where Captain Cook was killed, so he got dressed and headed down. I stayed in the car planning to go a different day when Allan was hiking elsewhere.
From my shelter in the car, I hoped Allan was ok, because it was absolutely pouring for most of the time he was gone. He came back after about an hour and a half totally soaked, but in one piece and not having slipped anywhere despite the rain and rushing water.
We went back through Kona and looked for a good sunset spot along the way, but sadly didn't find one. We continued on and got some groceries and dinner at Safeway. We missed lunch, so we bought some discounted hot food and ate that before going shopping for groceries for the week. After that it was about 40 minutes until we got to the Hilton Waikoloa Village.
We parked and managed to catch the monorail as soon as we walked into the main lobby. This was great because it saved us about a 10 minute walk to our building, Ocean Tower, with all the bags and groceries. Checking in was quick and we were only one floor up from the Ocean Tower lobby. Our room was recently renovated and very nice with one of the fanciest toilets I've ever seen. Our stay at the resort is a wedding gift from my mom and dad and is a nice treat. We came here every Christmas when we lived in Hawaii, so seeing everything again is super nostalgic for me. I'm looking forward to staying here and seeing it all again.
We had showers and headed to bed. Tomorrow we have a pretty full day at Volcanoes National Park! Czytaj więcej
Big Island Day 2
24 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Our first full day on the Big Island was spent at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. From the hotel, it's about two and a half hours drive to the park, so we got up early to make the most of our day. The drive took us past Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and through Hilo before we finally got to the national park. When we got there, it wasn't too busy, but it was nearly 10:00 so it was definitely starting to pick up.
Our first activity was the Kilauea Iki Crater hike. I love this hike and did it every Christmas vacation when we lived in Hawaii. It was a nostalgic walk for me, but also really fun to share it with Allan this time. We walked through the forest along the top edge of the crater, every now and then getting a glimpse down inside. The inside of the crater was formed by a lava lake from the 1959 eruption. It is one of the coolest parts of the hike. After we walked halfway around the crater, we began the switchbacks down into the former lava lake.
Once in the crater, Allan was loving all of the different colors, shapes, and textures of the lava rocks. Early on into the walk, I spotted all of the volcanic glass, Pele's Hair as it is known in Hawaii (Pele is the volcano goddess). Pele's Hair is thin, hair-like volcanic glass, and it was everywhere. With nearby Halemaumau Crater erupting, the lava is blown up in an episode and this sometimes results in the thin volcanic glass forming and blowing around the area. There was so much of it in the crater, and there was even a warning when driving around the park for volcanic glass tumbleweeds!
We continued our walk through the crater with Allan running up and down piles of lava. We got to the other side, and had to climb back out via many switchbacks in the forest. This was always my least favorite part of the hike, and turns out it still is! It just feels like it takes an eternity climbing back up. We finally got back out and made our way across the street to Thurston Lava Tube.
It's a short walk down into the lava tube. The big opening was just as I remembered it with greenery hanging around everywhere. We walked into the dimly lit, damp lava tube. It's not a long section that you can walk through, but is crazy how round it is to be created by nature and the flow of lava. Back out the other side, we walked back up and finished the rest of the Kilauea Iki trail. We were just about back to the car when we ran into a volunteer ranger talking with a group of tourists and showing them the live feed of the volcanic eruption. It was starting to spout and the lava was very obvious. He told us that it was most likely going to fountain at some point today and gave us some good places to go and see it once it did. We were so excited that we picked today to come to the park!
After the hike and lava tube, we decided to head over to Volcano House, one of the places with a view into Halemaumau Crater. By the time we got there, the lava wasn't spouting as much, but every now and then we got a glimpse of the orange. After staying there for a couple of hours, eating lunch, and seeing no change, we decided to go to Volcanic Winery about 10 minutes away.
At the winery we sampled six wines: 2 red, 2 white, and 2 dessert. They were all pretty standard, but the interesting one was the macadamia honey wine. Unsurprisingly, it is an award winner and it was pretty good. Having already bought plenty of wine in Australia, we resisted temptation to buy any more. In the winery, the live feed for the eruption was on TV, so we kept a close eye on it just in case we had to head back in a hurry.
After our wine, we drove Chain of Craters Road. Along this stretch of road in the national park are tons of craters formed from all of the volcanic eruptions here. We also drove down to the coast to see the lava arch and the lava flow from an eruption that I saw here when I was a kid. It was like remembering a dream going down there and walking along the same deserted road along the coast that I remember walking with my family to go and see the lava flow into the ocean.
Once Allan had stopped at all the eruption signs along the road, we drove back up from the coast. It was dark now, so we decided to try and go see the lava. We parked near destruction trail, where earthquakes and eruptions destroyed part of Crater Road. With head torch on, we made our way down the road about half an hour before coming to the viewpoint where we could see down into Halemaumau. There were plenty of other people here too, all sitting, watching, and waiting for the potential lava fountain to start. Every now and again, we would be able to hear the lava roaring and spluttering, even from the distance.
We waited for over an hour, but nothing happened, and it started to get late. We had a long drive still to get back to the hotel. Around 9:30/10:00pm we gave up on the lava fountain and walked back to the car. Feeling a little bit bummed we didn't see the huge lava, it wasn't a total loss because the dark night sky and the bright orange lava glow meant that we did see some lava. We planned to keep an eye on it over the next couple of days, just in case.
The drive back to the hotel felt like an eternity. We were pretty tired by the time we got back and luckily managed to catch the last monorail heading towards our building. After some quick showers, we fell into bed. Czytaj więcej
Big Island Day 3
25 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Today we spent the day in Hilo, and originally planned to finish with this side of the island by hitting Mauna Kea on our way home, but boy did this day take a turn.
We left for Hilo a bit later than planned after getting home late last night watching lava. Our first stop was Rainbow Falls. When the light shines onto the waterfall and there is enough water pouring into the pool, it forms a rainbow into the pool on the waterfall mist. It was a beautiful sunny morning, but there hadn't been a lot of rain recently, so there wasn't enough water to make mist for the sun to shine on. It was still a pretty place, and there was a huge banyan tree nearby.
After Rainbow Falls we went to Boiling Pots up the street. This is a series of small pools that when the water flows heavy and fast, the water looks like its boiling because of the air bubbles in the rock. There's a story about the god Maui boiling the water to trap and defeat a giant lizard that went after his mother. The water, much like at Rainbow Falls from the same water source, wasn't flowing heavy enough to make it look like it was boiling.
We left the river with its boiling pots and waterfalls behind and finished the short drive into Hilo town center. The next stop was at Big Island Candies. It was very different from the last time I was there, and that's probably because of COVID. When we walked in, a woman handed us a couple of samples at the door, but they used to have so many samples all around the shop. It was a little disappointing not to get to try all of the different things, but we would just have to make do. We browsed all of the different items: the cookies, chocolates, and toffees, before deciding to get a small multi-treat box. This way we can try a little bit of a few different things.
Goodies in hand, we made our way to Ken's Pancake House, a little diner down the street. This diner has been around for decades and we came here for breakfast every year we visited the Big Island. Absolutely nothing about the place had changed. I ordered the mac nut waffle and Allan got coconut pancakes. And then the waitress brought one of the best things about Ken's, the homemade syrups: coconut, lilikoi (passionfruit), and guava. It's impossible to just choose one, so I broke my waffle into quarters and chose a different syrup for each. I also tried some of Allan's coconut pancakes. It was all delicious, and we left with very full bellies.
Just around the corner from Ken's (I'm sure you've gathered that Hilo is not a big place) was Ola Brewing, a local brewery. We shared a lilikoi milkshake IPA and a porter before saying goodbye to Hilo and making our way back towards our hotel via Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea is the highest elevation mountain, from the seafloor, in the world and because of that it has a stunning sunset. Because of its elevation, you need a 4x4 to access the summit after you stop by the visitor's center on the way up for a bit of acclimatization. We didn't spend as long in Hilo as expected, so we had plenty of time to acclimatize before heading up to the summit.
While we were wandering around in the gift shop, we saw a guide talking about the eruption with another couple. Apparently they also missed the fountaining at the volcano yesterday too. It was only after we got a bit closer and engaged with them further, that we realized their guide was holding up a livestream of the eruption fountaining 1,000 feet in the air! We were shocked, and a little bit disappointed in ourselves for not checking earlier when we were in Hilo, a mere 30 minutes from the national park.
We went back and forth about making our way to the volcanic eruption. We weren't sure if we would make it in time being an hour and 45 minutes away now. We also knew that other people would start heading there which would cause traffic and parking issues. In the end, we decided to go for it; Mauna Kea and its sunset would be here tomorrow, the eruption would not.
We jumped in the car and raced to the national park. About a mile or so away from the entrance, the traffic started. The more time that ticked by, the more nervous we got about missing the fountain. We were anxiously watching the livestream and could see the sky's red glow from the eruption. It was so close, but not close enough. Our patience prevailed and we finally got into the park. We decided not to push our luck with the time and went straight to the viewing area at Volcano House rather than Destruction Trail where we went yesterday.
We luckily managed to find a sort of parking spot on the road, but it was very clear that parking restrictions were not being enforced by the amount of abandoned cars all over the place. I rushed out to find a spot to watch and Allan followed shortly after. The lava was incredible. I mean, we hadn't even seen it at its highest point, but it was still one of the coolest things I've seen. At times you could hear it roaring like a jet out of the earth. Two vents were spewing lava. We were mesmerized by the entire scene. The lava would fly so high, and then would slowly fall down to the earth and join the trail flowing on the crater floor.
We stayed watching the eruption for over an hour and a half. Once it was clearly starting to slow down and one vent appeared to be sputtering out, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Unfortunately, that meant the long, two and a half hour drive again like last night. We watched the livestream on the way home and definitely arrived and left at a good time. As we drove away from the park, knowing that the first vent had gone out and the second didn't have long left, we passed by a line of cars 5 miles long and felt even more thankful about the decision we made to leave Mauna Kea when we did.
It was another long drive back, but we were still a little bit high on the eruption excitement. It was a definite pinch-me moment. I was happy because I had seen lava flow slow and thick into the ocean which is an experience, and now a huge fountain. I'm a very lucky girl.
When we got back to the hotel, even later than last night, we had a snack (we missed dinner again) and then headed to bed. Allan plans to start a huge two-day hike up Mauna Loa tomorrow, so rest is definitely necessary. Czytaj więcej
Big Island Day 4
26 maja 2025, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
Today was a bit of a mess...but we managed to salvage it in the end.
After two really late nights watching lava, we got up later than planned, but still relatively early because today was the day Allan was going to take two days to hike Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is a challenging, 20+ mile hike up difficult terrain. He had to apply for a hiking permit and to stay in a cabin nearby the top. We also had to arrange with a farm to access their property and make the drive to the trail head. Before we could drive to the trail head, we needed to stop back at Volcanoes National Park so Allan could pick up a hardcopy of his hiking permit from the Backcountry office.
When we finally arrived at the office around noon (again, that long drive there was killing us) and nobody was in the office. We called the number on the door that was listed to call if nobody was in, but a grumpy man answered saying someone would get there eventually and not to call that number unless it was an emergency. We waited and waited getting increasingly frustrated. Eventually someone showed up, but he was pretty useless and couldn't get the printer to work so Allan just had to take a picture of the permit he was supposed to have a hardcopy of.
Permit, sort of, in hand we finished the 15-20 minute drive further to the farm. We used the gate code to unlock the gate and then began the bumpy 8 mile journey to the start of the trail. Things were going ok at first, the "road" was somewhat obvious and while it was bumpy and we had to avoid cows occasionally, it seemed doable. This changed very quickly after about 10 minutes. The path forward was no longer obvious, there were huge rocks, dips, and hills. Things were getting scary and the estimate of an hour to go 8 miles from the farm people was looking more realistic. We went another 15 minutes making very slow and very bumpy progress. Then the fog and rain set in. Not only were we not even halfway through the drive, but Allan hadn't even started the double digit mile long hike to the top where his cabin to sleep for the night was. Alarm bells were going off for both of us: I was worried about doing this drive several more times without Allan as well as Allan doing a dangerous and unpredictable hike in what was now bad weather, and Allan was worried about hiking alone in the fog on an unmarked trail and me driving the horrible road alone. We parked, talked it over, and abandoned the plan.
With Allan's hike no longer going ahead, we needed to make new plans. Allan suggested doing Mauna Kea because we didn't do it yesterday, but I was dressed to go to the beach which was my plan after dropping him off for his hike. Mauna Kea was out. Allan then remembered reading about Kazamura Cave, the longest lava tube in the world. We weren't far from Volcanoes National Park and the lava tube was nearby there. He quickly looked online and managed to get a last minute cave tour. We raced there and got him to the cave just in time. Again, I was not dressed for this activity, so I went up to Hilo instead.
In Hilo I stopped by the Mauna Loa Macadamia Factory, once a bustling and thriving shop and factory with a tour. When I arrived I thought it was closed because the place was dead. Covid must have really impacted factory and shop visits. I walked in and there was very little stock of nuts. Nothing special on the shelves either like there used to be. There wasn't even any music on! It was really disappointing and a little bit sad. I wandered around the shop trying to find anything special to buy, but in the end left empty handed.
Having not spent much time at the nut shop like I expected to, I went back to Ola Brewing. I had an orange vanilla hard seltzer and read a book for 20 minutes before I had to head back to pick up Allan from his cave. He had a private tour, and it was basically an entrance in this guy's backyard. He learned a lot about how the lava tubes are formed and about different colors and shapes of lava. I think not being able to climb the world's tallest active volcano was made less sad because he got to visit the world's largest lava tube instead. You can't have it all as they say!
After the crazy day, we made the long drive, yet again, back to the hotel. This time we didn't get back at stupid o'clock and went for a walk around the resort. The more we walked across all the bridges and past all the buildings and pools, it all came back to me. It was nice to share the stories and memories with Allan. We walked past the dolphin pool too on our way to the waterfall and saw the dolphins swimming. It was nice and quiet around the resort at this time, even at the main pool area, which was great for a relaxing nighttime walk.
We made a loop around the whole resort back to our room. It was nice to be in the room and getting into bed before midnight. It has been a pretty busy few days! Czytaj więcej
Podróżnik
So pretty🤩