Big Island with Mom & Colleen 5/10-5/11/07 (video)

5/10/07 - 5/11/07

So, since my Mom has been in Hawaii we have...
- Gone to Kauai where we camped, hiked, and kayaked
- Circumvented the island of Oahu on our bikes
- Celebrated my 27th birthday


And now...off to BIG ISLAND for more adventures!

The fun never stops!!! Our first stop was an old Hawaiian Village

While there we met a man, dressed in traditional Hawaiian attire working on the canoes and the "nets" for the Hukilau festival they host every year!

















We explored the little village and found out some interesting history about ancient Hawaiian culture and traditions...how they lived, games they played, etc.






One of my favorite things was the Tiki's!!!










As we continued our journey I happened to read in one of the tourist books about a green sand beach...to get to it, you had to take your car down a road not permitted by the rental car company and then hike for a bit...well, once we got there we found out the "bit" of a hike would take a couple of hours round trip...BUMMER!

So we took a couple of pics and enjoyed the black sand beach (notice the cross someone made out of white rocks!) and headed on our merry way in order to make it to the lava fields!
















Once we made it to the lava fields we were amazed at how massive they were...they went on for acres and acres...covering the road at some points.














We waited for the sun to set so we could see the piping hot lava flowing down the mountain...but it turned out to be a small red ember FAR off in the distance...
















And of course, a video to prove we were there!!!




5/11/07



In the morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the cutest little diner in Hilo. When we were finishing up we ran into a little local girl who had so much personality, and personal style, that we had to take her picture!!!









Then, we jumped into our pimped out rental car - check that thing out! And headed back to Volcano National Park to see some more of the site and pay homage to Pele, fire goddess.



















On the long, site-seeing way back to the airport we made an impromptu stop at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut processing plant...our hopes that it would be as cool as the Jelly Belly plant tour in Wisconsin, but no such luck - no train, no free sample, not even a cool paper hat!









Then off to waterfalls (of course when we try and take a picture of us with the falls, we just get us...ugh!)

















And, finally, last stop before the airport = Waimea Valley!