By Mac Malambri
Today, we departed our rental house for the last time. As soon as you cross the first river, the environment totally changes. The long and even lava flows give way to river valleys. The river valleys form as erotional properties, principly flowing water, weathering away weaker rocks and forming these valleys. Initially, they are narrow like the one with Rainbow falls; however, as one proceeds, they form lush and wide river valleys, such as the Waipi’o Valley and Pololu valley.
As we left Hilo, the environment became extremely lush. We drove through a botanical garden. It reminded me of the rainforests in Costa Rica. There is dense greenery on all sides and little streams gracefully cut through the jungle.
Our first stop was the Laupahoehoe memorial. Hawaii is vulnerable to numerous hazards. Among these are the dreaded tsunamis. Tsunamis form an earthquake or landslide displaces a large amount of water. This water begins to oscillate as waves. Because of the depth of the Pacific, the waves can have huge amplitudes—and thus carry huge amounts of energy—yet still be basically undetectable from above. Tsunamis become concerning when the seafloor rapidly rises as it approaches land. This causes the amplitude of the wave to become noticeably above the seafloor and eventually create huge waves. The only warning before the Pacific Warning System was a rapid high or low tide minutes before the tsunami hits. Then, you would see a huge wave at horizon. In 1946, there was a village in Laupahoehoe. That village had a school near the shore. Out of nowhere, it was hit with a 55 ft wave that liked 159 people across the Hawaiian coast. The school children died. The local pastor raised money for a memorial. Laupahoehoe is beautiful but the tragedy dominates the area. As a silver lining, it caused the development of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System. First operating in 1948, it consisted of advanced equipment that detects earthquakes and small changes in water level throughout the Pacific Ocean to identify tsunamis before they occur. On island, you can see the horns on poles scattered everywhere. They remind me of the sirens in the TV show lost.
After Laupahoehoe, we headed to the Waipi’o valley. The Waipi’o valley overlook shows where this valley meets the ocean. It is immensely beautiful. Photos do not do it justice. Unfortunately, due to property disputes, only residents can go into the valley right now. Even seeing it from above was amazing, though.
Finally, we continued across the island to our hotel in Kona. That night we unpacked and went to dinner. Everyone was ready to hit the bed since we finally were back in air conditioning and sleeping in beds, not on the floor.