The Big Island

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Today we had a leisurely morning, checkout from our condo was at 11 am.  

It was a short one hour flight, and we were in Hilo on the Big Island.

Here are some fun facts about The Big Island:

The population of The Big Island is roughly 187,000 people. 

The Big Island has 5 volcanos, 2 of which are still active.

imagecredit:https://www.explore-the-big-island.com/hawaii-volcanoes.html

The Big Island is the largest and youngest Hawaiian island, at 148 kms long and 122 kms wide. Because of volcanic lava eruptions, the island grows about 42 acres per year. In 2018, however, Kilauea erupted steadily for 4 months, and the island grew by 875 acres. There was enough lava to fill 320,000 Olympic sized swimming pools. The eruption added up to 180 feet deep of lava in some parts of the island, and 700 homes were destroyed. And yet scientists estimate that only 11-33% of Kilauea's lava was expelled.

imagecredit:https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/02/24/usgs-hawaii-kilauea-lava-growth-big-island/

The Big Island is slowly moving away from the hot spot which created the islands, and a new island is already being formed 24 kms southeast. The island has already been named Loihi, even though it still has one mile to go before it breaks the surface of the ocean.

imagecredit:https://geology.com/usgs/loihi-seamount/

Since 1812, the island has recorded 24 tsunamis. The most devastating was in 1946, when it was hit with a 54 foot wave (over 16 meters).

imagecredit:https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2009/11/25/tsunami_Hilo_Big_Island_Hawaii

We had pre-booked a car rental from the airport, and found our way to the Hilo Farmer's Market.

Then we bought groceries in Hilo because there is no grocery store where we are headed.  The store was small and crowded and it took us over an hour to decide what we wanted.

We drove almost an hour from Hilo to our rural airbnb, right outside of Volcano National Park. We have the gorgeous main floor and the owner Stephen lives upstairs.  Here is Anton making supper while Frankie does much needed laundry:

We picked it for the lovely property and large koi pond, which Stephen said we could be in charge of while we are here.

This place is absolutely wonderful.  At the condo in Waikiki, we were starting to yearn for home, but this is place is so nice that we love it.  And Stephen has stocked up on everything, including a fresh fruit platter.  Frankie loved the fresh papaya, and Anton is everything pineapple, of course!

Last night after supper we watched the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis Presley.  Angela Lansbury played his mother!  The movie had great Hawaiian scenery and music, but by golly, there is no way Elvis could get away with that kind of behaviour today!!!