NONIE AND BRETT’S BELATED HONEYMOON- Episode 9

 PARADISE HAS FREE BREAKFASTS AND TOUR GUIDES

I awoke at my usual 6:00 AM, Kona time and wandered down to the lobby for a free cup of coffee, a complimentary newspaper and got back to the room a little after 7:00 AM.  Nonie was already showered so were back down in the lobby by 8:00 for our free breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised and pleased with our free breakfast because as you know “There is no free breakfast”.  This one was certainly in the top ten.  I had some coconut syrup on a pancake which while tasty will certainly not displace maple syrup at our house. The weather is looking reasonably clear for the helicopter ride.

I needed to find someway of attaching my camera to my body so it wouldn’t fly out of the open door of the helicopter ride so we headed to Wal-Mart to find something appropriate.  We took a quick spin to the airport to make sure we could find Tropical Helicopters.  At Wal-Mart, I found the most excellent trinkets for the folks back home and Nonie picked up some black ribbon that would work as a camera strap.

After some $3.48 gas from Chevron, we made quick stop at Hilo Hattie’s.  Hilo Hattie’s is the oldest tourist souvenir shop on the island, selling tourist crap since 1963, the same stuff that I got at Wal-Mart but 25% more expensive.  I did get a free paper cup of coffee. The coffee was certainly not as good as the stuff we bought at the mill. 

Editor's Note: Current gas price in Hawaii (May2022) is $5.24.

We arrived with plenty of time for a bathroom break, pick up a coffee and then were settled in to the flight lounge waiting for our turn.  The helicopter holds four people so before to long another couple arrived to join us.  The attendant gave us a quick rundown on what to do if we crash.  Nonie’s apprehensiveness rises.  The most important information is where to find the barf bags.  We are directed to a gate outside the terminal.  From there we watch our helicopter land and disgorge four passengers onto the tarmac.  They all look reasonably healthy, so Nonie’s apprehension slides down a notch. 

The ground crew then proceeds to remove the doors on the helicopter which took about two minutes. We have opted for the “Feel the Heat” trip, which involves removing the doors. Seemed like a good idea at the time.  The weather had socked in considerably since we got up. Hilo is on the rainy side of the island.  It receives over 140” of rain annually so rainy days are pretty well every day.  This does not seem to worry the ground crew as they load us quickly. There is another tour next hour!

Nonie has been given the seat between the pilot and the aisle seat where I am sitting.  The aisle is a little strut on the side of the helicopter. She is extremely pleased with her seat as I will fall out before she does.  Apprehension down a few more notches!

Little time is wasted as we took off.  We have 50 minutes to “Feel the Heat”.  Flying in a helicopter with no doors is exciting, unless it is raining and it started to rain as soon as we headed for the volcano.  Hey! We are from the west coast and this was just an April shower only at 140 miles an hour.  At that speed the rain feels like hail.  Way Cool!  The weather looked promising over the vent and the pilot said he had not been able to get near the vent on any previous flights that day.  They forgot to mention that when we checked in.

It was not raining as we approached the vent, but the clouds were thick and it did not look too promising to see the vent.  We headed in even though we could not actually see the vent.  The helicopter pilots are constantly talking to each other and letting each other no where there are. There are at least five companies who do this flight so it can get very busy around the vent.   The pilot who exited the volcano just before us said that it was clear, but our pilot seemed to have his doubts and it did not look like he was going to go for it. AW CRAP!  He persevered and suddenly we came out of the cloud and the vent appeared before us.

We were flying with in 500 feet of the summit which was steaming away.  The helicopters are not allowed to fly through the plume, because of its toxicity but we can fly around it. He first banked past the cone for the folks on the left side and then did a tight bank around so that I could have a photo op.  We were now not more than 300 feet from the summit of the cone on this pass. WAY COOL!  I just kept shooting pictures as fast as I could.  You get thrown around quite a bit, so trying to frame a picture is impossible. 

The weather started to close in so is was time to “Feel the Heat”!  We flew down towards the coast and over the hot lava.  You could not really see any red molten lava as it was flowing in a tube under the lava field. On occasions, the tube walls will break down and lava will rise to the surface and become visible. That was not to be today. 

I read that if a good breakout occurs, the helicopter ride prices rise dramatically.  The path of the tube can be traced on the surface of the field in that area will be hotter than the surrounding field and the path shows up on the surface of the lava field as a silvery grey colour. 

We approached the area where the lava was exiting out into the ocean.  It was easy to find with the huge plume of steam it generated.  We made a few high 1,000 feet passes over the area then went in to “Feel the Heat”. 

It was not a low as the brochure picture portrays and I was certainly not in any danger of heat exhaustion from “Feel the Heat” but it was still cool.  Again, not sure what my pictures will look like as framing was very difficult.  We then headed out to see the Rainbow Falls.  The weather got more extreme and the clouds much thicker so the pilot opted to return to the airport.  No problem as we had planned to go see the falls from the ground anyway.  We arrive back at the airport in a pretty good rain squall so we exited the helicopter quickly and headed into the terminal to avoid getting soaked. At $180 per person, someone should have been there with an umbrella.

The other couple whom were from Southern California were well traveled and we had been to many of the same places. They had made a short stop here on their way to Japan where they were going to pick up a repositioning cruise from Japan, along the Siberian coast, across the Bering Strait, down the coast of Alaska finishing the cruise in Vancouver.

Editors Note: Their story was the impetus for us to take the same trip 20 years later. See blogs for October 2017.

Once the rain slowed down, we jumped into the Jeep and headed to Rainbow Falls.  As waterfalls are concerned, it was okay. But we are from the mountains and waterfalls have to be pretty spectacular if they are to compare to the home grown ones.  As we arrived a single, older gentleman driving a classic 57 Chevy had just parked and we walked up to the view point behind him.  A quick stop and we headed further up the road to see some boiling points.  See the comments above regarding the view.

A gentleman in the 57 Chevy arrived here just as we parked. We walked down to the viewpoint not planning to spend a lot of time.  I took a closer look at the man as he wandered down to the view point.  He looked to be of Japanese descent but definitely a local and while we knew he was old, his actually age was indeterminate. He opened up a conversation enquiring where we were from. We spent the next 15 minutes getting to know more about the area and about him. Alvin suggested that we follow him up the road for about another mile to a bridge where another view of the falls could be found. He did not seem like a mass murderer so we opted to go along.  Nonie and I decided that if he took us off the main road and down any dark back roads, we were out of there.  He did not and the bridge was just a short way up the road.  We parked on one side of the road and he parked on the opposite side.  As he exited the car he had some kind of book in his hand. My first thoughts were “OHOH, Here comes the sales pitch”.  He offered the book to me and as he did so, I realized that it was a telephone book.  Puzzled I declined, but at that moment Nonie arrived and he offered it to her. She being the gracious person she is, accepted. But no money was requested so none was offered.  

We continued to hear more of the local history.  There was small shrine set up on the bridge. It consisted of flowers and bottles of beer.  It seems a young and invincible 19 year old slipped off the railing of bridge while he was in the act of leaping into a pool of water located just under the bridge.  You had to leap quite far out to clear some large rocks. He did not clear the rocks and paid the price with his life. Nonie read some of the touching graffiti left by his friends.  Things like “I’ll drink a couple for you, Broh”.  I think you can get the picture.

We enjoyed Alvin’s company for another 20 minutes.  He then said he was heading home and had to drive by the Kaumana Caves. This is another lava tube that is accessible to the public.  He offered to lead us there so that we could visit the site.  I had read about the site and it actually was one of the places that I had hoped to visit, so off we went.  they were after something.  

Nonie and I once again promising to duck out if he led us off the main road and on to some dark back road but again there was no problem.  Traveling in Cuba has left us a bit jaded about friendly people that we meet along the way as we found that in most cases they were looking for something. 

We were still a little unsure about Alvin intentions.  But he claimed to be 81 on his next birthday which seems a little old for a con man.  The cave / lava tube looks just like a hole in the side of the road.  

The hole was actually where the roof of the tube that had collapsed into its self. We had to climb down some slippery stairs carved out of the roof debris to access the tube.  We donned our head lamps, ponchos and headed in.  Nonie chickened out fairly quickly while I was not too far behind.  This was not a tame tube like the Thurston Tube; the floor was very rough, uneven and dark.  Our head lamps barely provided any light so we were soon back on the surface where Alvin waited for us. 

We said our goodbyes quickly, gave him one of my business cards and invited him to our paradise for a tour and we were out of there.  If Alvin had any intentions at this point our speedy departure did not allow the time.  So with a quick wave to him, we drove out of the parking lot. I think that he was a genuinely nice man who was lonely for a bit of conversation. 

We made one last stop at a place called Akaka Falls and turned a guide book suggested 40 minute stroll into a 20 minute power walk and one quick photo opportunity.  Three tour buses we just leaving as we arrived but the parking lot was still full.  This is not a drive by site as you actually have to walk in.  The directional signage gives you the distance in feet that you will need to walk.  There was 800’to one site and 920’ to the main site of Akaka Falls.  You could choose to walk a circular route that took you to both sites. We chose the circular route.  We passed a number of poor souls that were having a lot of difficulty in making the trip whether from health issues or just out of shape. They were giving it their best shot. Most of the exercise that they get now is standing in the buffet line aboard ship. So, so as waterfalls go.

We made a quick stop for some sustenance in a little town close to the falls then a 2 hour ride back to Kailua Kona and dinner at a Thai restaurant. The Thai restaurant was okay, with plenty of left overs for lunch tomorrow.