Big Island: Last Day on the Big Island

After we leaving Gordon's farm we had a whole day to explore more of the Big Island. We wanted to maximize our last day here in the island. Driving around the island with spectacular scenery despite the gloomy weather was so stimulating. I now see why people consider these islands Paradise even though I have only seen one of these islands so far.

I did not really know where we were going next but I was happy to find that we were pulling up to park at Akaka Falls. The drive to the falls was pretty nice and the falls itself was lovely and verdant. So fresh. So alive. It's a large park and we could only go as far down as the bridge. No way we could cover the whole area today. Not this time.

























We drove back where we came from, but along the way we saw something that made us stop. I took a lot of photos, but just sharing one here.



While we were more focused on sightseeing, given this our last day on the island, we were pressed to get some souvenirs. And we thought we'd go to the the Big Island Candies, a store/factory where we could get some candies and hopefully watch how they are made. Unfortunately, it seemed like every tourist/visitor to the island must go here. And today it seemed everyone was here. The place was packed. Every tour bus unloads a big group and well, the shopping wasn't fun after that. We all left the place empty handed.









Disgusted, we went looking for a grocery store and somewhere we could get some lunch. Afterwards, we drove to one of the volcanoes that have an observatory on the top. I honestly cannot remember what it is and regrettably my journal entry for this day was woefully incomplete, thus I cannot say for sure which volcano it was. We struck out here too. The park rangers had barricaded the road up to the top. Apparently, the wind was gusting dangerously strong that no one was allowed to go up. There went our desire to watch sunset from the observatory.





Disappointed, we drove home to get packed for the flight to Maui the following day. What a great experience the Big Island was. I wish I could go back.

OUR WORLD TUESDAY