Saturday, August 29, 2009
After spending 5 nites at Maui, we took a very small commuter plane to fly over to Big Island. The plane could only seat 9 persons and it was so scary when it hit turbulence! Was so nervous throughout the flight lor...
The second day at the island was really fruitful, went to see a couple of waterfalls, Waipio Valley, Green sand and another black sand beach. Most unforgettable was the journey to the green sand beach...We din know that it was SOOOO far by foot!!! As the beach was located in a very secluded area where no normal 4-wheel car could reach, we had to walk ard 2.5 miles (around 4km) along the rough, sandy road!! My gosh..We were really tired after walking ard one mile under the heat, and the strong winds kept blowing the sand in my face, making the walk very tedious... LUCKILY, we hitched a ride with a lorry, and although the bum hurts a lot from the bumpy ride, we realised how much further we had to walk in on the way there. By the time we reached, will be sunset liao lor... So we gave the driver 20 bucks and asked him to drive us back as well... Good things never come easy. The green sand beach was really gorgeous lor. So unique!!! I was so amazed to see olive colored sand shimmering in the sun. It was formed by olivine crystal from the volcanoes, the same mineral that is used to make my green color birth stone!! wahaha...we wasted no time in taking loads of pics and tried out lots of poses with the unusual green sand. The water currents was really rough, but its bright blue hue complements the green sand so perfectly and makes the scenery really breathtaking. Haiz...but sun sets really soon, and we had to climb up the small cliff to reach the lorry again...Lucky the driver waited for us...
Next highlight was the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This was also the main attraction that had drawn us to Hawaii in the first place; we wanted to see real and active volcanoes with red lava erupting continuously!!! Haiz...but the most we can see is red lava flowing into the ocean, which is continuously creating a larger Hawaii Island before our eyes, but we didn't really see any lava flowing around the volcano, although we can also see red lava glow in the crater at night la...The ranger said we were 50 years too late!!! At that time, lava flowed continuously for several years, and ppl could see the lava explosions from the eruption and can view how lava slowly cooled on the ground...
But it's still very interesting and fun to see how previous volcanoes ruined the entire area, with evidence of solidified lava everywhere lar...though not red in color, it's bronze-like and black lava forms also look impressive... Fun to also know that this volcano is one of the most active in the world, with real hot lava still churning in the crater today, and producing lots of sulphuric gases at the same time...
We also especially looked forward to the farmer's market near our hotel, cuz got many more local delicacies we can buy at a cheaper price... We bought lots of fruits, rice roll, bentos and their tapioca dessert... so shiok leh! I realized Hawaiian food very "asian" like, more like chai beng...but still not as good as singapore food...But I do enjoy these food more than the regular American fast food lor..
We did a lot of beaching again on the last day. I esp love the Hapuna Beach where we took our umbrella shots. Each beach chair and umbrella cost USD 10 leh!!! Cost us 30 bucks just to take that set of photos...WAHHHHHH...but never regret lar, cuz so damn hot that day...and I already very dark from previous tanning liao...sadz...nvm, can look slimmer also...
A great once-in-a-lifetime trip! Though I would very much like to go again =D
But it is really tiring to be stucked in the plane for so long before reaching Hawaii~
3:45 PM
