Hawaii Grand Circle Island Tour
Jan. 1st was my second full day in Hawaii. I thought the best thing to do first would be to take a guided tour around the entire island. Then I could go back to the really cool places in my rental car. Overall, this was a full day tour, starting at 8 AM and ending in the evening, around 6 PM, traveling a total of 260 miles!
We started in Kailua-Kona and traveled up the west coast towards Waimea. In the distance, you can see Mauna Kea on the east side. (pronounced "mou-nuh key-uh")
Take notice of the black rock from previous volcanic eruptions. On the way, we saw remnants of the 1801 and 1859 lava flows. 1801 is darker rock, while 1859 is lighter in color.
A little further down the road, and you can see we are back to fertile green grass.
From Kona to Hilo (pronounced "hee-loh"), there are an astounding 51 bridges. Here is a nice waterfall shot off one of them. Hilo is located on the east side of the Big Island.
I also learned that Hilo gets the most rain out of anywhere in the USA. It can receive up to 300 inches per year. So, of course it was raining on the way there.
First stop: Rainbow Falls in Wailuku River State Park
▶️Video of the beautiful waterfall:
Something hard to miss, the ancient Banyan tree:
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa (pronounced "mou-nuh loh-uh") is one of the five volcanoes that form Hawaii's Big Island. Mauna Loa is the largest subaerial volcanoes in the world. I suppose I'm taking a risk just standing here...
Check out the size of that crater:
Different types of lava rock
Thurston Lava Tube
Yes, you can actually walk through an old tunnel that lava created! This is a 500 year old lava tube located on Kilauea Crater. (pronounced "kee-lou-ey-ah")
Punalu'u Black Sand Beach!
After the Volcanos National Park we ventured to the south side of the Big Island. I learned there are many black sand beaches around the world. For more information about what black sand beaches are and how they are formed, check out this Everipedia article:
https://everipedia.org/wiki/Black_sand/
Took a close up so you can see some of the intricate textures:
▶️Great video clip of the "mini waterfall"
We eventually made our way back to the west side of the island. For the final destination, we stopped for Kona coffee at Royal Kona. I must say, if you are a coffee drinker, I highly recommend trying Kona coffee. It has a very unique flavor.
And a beautiful sunset... photobombed by a parking lot :/
That's a wrap for Day 3 ladies and gentlemen. I have 9 more days to go. Weeeeee!