A Tour of the Big Island with the World's Best Tour Guide!!

I LOVE to travel, as most people do! But people definitely travel in different fashions…

You’ve got people like me that see pictures and hear stories of places and decide that I would love to go there some day. You have an opportunity arise that sets you that way and off you go!!

Then you have those who travel like Adam! He does not simply just travel… he experiences to the FULL capacity! And I love it!

I guess in a way you could say that I’m spoiled because I’m fortunate enough that he pretty much takes care of everything.

I made the decision to do Hawaii 70.3 and trained for the race…. Adam handled everything else!

He booked all of the flight arrangements, took care of shipping my bike (which has been a bit of a roller coaster J), reserved a great place for us to stay, etc. All pretty normal type stuff, but stuff I didn’t have to worry about which of course made it very nice!

BUT…. It goes even further than that because Adam doesn’t visit places, we explore them! And without his seriously studying everything about the Big Island from where to stay to their history and culture, I would have never had the trip that we had!

Here’s some stuff we learned/visited while we were on our “Power vacation!”

Through my walking Hawaiian encyclopedia, aka… Adam… I can now tell you where the shaka hand symbol legend proclaims it comes from.

I can tell you all about the type of warrior and King that Kamehameha's was and how the islands were united and in what time frame. About their laws and customs and that there is a place of refuge on the island that if you had committed a crime if you could get there before you were captured and perform certain rituals you were forgiven of your crime and free to reenter the city.

I can tell you all about why there is a stone wall surrounding some of the beach areas on the Kona shore.

I can tell you where the best places to snorkel in Kona are where you can swim side by side with sea turtles! And the fact that the Hawaiian state fish is the Humuhumunukunuku'apua'a and where to go see one!!

I can tell you that the fish ponds at the Mauna Lani resort where the 70.3 race takes place are actually King Kamaheamahea’s personal fish ponds that have been there since he had them created and have been preserved for that reason.

I can tell you what it is like to race on the Big Island on a day when conditions are that of Big Island classic harsh and testing. And how you cannot really be upset by it but grow to have more respect for the island, what it provides, and for the people who willingly test their strength and courage against it.

I can tell you where the most beautiful waterfall and tropical locations are on the Northern side of the island outside of the lava covered Kona areas.

I can tell you where the lava flow is currently coming into ocean, which is continuing to add size to the giant Big Island. I can tell you about previous lava flow which comes down the side of Kileuea , the worlds most active volcano which is erupting now and has been since1983!

The current lava flow is actually coming into the ocean outside of the caldera through what is called a Lava Tube. Something I had no idea would be near as big as it turned out to be as we walked through a lava tube that was no longer in use! AND that these tubes were created by the lava themselves as lava flowed and cooled continuously and formed these giant tubes!

I can tell you all about the Caldera and that is emitting toxic sulfur gas from the top and has doubled in its height since the lava flow was originally erupting from the top. Oh… and did I mention that I even knew to wipe my sunglasses and camera off after visiting the top of Mt. Kileuea as of course Adam had already read all about how the gases could erode the lenses if you did not!!

I can share with you my very favorite part of the trip about visiting the ancient petroglyphs down near the ocean level of Mt. Kileuea where ancient families and today’s ancestors visit the lava field to carve images of their families and culture and dig small holes to place their children’s umbilical cords in to honor them and pray to the Gods that they may have a prosperous and long life. This was by far one of the most special moments on our visit as we were standing in a field of complete devastation where lava covered the side of a giant erupting volcano while overlooking the ocean and no noise or movement besides that of the strong winds and the blowing of the trees that were popping up through the lava… a sign that life is once again beginning. It was a very spiritual place and a moment I couldn’t help but feel would stay with me forever.

I can tell you that there are actually two different types of lava and the rock graffiti that you see in the lava fields is a tradition of people to place the white coral rocks in to mark their coming to the island!

I could go on and on of the island stories that Adam shared with me as we toured this island. We spent our last full day literally driving along the entire island shoreline for 333 miles to capture every essence that we could of the Big Island in one day’s time.

Because of the fact that Adam is such a planner and researcher… we were able to fit it all in!

Of course there were a few things that I didn’t get to experience this time around… but that just leaves room for my next visit!

Until then….

Aloha and Mahalo!!