Hawaii, the Big Island

After the wonderful sinewy green geography of Oahu, I looked forward to more of the same on the Big Island, the youngest island, Hawaii. Well, surprise. This was an island unto itself. Yes, there were similarities, but Hawaii had its own look, feel and terrain. Unfortunately we had to look fast — we only had two short days. Flying in, we saw the distinct forms of Mauna Kea (angular, 13,796 ft) and Mauna Loa (smooth, rounded, 13,677 ft) protruding above the clouds.

We stayed in Hilo, on the rainy east coast. (It's amazing how different the weather was from one area to another on a given island; esp. Hawaii and Maui.) Such a lush area, with beautiful trees everywhere, especially along Banyan Drive, where our hotel was located. Our room had a nice view of Hilo Bay, Coconut Island and Mauna Kea in the distance.

We went north from Hilo, driving the northeastern coast. On our way, we took a short sidetrip into Akaka Falls State Park, followed a trail through dense vegetation and came upon a neat, narrow waterfall,with a 442-foot drop.

As the road turned inland a bit, we were suddenly in ranch country(!), now this was Hawaii, right? or had we somehow veered off into Montana? We were in Waimea, home of the Parker Ranch — at 250,000 acres, one of the largest private ranches in the U.S. It was established in 1815 by John Palmer Parker, a young seaman who worked for Kamehameha the Great (more on him below) rounding up stray cattle.

Beautiful open country ... rolling green pastures along the slopes of Mauna Kea and the Kohala Mountains, but unlike Montana, here you had the spectacular Pacific far below.

As we continued northward on Kohala Mountain Road, the views got better and better as the road elevation reached 3500 feet. We drove through Hawi and beyond to Kapaau, where we saw another statue of the King, Kamehameha. This was the original (we saw the other at Iolani Palace in Honolulu), completed in 1880 and situated here because this was close to his birthplace. Kamehameha founded the all-islands kingdom in the 1790s, but seemed (to me) quite the tyrant. His men fought terrible battles to take Hawaii, Maui and Oahu (there forcing warriors to jump to their deaths from the Nuuanu Pali).

This northern tip of Hawaii was quaint, low-key, very lush and pretty. We rounded the tip and went south on 270, down the coast in direction and elevation. And entered another world along the South Kohala coast. Lava world. Luxury resorts and popular beaches line the coast, and break up the lava fields that define this region. Just past Kawaihae, we turned onto the grounds of the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. We checked out the remarkable golf course (of Skins Game fame) built in and around lava fields and outcroppings.

Continuing south down the Kailua-Kona coast, we stopped at a shopping plaza to pick up some famous Kona coffee to bring home for family and friends. We pulled over many times to check out — and try to figure out — what was going on here ... it's a strange kind of beautiful. The landscape appeared desolate and barren at first glance. But wait. And look closer. And get swept away. Here began an unexpected obsession — lava.

Gallery...Hawaii