ALOHA Hilo

Finally Hawaii is here!  We got into Hilo (it’s on the big island) at around 6 AM on Monday, January 25 and we had to be up that early to get cleared by customs.  Surprisingly, a ship full of college students didn’t mind the early wake up call; everyone was ready to get onto land! 

My day in Hawaii began at 8:30 AM and we were headed straight to the beach.  When I think of the beach, I think of the Jersey Shore.  The beach we went to (Richardson Beach) was nothing like New Jersey.   Rocks, cliffs, and coral had formed inlets, which was where the shoreline was.   The waves broke about 200 yards away from the shoreline.  We explored the rocks and cliffs for a little bit and then found a great spot on the sand.  The sand was actually black, a remnant of the lava that had once been there.   Semester at Sea students had pretty much taken over the beach, but we were lucky to get a spot next to a local Hawaiian.  The local, Cool (aka Gordon but he calls himself Cool so when you see him in a bar you say “It’s Cool”) had some really interesting and deep things to say.  He gave us his thoughts on the U.S. takeover of Hawaii, the economics of the state, and how prominent drug use was in the state.   The water was incredible- crystal clear!  Luckily I had my goggles, and was able to see the coral and ocean life.  The coral was beautiful and the fish were within an arm’s reach!  I also got to see some sea turtles!  I was able to swim out to the waves (the currents were much stronger then the Atlantic) but couldn’t ride them in; the rocks and coral made it a death trap.   I did get a few cuts (as did a lot of people) from the rocks and coral all around.  Aside from that, the beach was awesome!  Cool bought us pizza and gave us a ride back to the ship. 

After a quick nap, we headed to downtown Hilo for dinner.  We ate at a Hawaiian/Italian restaurant called Café Pesto.  I had calamari with coconut in the breading- delicious!  After dinner, we found a tour guide, Theresa (crazy, crazy lady) who took us to see the active volcano on the island.  She took us to the bottom of the volcano and we saw the lava erupting at the top- an amazing sight! Unfortunately I couldn’t get any pictures because of how far away it was.  Where we were actually had been a town of 490 houses up until the early 1990s when the volcano erupted and destroyed everything.   Theresa then took us for a drive around the island.  We basically made a circle around it and it was astonishing.  The roads she took us on were something out of a movie.  The trees grew above/across the road so it had the illusion of being a tunnel and it was just surreal.  She then took us to a thermal spring and we went swimming.  Much better then any hot tub!  We finally arrived back at the ship at about 2:30 AM and I went straight to bed! 

The next day, Tuesday, January 26, I was up by 9 AM and three of us went to see the waterfalls on the island.  We went to two: Boiling Pots and Rainbow Falls.  Both were gorgeous.  At Rainbow Falls my friend actually dove into the water from the waterfall.  I would have too, but I didn’t feel like walking around the rest of the day wet.  Boiling Pots was fun because we were able to hike across the rocks and get to the edge of the falls.  The lack of rain made this doable, and it was great.  Standing at the top of the falls you were five/six stories up and the view was breathtaking.  We then went to downtown Hilo for some lunch and a little shopping.  We also went to Wal-Mart to get things we’d forgotten.  We got walkie-talkies for use on the ship and in the other ports.  Honestly, that was a high point of my day, and playing with them made me feel like a five year old but it was so much fun!   We then spent about an hour at the Japanese Gardens a few miles from the ship.   The gardens were very, very pretty.   We were back on the ship by 4:45 and we left Hilo for Honolulu by 7:40 PM. 

I really enjoyed out stay in Hilo.  The thing that surprised me the most was how friendly the locals were.  They were so easy and willing to talk, and also ready to give any help needed- much different from people at home.  I would definitely like to come back to Hilo and check out more that the island has to offer.  As I learned from Cool and Theresa, Hawaii is much more then beaches and sun!  Now off to Honolulu where I’ll be going to Pearl Harbor and snorkeling!  I promise to get pictures up before we set sail for Japan!