The view from my hotel room
May 23, 2014
I am off to Hawaii, this time the big Island! I am looking forward to this trip. I have spent a lot of time in Hawaii back in the 80’s when I was installing Property Management systems in hotels. I used frequent flyer point to take my parent there and I took one trip after that. Most of my time was spent in Oahu, Kauai and Maui. I had taken a day trip to Hilo on a previous trip but I didn’t see a whole lot. This feels both old and new.
My flight went was planned and I arrived just afternoon. First thing on the agenda? Lunch! I had booked marked a few places using Yelp and then headed to one place but couldn’t find parking. I discovered the Big Island Grill which I had also bookmarked. It was good local food.
I then headed to the Hilton Waikaloa. I was a bit surprised at what I saw on the way, miles and miles of lava rock. I am not talking about rocks here and there, I am talking about miles and miles of nothing but complete devastation. I would later learn that on some maps, they would indicate the year the lava field belonged to with the year. I found a map referencing 1859 and the land was a completely desolate section! Assuming there were no more eruptions, it was going to be at least a thousand years or so until it was forested again.
I was shocked when my GPS had me turn left and go through some gates and magically there was plush green surroundings with hotels, golf courses and shopping malls. Had this area been spared? Something didn’t feel right about the area. I had spent a lot of time on other islands and this area didn’t feel like Hawaii but more like something made to look like Hawaii.
I researched it to find that the land was purchased in the 60’s and they transformed it back into land breaking down rocks and adding top soil. I cannot imagine how this was done! The hotel was opened in 1988. That explains why it feels like it isn’t natural. It isn’t.
Lava Fields on the Big Island
Ummmmm, excuse me, but YIKES that raft doesn’t look too substantial! A little background on the “Jaws” issue: I was there (Jim’s sister) and experienced the same feeling/result! We lived for our once a year vacation on the beautiful beaches of Cape Cod. Loved to swim carefree in the ocean…never giving it a second thought. Not just “Jaws”, but “Jaws” at the drive-in Cape Cod. There are five siblings and I can assure you that none of us have forgotten, “we’re gonna need a bigger boat”!