Hawaii Part 1
We had the awesome opportunity to go to Hawaii again. Every since we went there 2 years ago, we've been itching to go again. My parents invited us to go with them to the Big Island. They have an amazing timeshare there. We were very excited to get to see a different island. If you've seen the recent Adam Sandler movie "Just Go With It", then you've seen our resort. The majority of the movie took place in Hawaii and was filmed where we stayed. The picture below is of our resort taken from our helicopter tour.
When we arrived at the Kona airport, we were shocked to see that it was all outdoors. This is a picture of our "terminal".
My Dad surprised us with a Lei greeting.
We also surprised them!
I think we walked away with 12 Leis total (our Lei greeter gave us a few extra and some random lady gave me one at the airport).
Many people told me that beaches were hard to come by on this island, but I didn't really believe them. I was amazed that they all knew what they were talking about. Most of the shore line is cliffs and sharp lava rocks, the rest you have to go off roading or hiking across old lava fields to get to. This was a beach at our resort. They strongly suggested not swimming there and warn you to enter at your own risk.
Our resort had dolphins! If you know me, you know this made the whole trip worth it!! I was so close to them!
Connected to the Dolphin area is a lagoon. This is a waterfall into the lagoon. We enjoyed snorkeling in there.
This island is very fascinating. It is almost entirely covered in lava. Between the airport and our resort, there were no trees or bushes. As far as you could see, there was only black lava rock. The picture below is of the "Hawaiian Graffiti". Many people collected white rocks or coral to write out messages in the black rocks.
I loved the colors at our resort. This was the only place I saw grass. I can't imagine how much work they put into it to dig away the lava and lay down grass.
On Monday (4/11/11), we went on a helicopter tour of the island. It was AWESOME!! I'm very prone to motion sickness so I was secretly nervous about spending 2 hours in a helicopter, but thanks to my miracle motion medicine, I was able to enjoy the entire flight!
My Dad was lucky to sit in the copilot's seat.
Me and my headphones.
He always looks good in whatever he's wearing!
The shoreline. You may think the colors look spectacular here, but trust me they were so much brighter in person.
We flew over the edge of the volcano. The glowing orange spot is actual lava. Our helicopter pilot told us that about 3 months ago the lava stopped flowing. Ever since 1984, it has been continually flowing out of the volcano and into the ocean, but as he put it "something has blocked it". Creepy!
This waterfall was gigantic!!
This was James' favorite part of the tour. It's a bomber from World War II that crashed in the jungle. Most tours don't get to see this at all because a cloud is always covering this part of the mountain. It was our lucky day.
Us with our helicopter pilot, Cogi.
Everyone on the helicopter. It was a very tight fit for 2 hours!
Later that day, we went on a dinner/sunset cruise. Once again, I tested the limits of my motion sick medicine and I'm very happy to say that I felt perfect the entire time.
James was very excited to cruise the ocean while eating a Hawaiian cuisine.
We had a gorgeous view of the sunset. This was actually the first time we had seen the sun. The VOG (volcanic fog) covered us a good portion of the trip.
Me and my love!
Our awesome traveling companions!
Stay tuned for more from our trip...
When we arrived at the Kona airport, we were shocked to see that it was all outdoors. This is a picture of our "terminal".
My Dad surprised us with a Lei greeting.
We also surprised them!
I think we walked away with 12 Leis total (our Lei greeter gave us a few extra and some random lady gave me one at the airport).
Many people told me that beaches were hard to come by on this island, but I didn't really believe them. I was amazed that they all knew what they were talking about. Most of the shore line is cliffs and sharp lava rocks, the rest you have to go off roading or hiking across old lava fields to get to. This was a beach at our resort. They strongly suggested not swimming there and warn you to enter at your own risk.
Our resort had dolphins! If you know me, you know this made the whole trip worth it!! I was so close to them!
Connected to the Dolphin area is a lagoon. This is a waterfall into the lagoon. We enjoyed snorkeling in there.
This island is very fascinating. It is almost entirely covered in lava. Between the airport and our resort, there were no trees or bushes. As far as you could see, there was only black lava rock. The picture below is of the "Hawaiian Graffiti". Many people collected white rocks or coral to write out messages in the black rocks.
I loved the colors at our resort. This was the only place I saw grass. I can't imagine how much work they put into it to dig away the lava and lay down grass.
On Monday (4/11/11), we went on a helicopter tour of the island. It was AWESOME!! I'm very prone to motion sickness so I was secretly nervous about spending 2 hours in a helicopter, but thanks to my miracle motion medicine, I was able to enjoy the entire flight!
My Dad was lucky to sit in the copilot's seat.
Me and my headphones.
He always looks good in whatever he's wearing!
The shoreline. You may think the colors look spectacular here, but trust me they were so much brighter in person.
We flew over the edge of the volcano. The glowing orange spot is actual lava. Our helicopter pilot told us that about 3 months ago the lava stopped flowing. Ever since 1984, it has been continually flowing out of the volcano and into the ocean, but as he put it "something has blocked it". Creepy!
This waterfall was gigantic!!
This was James' favorite part of the tour. It's a bomber from World War II that crashed in the jungle. Most tours don't get to see this at all because a cloud is always covering this part of the mountain. It was our lucky day.
Us with our helicopter pilot, Cogi.
Everyone on the helicopter. It was a very tight fit for 2 hours!
Later that day, we went on a dinner/sunset cruise. Once again, I tested the limits of my motion sick medicine and I'm very happy to say that I felt perfect the entire time.
James was very excited to cruise the ocean while eating a Hawaiian cuisine.
We had a gorgeous view of the sunset. This was actually the first time we had seen the sun. The VOG (volcanic fog) covered us a good portion of the trip.
Me and my love!
Our awesome traveling companions!
Stay tuned for more from our trip...
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