On Monday we checked out of the HWV Hotel and into the HWV Condos. We decided that would also be a good day for a break from the sun, so we packed up the car to drive over to the windward side of the island. On the mainland the wind and storm patterns typically go west to east. The Hawai'ian pattern is more east to west, or at least the tradewinds are usually out of the northeast. Hence, the Kona side is the western or leeward side of the island and much drier and sunnier. The Hilo side is the wet, lush side. The two sides are separated by five volcanos. Kohala in the north, Mauna Kea next (which is the tallest and usually has snow on the summit!), Hualalai in the west, Mauna Loa in the south/middle (which is the biggest and is still active. It is also the largest mountain on the planet by volume and the tallest from it's base below sea), and Kilauea. With all the vog we've had lately, they've been hard to see.
Anyways......we first headed across cattleland by Mauna Kea to the NE side of the island where the Waipi'o valley is. Then south along the eastern coastline towards Hilo, stopping at Akaka Falls, which I believe is the tallest in Hawai'i. We drove through Hilo, but didn't have time to stop, as we wanted to get to Kilauea at the proper time......
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