Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Rainbow falls

Red Ginger plant - not the plant the the ginger root comes from

Next few photos are of lava flows from Mauna Ulu mountain down to the sea - some 6 miles

Flowers in the Orchid Island shop - beautiful

Smoking vents across the valley

Inside the Thurston Lava tube

13th July Flight to the Bid Island and trip around it.

06.30 pick up by coach and trip to airport for flight to Hawaii, the big Island. Landed in Hilo and then drove through Banyon Drive. The Banyon is a large tree, many planted along the roadside by celebrities. Monkey pod trees and large leaf trees called elephant ears were pointed out by the driver.

Called into a macadamia nut factory and enjoyed an ice cream. Took the red ginger flower photo. This is tsunami country and there are the sirens everywhere. Once out of Hilo area very rustic but oh so green as the plants thrive on the volcanic ash which is rich in minerals.

Drove out to the Kilauea crater, part of Hawaii volcanoes national park. Was only able to drive along part of the crater rim as the area in the crater is closed due to high levels of sulphur. It was very wet and misty up at the crater, the rim is 4000 feet above sea level hence the clouds. The mistiness added to by steam from the rain falling on the lava and seeping down to the hotter rocks beneath our feet. Plenty of steam rising from vents all around us. Did manage to look down into the crater from the Jagger museum, which has a number of seismograph charts plotting a number of sensors across Hawaii.

From one of the brochures they say that Mauna Loa is the most massive mountain on the planet, rising from the sea bed to a total height of 56000 feet, 27000 feet higher than Mt Everest. The mountain covers a total of 19000 cubic miles. Mauna Ulu is sited on the southern slope of Mauna Loa due to the movement of the tectonic plate and the formation of a new hot spot.

We drove out from the crater and back down into the sunshine to have lunch at Kalapana village and visit the Kaimu black sand beach. All the lava flow pictures are from this area. Took my own lunch with me and sat on the black sands and watched the Pacific breakers beat against the lava cliffs. This lava has travelled some 6 miles from the volcano and in my eyes was beautiful. Had my boots on, one woman has flip flops and wanted to know if they would be study enough!!! Doh!!! Walked extensively over the lava and could see where nature was beginning to claim back the land, small ferns - several types - were colonising cracks and crevices. Along the shore the locals had been planting coconut seeds which were thriving. I found one on the beach that had a short root so planted it along where the others were - my part in the island's vegetation regeneration.

Would have liked to have gone further inland to see the new lava flows but as they were around the other side this was not allowed. The interesting thing is that when this volcano erupts the locals gather to watch, rather than run away. The geologists have confirmed that this volcano blows at a much lower pressure than others so is not so dangerous and there is less material thrown into the sky.

We were told that due to the tectonic plates movement there was a new hot spot just off the tip of the island which had grown some 15000 feet above the sea bed but still had 3000 feet to go before sea level. The expectation is that once sea level is reached the new land will combine with the current island land mass extending the size of the island. This is how the island has grown from the four previous volcanic eruptions.

We had to leave which was a shame but two more treats in store. The first was a visit to an orchid factory/shop. What beautiful colours and plants there were on view. Took a number of photos, a couple shown above. One smelt like chocolate another like lemon bleach.

Moving on we visited Thurston lava tube. Caused by the surrounding lava solidifying leaving molten lava to flow underground in a tube. The tube is known to be 28 miles long but visitors can walk 400 yards in a safe environment, but if fully equipped can walk further along the tube. Difficult to take photos but included one that shows people inside the tube.

All too soon it was back to the airport at Hilo for the flight to Honolulu arriving back at the hotel by 20.00 hrs. Next trip tomorrow - 05.00 pick up!