Author: Maria Runs

Rest of the Big Island

Hello all

Gosh back to work with a bump! The routine is already back in place (just about)- seems like these photos were taken a long time ago.

So, after our trip to the Volcano National Park, we went to the west coast of the Big Island, to a resort. Not something we would usually do, but we had figured we would want a couple of days to chill out before our next move. The drive there was lovely as it was a coastal road with waterfalls coming down to the sea, and the resort was very posh- when we checked in we were given shell necklaces (lei?), sat down at a table, given an iced towel (you used to get that sort of thing on a plane) and some guava juice. Very posh indeed! But the downside- no free internet!

We walked around the grounds of the resort.

Many palm trees, beautiful views of the ocean.

Flowers in the trees

Matched my flower hair clip!

Found a wild turtle- was massive!

Loving being by the sea

We found some chairs to watch the sunset from

Then I had a wander as I saw another turtle

Then we went to one of the restaurants- perfect view of the palm trees and sea

And the flames too- I liked those torches

I went for an Earl Grey (it was a bit chilly by then) and a fruit plate- yummy fresh papaya filled with all sorts of fruits- delicious.

The next day we went up the mountain (can’t remember the name) to watch the sun set and then do some star gazing- as it was so clear when we were in Volcano we were hoping to be amazed.

The visitors centre set up telescopes- I got to see Saturn so clearly, and the moon. Then someone did a talk and explained about all the different constellations, pointed out planets (we could see Mars with our eyes and even see the orange glow compared to the blue/white glows from other stars).

I have never been somewhere so dark either!

There were turtles in our hotel- little rescue ones that live there until they are big enough to survive in the wild.

Also some sharks in some of the ponds

Post card image!

I would rather be here!

It was a lovely couple of days- except from our trip to the mountain (which was a long drive- Saddle Road (goes between mountains) was bumpy enough, and then the drive up the mountain was very steep and twisty) we did not do much except relax. Well, we had a run one morning together, and saw more turtles on the beach! I think a couple of days was enough as I am not into sunbathing or anything, but it was lovely to just totally relax.

Right, that is enough for now- well done if you made it to the end again!

🙂

 

Volcano!

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely summer- I cannot believe it is September already- time really has flown by.

I am back home now, but still sorting through all the photos etc, so expect to have a few more holiday related posts yet.

After Waikiki, we flew (you have to fly- no boats between islands) to Hilo on Hawaii (confusing, so most people call it “The Big Island”, as it is the biggest), and had several days in the Volcano National Park. It was amazing! I love going to National Parks- we managed lots of walks (and hikes down to the crater floors and back up again), and even managed to see flowing lava one night. We stayed in a tree house in the rainforest- it was very cool- it collected rainwater to use for the shower- and had some solar panels. Anyway, I will try to keep the photos to a minimum!

Yes there used to be a road under that- not sure how the sign survived! There were different types of lava too- some smooth, some more like rubble, some that looked like cables.

Crater with steam pouring off- the lava below heats the rainwater.

Same crater at night- the lava makes the steam glow orange and red- amazing.

Rainbow in the background! We saw lots of rainbows there!

Lava tube- I am still not 100% sure I understand how they are formed- the lava flowed through, so I think it pushed through the thinner rock, and left behind a tube? Not sure though.

Lava

Walking on the lava (there is a road buried under that somewhere)

Our tree house in the rainforest

View out of the window (lots of big trees and leaves)

View of the sea from the park

Banana trees (I think?) planted right by the sea

Where the lava stops the road

Petroglyphs (ancient carvings in the lava rock)

And more (there were loads)

Some people had rebuilt their houses on top of the lava- it was very spooky

View of the lava in the daylight- just steam was visible

Then it got very dark!

And we could see the lava glowing on the side of the hill! Amazing!

Arch created by lava flowing into the sea

More lava

Crater floor (think this is the one we walked down to, along, and back up the other side)

In the crater floor

Being windswept by the crater!

Anyway, it was fantastic there- so interesting, so much to see and do. We stayed in a little town (called Volcano), and there were only a few small restaurants  cafes. We found an amazing vegetarian cafe (with a goat in the garden!)- Cafe Ono. I did take some photos but you can look forward to them later!

Right, that is enough for now- I had better get ready for work tomorrow!

🙂

 

Aloha from Hawaii

Hey peeps I hope everyone is having a lovely summer still. We have been loving Hawaii- now on our third Island- all so different but just wonderful. The first place we visited was Oahu, which has Honolulu on it (before we started looking into this trip, I thought it was all one island but it is loads)- anyway, a short drive from there to our hotel near to Waikiki beach. It was a lot like Miami beach- I liked it, but it was a big touristy city right by the beach, just a bit more laid back really. I went out for a run the first morning; luckily some of it had a board walk because running on the sand is such hard work (as someone commented to me!). My bright red face in the hotel lobby must have been a sight! View of Downtown and Waikiki beach from Diamond Head We went for a walk up to a place called Diamond Head (because people thought that the glittery stones were diamonds)- it was very steep but worth the amazing views- the car park looked very small from up there. We went to Pearl Harbor (spelling it the American way because it is American)- Andrew really wanted to see it, and it was interesting, but I did find it weird that people were having their pictures taken in front of the memorials and things. After that we had a more light hearted trip- to the Dole Pineapple Plantation! Mainly it was an excuse to buy some Dole whip (sort of a cross between frozen pineapple, frozen yoghurt and sorbet)- I have only ever had it at Disney before and it is yummy. Plus we got to ride the Pineapple Express (anyone else see that film? I thought it was going to be rubbish and about a bunch of stone-heads, but it was so funny)- and before we got on the train we had to pose for a photo while I held a real pineapple. Random. We had already eaten quite a bit before we decided to take photos! Even though I have seen them before, it was still funny to see how they grow. Also getting a bit obsessed with the beautiful hibiscus flowers that are everywhere. We also spent a day driving around the island- the North Shore was much more quaint, with lots of surf shops and little art shops and things. So many beautiful beaches and views of the sea. The scenery changes are so dramatic- sea on one side, volcanic valleys covered thickly in trees on the other. We got to see where Lost and Jurassic Park were filmed. On Friday night one of the hotels put on fireworks on the beach, so we watched those in the evening. Anyway, that is enough photos for now! After that we went to the Big Island (which apparently is actually called Hawaii but that was too confusing)- went to the volcano national park, and even saw some real lava! But I will save that for next time. Right, I thought I had a picture of me waving (for some cheesiness you know) but I don’t, so this is from the gardens at the pineapple plantation- seems a long time ago already! Bye for now xx

I love mountains

Hey peeps

I hope everyone is having a lovely summer- I hear it is finally hot in the UK- hurrah!

Gosh my visit to Canada seems a long time ago now. Last Friday we flew to Vancouver- by the time we landed it was something like 8pm in the UK, but midday there. We drove up into Whistler along the “sea to sky highway” with amazing views.

Once in Whistler village we forced ourselves to have a wander (whereas what I actually wanted to do was sleep) and have some dinner.

Of course I woke up at 5am the next morning- very bright and early!

Whistler village is so pretty- it reminded me a lot of the ski village at Lake Tahoe- lots of little shops, and lovely views of the mountains. We bought a 2 day pass for the lifts, and spent the days there in the mountains.

We got a gondola up, and then from there one day we got a chairlift even higher up- that was OK except for the fact that you then had to get the chairlift back down- it was super steep and high up!

Once up there, there were different hikes signposted around, although I am not sure I agreed with the difficulty levels- even the “easy” hikes had very steep bits, loose ground and you had to clamber over rocks.

At some points we could see across to another mountain range- the spike is from a volcano, and the rest of the mountain wore away, leaving only the central core.

I feel like the Vancouver olympic statue is so much nicer than our one, sorry London! Plus it is way up a mountain, which is always good.

From Whistler mountain we could see across to the other main ski mountain, Blackcombe mountain- the ski runs were very easy to see as gaps between the trees. Once we got over to that side, they turned out to be beautiful mountain meadows filled with wild flowers.

Hello from the mountain!

All the buildings had ladders underneath them, for when the snow did not reach as high as the door!

I liked the statue! But you had to be quick to get a photo before the next person came along.

Excited to be tall enough for something, for a change.

We also did the scariest thing- ride across from one mountain to the other, in a gondola. I thought it would go down one mountain, across the valley, and then up, but not, it was way up above the trees. I was not keen on this at all. And I had to do it on both days!!!

That is not from a helicopter, but from the gondola- so high up!

But the views were worth it- more hiking- more clambering over rocks- and we even got to see some marmots (they whistle, which is where the mountain gets its name from). They were not too bothered by people.

There were swarms of midgies all over this lake, but some fabulous views made it worth it (and the long hike).

And an even friendlier marmot!

The air was just so fresh.

Pretty sure Andrew had his camera out just in case I fell in!

Another ride on the gondola of terror.

But more beautiful views made it OK.

Mountain streams from all the ice/snow that was melting.

Meadows (ski runs) filled with flowers.

A grouse and her chicks walking across the path- there were loads of people on the path and they were not bothered at all.

Then we got the chair lift down the other mountain, and had a short walk back to Whistler village- over a gushing river.

Olympic rings!

We ate in the same restaurant each evening- The Old Spaghetti Factory. Last time we were in Canada we loved this place, and it did not disappoint. Yummy pasta, salad, sourdough, plus tea and a scoop of ice cream- a total bargain.

Then after 2 days there, we drove back to Vancouver for our flight to Hawaii. We left some time to stop along the way, and saw a few beautiful waterfalls.

So spectacular.

Anyway, that is enough photos for now! We have taken so many- it was very hard to cut it down to those.

Hawaii has also been fab, but I will post about that later. I am sure everyone has photo brain freeze or something to that effect.

Any news I have missed? What are you all up to?

And do you prefer mountains or beaches?

 

 

Packing and emptying

Packing my suitcase, and emptying my fridge that is!

Well the last few days I have been trying to use up everything (no photos again because for some reason I can’t get it to upload). Yesterdays breakfast was lovely- Alpro plain yoghurt, doughnut peach, and some pumpkin tea bread with pb. (I made the pumpkin teabread with 1 cup dried chopped figs, 1 cup raisins, soaked in 300ml tea, plus one cup of pumpkin puree, 2 cups flour, 2 eggs..)- delicious.

Last night was a Sweatshop run- we did a route that was about 3.2miles, and I kept the front of the group in sight- made it back in 31.35! Pretty fast, especially as it was hot!

Finishing that I had a lovely dinner of balsamic tofu (I pressed the tofu and then soaked it in balsamic and dried basil before baking) with a salad of beetroot and avocado- things that needed using up!

I have been sorting out things at the allotment a bit- some weeding, planting a few more plants, picking mountains of raspberries (and now eating them as they needed using up!).

Today I was packing (and waiting in for a parcel) and went out for a slow 4 mile run (in the baking heat this afternoon)- soon I shall be running along the beaches, or something like that.

I am taking my running shoes on holiday with me- I have never done this before, and usually take the opportunity to have a rest from running on holiday, as I think a rest makes you come back with more enthusiasm. Plus we always walk a lot on holiday- we are not ones for lounging about- we do a lot of sightseeing, so I never want to be tired from a run during a long walk or something. But this year I had a rather long enforced rest, and I am concious that when I get back I have 2 weeks before the GNR- not long to get up to that distance (13.1 miles- eek).  Andy is taking his too, so we are hoping to have a couple of runs together each week- not much, and not extending anything, but hopefully it will minimise the fitness loss. That is the plan anyway.

Our holiday is a rather special one- at Christmas we were meant to be going to New York, Washington and Philadephia for Christmas (and then to the beach in Florida) but as I was in hospital we had to cancel. Andy promised me that if we had to cancel it, we would go to Hawaii, and that is where we are headed! We have a stop in Vancouver, so are off to Whistler tomorrow, and then after that to a few of the Hawaiian islands- I cannot wait- might even get to visit the Dole pineapple plantation and see a volcano! Eek! Better finish my packing 🙂

Do you have any trips planned this summer?

Anywhere you can recommend?