Dani Collins – Hawaii’s Volcano Park Off The Bucket List!

HAWAII has been on our bucket list for a while. We actually visited the island of Kauai the year after we married for my sister’s wedding. For fun, I dug up a photo from that trip. 

 

My husband has wanted to see the volcano park ever since. We were looking for a splashy vacation for our twenty-fifth anniversary last year—as well as a break from winter—so we went this January.

 

It was a truly wonderful vacation! We started with three days on ‘the big island,’ aka ‘Hawaii.’ Then we flew to Oahu and spent eight days on the North Shore at Turtle Bay Resort.

 

I am blessed with a husband who likes to do his research. While most of Hawaii hovers in the twenties throughout the year, he read that the volcano park elevation is 1143 meters and can get quite cold. We were fine through the day, but when we tried to view the glow of lava in the crater at night, I had to bow out. The wind came up and I was still in shorts.



 

[caption id="attachment_1124" align="alignleft" width="300"] Crater at Night[/caption]

But we had a rental car for those three days and put five hundred miles (not kilometers, miles!) on it circumnavigating about three-quarters of the island, seeing where lava flows had happened in the past decades, happening by turtles laying eggs on black sand beaches, taking a million photos of jungle and waves and, of course, the volcano park.

 

At one point while driving, we passed a sign that said, “Scenic drive, 12 miles” and I jokingly said, “How long do you think it will take use? Two hours?” That was at 10:20 and we got back on the highway at 12:30! We stopped midway for the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Gardens, which were truly beautiful. Our only regret was that we didn’t have a picnic lunch. If you go, be sure to pack one!

 

We found the big island held a surprisingly rural feel. A local later confirmed that it is one of the most laid back islands, although the North Shore on Oahu was also very chill.

 

With the volcano ticked off our bucket list, we were ready for a new adventure and made our way over to Oahu. Many friends had recommended Turtle Bay (seen in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.) It was an expensive ride from the airport to the North Shore, about an hour away. We considered renting a car again, but once we were there, the bus was $5.50 for a day pass and served our needs very well.

 

Mostly we would take some snacks, hop the bus, hop off at a state park, then walk empty beaches until we were tired or hungry, then catch the bus back to the resort.

 

The actual resort is quite expensive, but all of Hawaii is. Even a quick stop at the grocery store for a few protein bars and breakfast supplies was pushing thirty dollars. When we were at the resort, we only had the handful of restaurants there to choose from, all great food, but two entrees and a glass of wine were easily seventy dollars. I made the mistake of not reading the fine print when I ordered pizza from room service and, with tip, it came to sixty dollars.

 

But we found workarounds, kept beer and wine in the room and enjoyed it on our balcony. Our entertainment needs are simple so food was really our only big expense. The balcony was our best entertainment dollar anyway. We watched surfing in the little cove attached to the resort and whales out on the ocean pretty much daily.

 

The weather in January was unsettled, but that didn’t disappoint me. I didn’t care what it was doing, so long as it wasn’t snowing. (We had tons of it at home while we were gone.) Also, when we did have full sun, it was (surprise, surprise) quite hot. We were more comfortable on our long walks when it was overcast and sprinkling. Although we did get caught in a couple of absolute downpours (which made for nice rainbows, so again, can’t complain!)

 

 

If we were to do it again, I think we would try another island simply for variety. Renting a car was great on the big island where we had less time. We were happy with the bus on Oahu (there’s an app for that! It’s called DaBus) But we did have to pay for a lift back to the airport. By then, we had the number for a local and got there for about fifty dollars less than the shuttle.



One thing that we found surprisingly entertaining and informative was ‘the surf channel,’ which was a local TV station. It was a couple of local dudes commentating the surf competition taking place about thirty minutes away from us. They were fun to listen to and we learned so much about that very dangerous sport. And no, neither of us gave it a go. I like to look at waves. When they bash me around, I get nervous.

 

Would you like to see more photos? Check them out here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1270037799807410.1073741853.100004036072845&type=1&l=63322c7c00

 

 

BIO:

[caption id="attachment_663" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dani Collins[/caption]

Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with some laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. Mostly she writes contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule’s Montana Born, but her backlist of forty books also includes self-published erotic romance, romantic comedy, and even an epic medieval fantasy. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. She lives in Christina Lake, BC with her high school sweetheart husband who occasionally coaxes her out of her attic office to visit their grown children—or travel.

 

 

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Consequence of His Revenge (One Night With Consequences)

In debt to the billionaire…

And bound forever by his vengeance!

Infamous Sicilian Dante Gallo takes great delight in firing Cami Fagan as punishment for her father’s theft. What he doesn’t expect is to desire her so intensely he can’t resist seducing her, and Dante soon discovers how deliciously innocent Cami really is! But what started as revenge could bind them forever when their inconvenient passion has long-lasting consequences…

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