Just had to get that out; will start at the beginning now.
Little bit later start today; we got to sleep in until 0630am. Not sure if you can really call that sleeping in, but it's an improvement over the last couple of days and I woke up feeling quite rested. The Volcano Inn is a fantastic place to stay; quiet, eco-conscious and equipped with all the modern conveniences one could need.
When I step outside the birds are singing, the neighbor's rooster is crowing (I love roosters so that's a total plus) and the smell of wet "jungle" surrounds me. What a way to start the day!
We grab an organic muffin then it's time to leave for the airport. No, we're not flying to another island already; we're going to do a helicopter tour of the volcano.
To read a report of the experience and see in-flight pictures, please visit: Helicopter pictures.
All to soon we're back at the airport. No, actually it was just about perfect; long enough to see everything we wanted to see, but short enough to make us regret the experience had come to an end. They do offer longer flights from Kona, but that would've been too long for us.
We pick up a copy of the DVD they made during the flight (including narration by the pilot), then head back to Hilo Bay. We plan to have lunch at the #1 rated tripadvisor place, but they don't open until 11am so we stay at one of the bayfront parks for a while. It's a nice spot with deep, reddish brown sand.
The Hilo Bay Cafe isn't number 1 for no reason; the food is delish! We both have the fish & chips as recommend to us by one of the people from Blue Hawaiian and it's to die for. Not your ordinary fish and chips, but breadcrumb encrusted ahi with a salad of organic green and hearts of palm and garlic fries. Yummy!
When we get back to the Inn we hang out in the room for a while, then drive back to Volcanoes NP where we stop by the vistor center to get a stamp for my passport. It's perfect timing, because they're just starting the movie. The movie doesn't just talk about "the" volcano, but about the history of all the Hawaiian island ... makes sense because all of Hawaii was created by the same hotspot. It also talks about the evolution of Hawaii's flora & fauna which to me is just fascinating. Like did you know that many species lost their survival mechanisms because there didn't have any predators anymore?
First stop, the Lua Manu crater. "This is what I remember," Sandy exclaims. Not really a good thing considering she didn't like the park when she first saw it many years ago. To be honest it doesn't really measure up to the stuff we saw earlier today and yesterday so I understand why she'd feel that way.
Bursts of color when you look up close
Lots of different kinds of lava flows along the way, from light gray to black, jagged to smooth.
There's a strang smell in the air near one of the overlooks that may or may not have been sulfur. Sulfur is pretty dangerous and there's signs everywhere warning about the dangers of sulfur poisoning, like don't get out of the car if you see smog, don't go outside if it smells like someone lit a match, etc. But as fearless explorers/clueless tourists we make the calculated decision (there's people -- other clueless tourists? -- milling about and a couple having lunch on one of the benches) to take a quick peek, but we don't feel comfortable lingering much longer. It's quite the scene though!
The Pu'u Loa petroglyph trail is supposedly 0.7 mile over uneven lava, but it sure seems a lot longer.
Not really a pleasurable hike in the hot sun, but the petroglyphs are nice. I like all the little round holes in the rock; the ancient Hawaiians put the umbilical cords of their babies in there.
Oh, before I forget, here's a picture of Ranger the Wrangler:
It's a little scary walking to Holei Sea Arch after all the warnings about staying 1/4 mile away from the cliffs because the lava might be unstable, but I'm guessing the park service wouldn't let us run around there if it wasn't safe.
One of my favorite pictures; Sandy walking towards the end of the road with a little palm tree oasis near the ocean and pink blossomed grass bordering the road. Totally evokes the ultimate roadtrip feeling!
The last stop on Chain of Craters road is literally the end of the road; the pavement has been swallowed by a massive lava flow. What a peculiar sight!
Same spot as earlier seen from the other side.
Sweaty and tired we trudge back to the car and start driving towards Thurston Lava Tube when we spot a pair of nene at the side of the road. They're an endangered species, but they're thriving in the park thanks to a intense reintroduction program. It's pretty awesome to see conservation at work!
There is very little day light left when we reach the lava tube so we don't waste any time and head down the stairs to the opening.
Luckily it's lit on the inside. It actually looks a lot like a cave and it's just as damp if not worse. Hard to imagine that one day enormous quantities of lava coursed through there ...
As we climb back to the parking lot we spot a pair of Kalij pheasants.
From the same parking lot a trail leads to the Kilauea Iki crater overlook, but it's 0.5mi and starting to get dark so Sandy waits at the car while I make a run for it. Would've been a lot faster if I didn't hook my left foot behind my right leg as I was running. Boom! Nice crash landing sliding down the path over the gravel so now my hands, my thigh and my knees (that still had the bandaids from last time lol) are nice and scraped up. Update 2/6/12 --> still have some volcanic dirt embedded in my palms as a permanent reminder of our trip. If it lasts as long as the time I accidently jabbed myself with my fountain pen I should be good for a few years.
Anyway, what can you do but dust yourself off and keep going? The view was worth it in the end; rainforests flanking the crater on both sides with in the distance the plume from the Kilauea Crater.
I make it back to the car without incident and we stop by the village store to pick up microwavable meals for dinner. There's no microwave in the room so we use the one in the communal area then eat on the covered outside area. Too dark to see anything, but still a nice place to just sit and relax.
Tomorrow it's time to say goodbye to Volcano and drive to Kona on the west coast.
2 comments:
Sounds like an incredible vacation. I'll wait for the pictures. Must be breathtaking.
Love and kisses,
Joeve
It was worth waiting for.
The picture of the lava with all the colours has a very high wow factor.It looks as if someone has attackted it with a blowtorch.
The pictures you made of the lava landscape are very beautiful but at the same time I find them very depressive.
Finally a picture of the mysterious nene, so they do exist.
Love and kisses,
Joeve
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