Hawaii 2014 - The Start

Tuesday, March 25, was flight day--Helen arriving from San Diego, and me from Sacramento (Lizzie had to stay home).  We rendezvoused in Honolulu and flew together (after de-planning from a broken plane and re-boarding into anther) to Hilo.  There we rented our car and drove on to the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, which is very nice.  The morning view from our balcony is shown above.

As we checked in, we were caught in a sudden torrential downpour--getting very wet.  This soon passed, but it will rain almost daily over here on the Hilo side--they receive about of 12-15 feet of rain a year (not inches, FEET).

That frequent rain gives rise to lovely waterfalls, including Akaka Falls, located in the State Park of the same name.  The falls drops down a sheer basalt wall, landing in a deep pools at its base, with rainbows formed by the misty water and the bright sun:

Later in the morning, we explored the Botanical Gardens to the north of Hilo--one of the most beautiful collections of tropical plants from around the world.  The trail drops steeply down to the ocean, winding past one wonderful view after another. Blooms were everywhere--often odd but always colorful, even animal-like, such as this bloom below, which we were later told was a bird of paradise (we thought it was a type if ginger):

Other flowers appeared around every bend in the paved, well-maintained trail through the lush greenery of gigantic trees.  Here are a few:

Among the many blooming orchids was this one, which looked a bit like an alien creature:

Tomorrows exploration will depend on the weather--if raining heavily, we might go to a museum, but if like today, then we are off to Volcano National Park.