Winter vacation, finally came! Let me tell you, it was definitely long-awaited this year. This year I was able to take an extra week off of work, and so, I went and travelled somewhere new!
Although, before I could go to that new place, I started off my winter vacation with a weekend in Kobe. I headed up to Kobe on the 26th, and as the weather was quite nice that day, I spent a lot of the day walking around, thinking about doing some shopping (when I go back at the end of my trip). Then that evening, I went to a ヨシダヒロキlive in Sannomiya at a cute little cafe, Kitchen Hisami. I'd actually been there one time before last January. This night, there were actually quite a few people who came...they filled up the place (not that that was so difficult because it is quite small). It was really fun, and as it started a little later than planned (because people hadn't shown up yet), I was able to talk a little bit together. After the live finished one of the owners (who apparently used to do some DJ-ing), turned on the little disco ball that they had and started playing some music (really loudly) and doing some DJ stuff. Some of the other people who had come to the live got up and started dancing (not that there was really so much room for that, mind you). They tried to get me to join them, but if you know me, you know how I feel about dancing, and what my response to that would be.
The next day, I went to get my hair cut, and then did some more window shopping before I hopped onto the airport limo bus to head out to the airport for that evening. My flight went out at 10pm, so I was on the plane all night long, only to arrive in Honolulu around 10am of the same day that I had got on the flight. Time changes try to mess with your head! After getting to Honolulu, I had to switch over to my domestic flight to get to Hawaii Island, where my parents were waiting to meet me. However, on that switch to the domestic flight, I got yelled at by the staff of Hawaiian airlines. When I got to the airport--I found the Hawaiian airlines section, and went into the line that said "Neighbouring Islands" (since that was where I was going), and I specifically didn't go into the line that said International flights. However, there had been a lot of people in the international line, and literally NO ONE in the neighbor island line, so you'd think I'd get through fast, but nope. The international line moved, but they completely ignored me. Finally, one of the ladies at the international line called me over, and told me (*angry voice*) that this was the international line, and I should've checked in at the kiosk first. Umm....well...but....I didn't go to the international line, and if they didn't want people to try to check in at the desk they should've closed off the rope lanes that said neighbour islands and posted something that pointed people in the direction of the kiosks, right? I was equally unimpressed with their service on the flight, as I was completely ignored by the flight attendants as well, even after making eye contact with them. But that's life. Things can only get better, right?!
I didn't get in until kind of later in the afternoon, so after my parents picked me up and we dropped my stuff off, we just went out to do some grocery shopping and then went to go find some supper, while I tried to stay awake -- having been awake for maybe 35 or so hours.
The next day, we went out to a tiny little beach, which was pretty, but SO small!! It also made you really confident, when this interesting sign (see below) was posted at the entrance.
That evening we went out for dinner, however the restaurant that we went to was packed and the only available tables were outside, but it was a first come, first served basis, so we kind of had to hover around tables to wait for others to leave...that was kind of uncomfortable for me, so I let the parents do that while I took some pictures. Also, when we did get to eat, I ordered pineapple fried rice, and interestingly enough, it arrived in half of a pineapple!
The next day was a shopping day for me, as I needed to pick some stuff up, but again, if you know me, you know that a shopping day feels like a wasted day to me.
After that, the next 2 days were beach days!! Nice and relaxing, and we got to see the sunsets as well.
The beach that we went to had a really interesting mix of both black and white rocks, and the first day, I found my own private little mini beach to relax on. However, the next day, when I went to go back to that same spot, I discovered that the tide from the previous night had covered up my little sand section with all sorts of large-ish rocks, and so I had to go find myself a new spot elsewhere.
This was the view I looked at straight ahead for that first day at this beach...not too bad!
Sunset - December 30, 2015
Sunset - December 30, 2015
View from our accommodation of the very end of the sunset
View from the second location I had to find
My spot for the second day at this beach
The beautiful sunset of December 31, 2015
On New Years Day, we headed out to the volcano (Mt Kilauea-one of the most active volcanoes in the world!)!! This was definitely one of the things I was really looking forward to on this trip, and I had been really hoping to see some active lava flows, but that unfortunately didn't happen, but it was nonetheless really interesting and fun for me.
Interesting views on the drive out!
My geo mind is so happy!
When we first arrived at the volcano (which was maybe about a 2 hour or so drive away from where we were staying), we stopped in at the visitor center to get some information and pick up some brochures. After that we set out in the car to stop in and see what we could (if I had more time there would've definitely been more hiking included, as there are a number of longer hikes you can do out there, but we were able to see a fair bit anyway, and get a general idea of the area.)
The first area we went to was Devastation trail. When you arrive in this area, you first get to see a crater lava lake (from 1959) which is actually still steaming a little bit as it hasn't completely cooled yet!
The crater lava lake
This area was created by cinders from the 1959 eruption. Vegetation is slowly returning to this area.
Unique vegetation growing on Devastation Trail
After that we drove along a little further and stopped to check out some various pit craters.
This one was HUGE!
The next area we went to was the Pu'u Huluhulu Cinder Cone/Mauna Ulu Lava Shield area. This particular area was formed by lava flows in 1973-74 (also still steaming in areas!). We spent some time here looking at some interesting formations and walked for a while over the old lava flows. Exploring time!!!
See the weird shaped 'rocks'? Those are actually trees that got covered by lava!
Cool colors in the rock thanks to different minerals!!
More interesting vegetation!
You can see how it flowed!!
Can't really show how EXTENSIVE this area was, but take my word for it --in no way is it a small area
Let's use those people for scale...and keep in mind the trees in the background are full size trees!
I read a board somewhere along the way that referred to these flowers as alien flowers...
After this particular section, it started to get cloudy and was a little cooler, so we continued on, and stopped at a couple more lookout points.
This area was interesting because you could see out past the lava flows to the ocean!
After that, we went all the way down to the end of the Chain of Craters Road...
Not going to lie...I was really excited about this!
At the very end of the road, you can see some pretty cliffs and the Holei Sea arch, which is an 18m tall landform created as a result of erosion.
Holei Sea Arch
More views from the end of the road!
Next, we headed back up the road towards the visitors venter, and stopped at the Thurston Lava Tube, to check it out and take a walk through. It was just a short little walk (600m round trip), but interesting!
Going through the lava tube
Then we continued on past the visitor center to the Sulphur banks and steam vents. It reminded me of a smaller scale of what I saw in NZ. You could also see some of the caldera from the steam vents location.
The sulphur banks
Steam vents
Caldera view
Finally we went up to the Jaggar Museum which is also where you go to see the glow and cloud from the lava lake within the caldera!
The caldera from Jaggar Museum
Starting to get dark, and to glow!
The glow got harder to capture on camera as it got darker
A short video of the glow. For links click here and here.
That was my day at the volcano! Not bad at all!
The next day, we went to the beach again! This time though, we went to Hapuna Beach, one of the few white sand beaches on the island, and it was really nice (the best beach yet!) It also had insanely strong and high waves that tried to beat a person up.
I was happy!
On the way back, I took these photos of the sunset! January 2, 2016
The next day was ziplining day!!! I was super excited for this! The place we went to was just outside of Hilo, on the other side of the island, so it was a bit of a drive to get out there, but definitely worth it! Before we started, we took a walk through the gardens in the area...
Lots of geckos everywhere!
This particular ziplining course went over rivers and waterfalls, and the first few lines were tandem, so I went together with mom, although she zipped along much faster than me!
*Taken while on the zipline*
Suspension bridge!
Really nice scenery!!
After ziplining we took a bit of a drive, went to Akaka Falls, the Mauna Loa macademia factory, and then finally took the drive up to Mauna Kea to the visitors center of the observatory for some stargazing. You couldn't go up all the way without 4WD and they wouldn't let anyone up after sunset anyway. Our night was good timing because it was really clear, and no moon, so we saw so much!! A few 'shooting stars' too!
Along the drive
In Akaka Park
Akaka Falls
No explanation needed, right?
The following day, we went back to Hapuna Beach again for some more sunshine and playing in the water. The waves were fun and may have induced random maniacal laughter (in my case). That night we went out for Japanese food (I was feeling deprived).
The next day, my second last full day, was supposed to be a hiking day. I had chosen a hike that would be easy, and wasn't in the rainforest (due to concerns about mosquitoes carrying dengue fever). It was supposed to follow the coastline from a historical park and a beach down into another beach, but when we got there, we found out from a ranger that the beach on the far end was closed due to dengue and they didn't advise doing the hike either. Boo. I was sad. So instead, we took a walk through the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Park. With the brochure, it was a self-guided tour, and I took all kind od interesting pictures. I also spent a lot of time picking my way over the volcanic rock and looking in the tide pools at various colorful (and not-so-colorful) fish, and there were a number of dark little crabs as well. And of course, I admired the rocks as well...
After that we took a drive and made a number of short stops. We went into a honey place where we were able to sample a few different kinds of the local honey. It was a really small place but was still interesting even if it was nowhere near to the size and didn't have nearly the same variety of products as the honey place I visited in NZ. We also visited a place that was supposed to be the resting place for some of the local dolphin population ( we think we may have spotted a couple fins way out in the water). In this area, the rocks were crawling with all kinds of crabs that blended in really well with the dark rocks they were walking and jumping on. Also saw some really colorful birds there too!
Dolphin resting location
That evening, we ended up back in Kona, where we spent a little bit of time going through a market and taking a peek through a shopping area, before finding a spot for our dinner. The restaurant we went to on this evening, again had outdoor seating, and we were able to wait for our dinner while watching the most colorful sunset of our trip. We also go to listen to some live reggae music.
Sunset January 5, 2016
For the last full day, we made it yet another beach day! Last chance to catch that sunshine and enjoy those brutal waves!
My last sunset in Hawaii (January 6, 2016)
The next day , I had to catch my flight early in the morning, but I had a few hours wait in Honolulu, so I wandered around the airport shops for a little bit and was consistently shocked by the RIDICULOUS prices of things. Seriously...$4 for 500mL of water? Really???!
I arrived back at Kansai airport the evening of the next day (again brutal time change). I was able to breeze my way through immigration thanks to having special re-entry with my residence card to Japan (it took maybe 5 minutes total because I didn't have to wait in line) Special line...felt like having a superpower!! But then I had to wait over 30 minutes for my luggage to make its way down. Figures. When I got out of the security area, I made my way down to figure out if I would take the train or bus back to Kobe and as I was looking at the schedule, I heard an "excuse me" from behind me, and when I turned around, there was a camera and microphone in my face. Without even being asked, I was suddenly being questioned by a TV crew about why I was in Japan, where I was going to go and what I would do. Not the kind of thing you really want to do after spending a rather long time on the plane. Not to mention other Japanese people started taking pictures. I'm not a huge fan of that particular type of situation.
I spent the rest of my weekend in Kobe, and went into Osaka as well to do a little bit of that shopping I'd been talking about at the beginning of this post. Of course, I was also able to catch a couple of street lives (although it felt kind of chilly after getting back from Hawaii. One of the street lives I saw was
フタリシズカ (Futari Shizuka), the pair of boys who play the piano, who I first heard on my spring vacation. Interestingly enough, this time, I went to talk to them and Yuma, (who seems like the friendlier of the two) talked with me a lot, and even started out with 久しぶり (long time, no see) He also introduced me by name to his partner (which really surprised me, because I didn't actually talk with them in person last time...I just followed them on twitter and had replied to a message that they sent after that) But I guess that's kind of Japanese style. They were also surprised that I was older than them, because apparently I "look so young" (they're 22). I had also been planning to go see some of the evening illuminations in Osaka, but because I was feeling really tired from jetlag by the time the evenings rolled around (and the temperature didn't help either) I decided not to go and do that this time. But I'm sure there will definitely be other times in the future to do that.
And I do believe, that pretty much concludes the highlights of my winter vacation this year!!
