Of course, there is much to see and do on the Big Island besides visiting Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Since I happen to have a few photos from other places I've visited, I figured I'd put them up here, kind of at random. Starting at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and driving south along the highway, you'll come to the doomed Ocean View estates (a risky housing development investment gone wrong) after an hour or so. A left turn down a dusty country road towards the coast leads to a small secluded bay nestled at the edge of massive Mauna Loa lava flows. (Actually I think you might need 4WD for the last bit, but I can't remember for sure - I think we walked a ways.) Anyway, it's called Pohue Bay, and made for a wonderfully mellow weekend excursion. About 4 of us were camping on the small beach, along with only a couple of other folks, with a slight breeze blowing in the coconut palms. A beautiful sunset was icing on the cake. I believe we spent a good part of the evening drinking Steinlager and playing hanafuda, a Japanese card game that I got hooked on while in Hawai'i but can't seem to remember how to play now...

The area around Pohue Bay must have been fairly well-traveled in the past. At any given point while walking across flat areas of the old lava flows, you could look down and have a reasonably good chance of seeing petroglyphs. I thought it was pretty cool that you could be out casually hiking and, quite often, come across remnants of the old Hawaiian culture. Petroglyphs are plentiful, with some of the most accessible located towards the end of Chain of Craters road in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. You can find them at many other places across the island - just keep your eyes open if you happen to be walking across old, flat lava flows.

If you continue driving south from Ocean View estates, the highway eventually veers west as you round the southern tip of the island. From here you can turn left and drive all the way to South Point, the southernmost land in the United States. It's a very windy place, and there are some archaeological points of interest. The photos here show some examples. A house platform consisting of a level construction of lava rock is called a "heiau". This one is at South Point near the shoreline. Down at the water's edge, some of the rocks had holes bored through them, presumably making convenient places to tie up a boat. Historical sites such as these are common all over the island. It is generally extremely disrespectful, and probably illegal, to disturb such relics from the past, and as a result they are found on hotel grounds, in the middle of condominium complexes, at shopping centers, etc. Progress goes on, but always with respect for those whose homeland we were standing on.

As you drive from South Point, heading northwest through miles of old Mauna Loa flows dotted with makeshift houses (stop at a green sand beach if you have time and 4WD!), in a couple hours you'll pass the small town of Honaunau. If you turn off the highway here and head downhill, you'll end up at the place of refuge of Honaunau (in southern Kona district) - it took quite a while before I mastered its Hawaiian name: "Pu'u Honua O Honaunau". Here the park service has reconstructed a priest's house and some wooden statues, and offers information about the historical function of this place: if you broke a taboo by commiting some foolish act such as stepping in the shadow of royalty, you were in for it. But if you could somehow get to the place of refuge before they caught you, you could be effectively pardoned by the kahuna and hence escape capital punishment. Nowadays it's a relaxing place to spend an afternoon, with good snorkeling in the small bay, and if you walk south along the water for a few minutes you'll come across some 20-foot cliffs that make a great diving board!

Continuing north from Honaunau, you'll soon arrive in sunny Kailua-Kona, bustling with tourists. It's a nice town where you can casually watch the sunset (always searching for that elusive green flash) while sipping coffee and listening to some live island music. Near the Kona Surf hotel is another interesting site: a large sloped rock construction, raised 10 or so feet, maybe 50 feet long. This apparantly was part of a long slide. My friend Jay was saying that it was a sport passtime - the slide was covered with foliage and pig fat, and people would slide down on wooden sleds. This baffled me - the a'a lava rocks are so sharp that it is difficult just to walk on them without sturdy shoes. I'd think that the road rash suffered by wiping out while sledding on the stuff would be worse than a motorcycle accident. But I guess the thrill is in the danger...

If you go north again from Kailua-Kona and follow the highway as it veers towards the northeast, you'll wind up in the town of Waimea. This is a ranching town, serving a network of cattle ranches on the northern slopes of Mauna Kea (among them is the Parker Ranch, which I believe is the largest in the U.S.). It is also the starting point for an extremely nice hike that leads north through bamboo forests and, after about an hour's walk, puts you on the precarious edge of upper Waipio valley. The waterfalls are amazing here if it has recently rained, and you can hike for a good ways around the head of the valley. You'll notice a stone aqueduct that tunnels through the cliff side and bridges steep cuts in the valley walls. This has become a somewhat popular attraction, and at least one tour company offers a kayak trip down the aqueduct.

The other end of Waipio valley opens dramatically onto the Pacific along the Big Island's north coast. From Waimea, if you drive northeast a bit further, you'll be able to turn left and backtrack along the coast to the valley's edge. If you've got a 4WD truck you can drive straight down the valley wall to the beach below along an extremely steep narrow road. The valley floor is packed with taro farms, and at the head of the valley the tallest waterfall in the state of Hawai'i, Hi'ilawe, plummets hundreds of feet down a sheer drop. The upper valley connects off to the right... Although the road ends, there is a series of similar valleys continuing to the northwest. These are much less accessible, making for wonderful trekking and kayaking opportunities - maybe something for my next visit!