Big Tour

The Man writes...I rather ambitiously tried to tour Hawaii's Big Island in one day.

The western side is extremely dry and away from the manicured resorts the landscape is mainly bare black lava. By contrast the eastern half receives 280 inches per year on average - Hilo is said to be America's wettest city - and I soon found myself driving along in misty rain between rolling green fields of sheep and cows.

First stop was Waipi'o valley lookout: an inaccessible valley leads to a blank sand beach between 1000 foot cliffs.

Further in I visited the Akaka Falls State Park: the falls are a sheer 400 foot drop in the middle of lush bamboo woods.

The Volcanos National Park provides another contrasting landscape. There are yellow, pungent sulphur banks, startling steam vents, and a massive steaming volcanic crater.

All unique and memorable, but I saved the best to last.  I'll blog about that another day...