Expeditions II

Many great movies, novels and stories in general start with the unfolding of conflict.  Conflict between protagonist and antagonist, quests for survival, great feats of courage and so on.  It is the nature of a good story…a good adventure.  Many times the protagonist must give up something or lose something to really grab at the heartstrings of the audience.  This is NOT such an opening, but a the setting the stage for what I hope to be the great expedition of 2025 for me and my wife.

On the day morning of our departure because of the twenty first century security risks associated with air travel, we awoke at an insane hour for normal humans.  Only to be casually informed by our airline that we had a five hour delay due to “aircraft maintenance”.  No worries.  Except that meant we would never make any of our connections.  Many machinations and difficulties with the airlines later my wife had secured our transport the following day…on separate aircraft. This meant chopping a day off the front end of our trip.

Flying to the Big Island of Hawaii is no easy feat for anyone from the East Coast of North America anyway.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the time and distances associated with this process, let me familiarize you with it.  We flew on the same aircraft from Tallahassee to Atlanta.  I then had a NINE AND A HALF HOUR non-stop flight from Atlanta to Honolulu.  There, I had a five hour layover before my flight to Kona International on Big Island.  For reference, the flight from Honolulu to Kona is usually aboard a commuter jet the size that takes you to from Tallahassee to Atlanta and it takes about the same amount of time.  In other words, I couldn’t hop a ferry.

Meanwhile, my wife literally sprinted from our plane in Atlanta to her connection on another concourse, flew to Seattle had a layover then flew to Kona International.

So what do you get for that kind of investment in loss of sleep, emotion, time and energy?  The Hawaiian islands are simply other worldly.  Striking majestic beauty that ranges from green sand beaches to towering mountains and rain forests there is a reason they have been used so often as part of movie sets.  I’ll not give you a tour of the whole island chain, anyone can Google that if you are interested.  I’m most enamored and familiar with Big Island anyhow.

As the name implies, it is the largest of the chain.  Although it has a few resorts, condos and tourist traps, a lot of what appeals to me about this island is how insulated it is from a lot of the grotesque tourism and tidal waves of humans who seem to wreck a lot of what they touch.  Big Island has ten climate zones, national parks, wildlife refuges, state parks, little known beaches, a myriad of hiking trails and if you are interested in eco-tourism, lots to do.

So, the answer in part to the question I posed above concerning what do you get for your investment of loss of sleep etc. is unparalleled beauty. Landscapes that are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, 13,000 to 14, 000 high mountains, abundant wildlife, coffee plants growing beside roadways, friendly inviting people and something new around each bend on the winding roads.

One might think that based on the fact that Hawaii is an island, it would be fairly straightforward to see everything you wanted to see in a week. If one came to that conclusion, one would be very wrong. Hawaii is 93 miles long and 76 miles wide. No significant portion of the island can be traveled in a straight line and it has very tall mountains in the middle that bisect it. Four lane roads are a rarity and 18% grades are not unheard of. In other words, any mainland North America timetable you have for getting around is incorrect the moment you set foot on the island. Get over it. Island time.

We have driven through vast deserts of dry, open lava flows. The lava is mostly ʻAʻā (pronounced “ah-ah”) and is broken, crusty and foreboding. Some invasive grasses have taken hold and dot the ʻAʻā but not much else grows or moves there. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have driven through great, majestic forests festooned in deep green, hiked through wildlife sanctuaries teeming with great flocks of brightly colored birds and patrolled by errant sheep. We sipped coffee at coffee a plantation overlooking a steep slope patrolled by hundreds of birds looking over the thousands of coffee plants standing sentry waiting for the sun to splash into the Pacific again.

Hawaii is a land of beauty, of surprises and of warm, welcoming people. Its great remoteness has protected it to some extent and been its own undoing in other ways. Goods and services are generally much more expensive as nearly everything has to travel here by ship. But, if you embark upon your expedition as a wide eyed, well informed traveler, you won’t be shocked. Come to this land of beauty. Enjoy its unparalleled and wondrous natural beauty, its history, its food, culture and its lovely people. Break your boundaries and embark on your next expedition.

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