hawai'i 2005 - day 2

When I finally began to hear more pitter patter than the "hand of God" on our tent, I figured it was time to pack up and go. We were out by 7 am, to the Visitor Center for a weather report (none - the VC is essentially useless except for the public restrooms) and then heading southwest on 11 to the green sand beach near the South Point. 30 minutes later, we were stopped by a road blockade. The 11 was closed because, as the officer put it, "a river is flowing over the road, it would wash your car away in a second." Our options? To turn and drive around the island to Kona, which is what we did. On the road we debated taking the Saddle Road or the North Coast. I voted North Coast since the Saddle Road went high and we couldn't see conditions on the mountains because of the clouds. Passing through Volcanoes, Hilo, and the Hamakua Coast, we admired the lush forests on this very wet side of the island.

From Waimea, we drove down to the North Point where we hiked to the sea on a sticky, muddy, 4WD road to look for whales. This orange mud turned our boots into platform shoes. No sign of whales, but at least it wasn't raining (just occasional drizzle). The humidity was high and I felt like I was in Virginia in summer. All sorts of small flowers were blooming in the fields. The clouds were thick off the coast, but occasionally we could see Maui to the northwest.

We drove south along Hawaii Belt Road when I began to feel ill. I reclined my seat and shut my eyes. Jeremy pulled over when he saw some whales off the coast and we watched for many minutes as they frolicked in the ocean. I fell back asleep only to wake up in horrendous traffic north of Kona. HBR is a two lane road that crawls to a halt on Friday afternoons. We inched toward Kona until we could finally turn off into town to look for a place to stay. How naive. There was nothing available. The traffic was even worse on Ali'i Drive, and everyone was a jerk. Thanks to our trusty Lonely Planet, we ducked into an internet place to reserve a campsite further south at a beach park because you weren't allowed to call or even get there and register at the campground! You could drive to Hilo to register at their office, but that would have to be by 3:30 the day before. I have a major beef with Hawaii and the way public lands/campgrounds are administered (poorly, that is). But on the crawl south out of Kona, I read in our LP book the particular campground we reserved was not well-received by the locals in town. We debated what to do in traffic. I found a hostel in Captain Cook where we could dry out our gear, get a decent night's sleep, and cook ourselves some udon with fresh sprouts, ahi tuna, and japanese tempura cake. The grocery stores in Hawaii are pretty phenomenal in terms of asian foods and fresh produce. I did battle with one giant cockroach in our room.