Some photos from an afternoon at the beach.
Category: Travel
Lava
Wednesday we headed out to Volcanoes National Park. We got there before the big crowds starting coming in, which was nice. We toured the visitor center, got our park passport stamped, and did some gift shop shopping. Then we headed out to start driving Crater Rim Road. This road allows you to drive around the caldera, which is a big crater and sends lots of steam into the air. The steam is caused by rain from the surface hitting the hot lava under the surface, releasing steam.
We hiked to the sulphur banks. Here you see where the steam has a large amount of acid, minerals, and sulphur in it, causing the rocks to turn a bright yellow/green color. While it may look like eggs, it doesn’t smell like eggs. There are signs everywhere in the park telling you that volcanic fumes can be hazardous to your health, basically telling everyone but healthy white males they shouldn’t proceed! I ignored it and continued on anyways….However, part of Crater Rim Road has been closed for a while because the amount of fumes being emitted from the caldera makes that area way too harmful for visitors.
Walking to the caldera overlook, we saw a field of orchids. I couldn’t believe that orchids were growing like wild flowers on the side of a volcano! I don’t think anyone else took the time to notice the beautiful flowers either.
You could approach steam vents nearby and you could feel the warmth coming up from the earth crack. There was a lot of steam this day because it rained off and on the whole time we were in the park, making for a cool, grey day around the volcano.
We then descended down Chain of Craters Road to the Holei Sea Arch. Along the way we took a few detours, including a stroll through a lava tube. A lava tube is left after a flow of lava travels down the mountain and then the molten lava inside drains out, leaving the shell of a tube (like a cave). We brought our flashlights so we could travel to the end of the tube. The park has some of the tube lit and then a portion has been left as is, allowing visitors to continue on if they came prepared! So we went another 334 meters into the tube to its very end. Several times we didn’t think it could go on any further and then we found our way around. I have to say this was a very cool experience. At the end we turned out our lights to see how really dark it was. Pitch black doesn’t even begin to describe it!
Back out of the tube and onto the road, we stopped at a view lookouts and drove through lots of old lava flows. After 20 miles, we finally made it to the sea. Here we stopped to see the sea arch. This naturally occuring arch in the cliff was caused by erosion from the waves. Very awesome because the arch is right there, not off in the distance to view.
We walked about another mile or so down a paved 2-lane road, which had been closed. The reason? Lava flowed over the road a few years ago! Not far from here you could see where the new lava flows were happening. The steam clouds rolling off the coast line are enough to make a sunny day grey.
Heading back out of the park we made our way to where the new lava is flowing. The county has the road blocked off (because lava is flowing over a portion of the road, so the road ends anyways) and you can park nearby and walk to a viewing area. While we were not able to get to the area where the lava was ground level, we could view the lava pouring into the sea. This may be the coolest thing I have ever seen. Actually seeing new land being formed in front of my eyes. The darker it got, the more orange and red the clouds became. Very awesome that the earth has this power to create anew.
Oh, I forgot to mention you also needed flashlights for this adventure too. To get to the viewing area, you had to walk about 20 minutes on lava flow. Not the easiest thing to do, particularly in the dark! Someone twisted their ankle on the way out in front of us. I don’t know how some people did it in flip flops!
There was so much wonderful stuff about this day. I’m sure I haven’t captured it all, but being able to experience the volcano from so many perspectives has been incredible.
Diving in the ocean..well, as close as I will get!
On Tuesday morning we boarded the Atlantis Submarine for a diving adventure into the sea! Since I can’t swim and therefore snorkeling is out of the question for me, we sat in a climate controlled submarine and went to a depth of 150 feet!
This was a very cool experience. We were tendered out to the submarine and had to climb down the hatch from the top of the sub. Once inside the submarine has large porthole windows for viewing sea life. Just hovering at the surface we saw several types of fish. Then they closed up the hatch and down we went! We saw many types of fish, lots of coral, which looks completely boring in our pictures. But coral is very colorful if light could reach it.
There were two shipwrecks to cruise by, which are providing homes to many schools of fish and star fish. We even saw a sand shark sleeping by one of them! They are one of hte only types of sharks that have a bladder that allows htem to stay submerged. Other sharks must keep swimming (everyone sing along — just keep swimming, just keep swimming…). We saw Dory fish as well on our tour of the ocean. No dolphins or whales, but lots of fish, and it is the closest I can come to scuba diving or snorkeling so I loved it!
4WD Adventures
We’ve had a few 4WD adventures while in Hawaii. The first was a drive down to a beach here in Kona. The road was cut through a lava flow. We weren’t sure how the cars were making it down there, but some where there when we got to the parking. The beach was very nice and quiet. It was a different type of beach than we had seen before. The sand was course and chunky, consisting of lava and coral. I found large pieces of washed up coral in the sand and some still looked like coral instead of white rock. We watched the sun set and then headed back out since there is no lighting along the lava road….On the way out, we were stunned to see two girls on a scooter heading OUT of the park! Not sure how they managed the big holes and dips!
Today we ventured down a paved one lane road toward the southern most point in the US — South Point, Hawaii. Along this drive we saw lots of cattle and horses. Acres and acres of farm land. Then in the middle of it all were two wind farms — one in disrepair (which looked very sad) and another in working order. South Point is very windy, which makes all the trees bend in one direction, so an ideal place for a wind farm!
A short detour off the road led us to Broken Road. It is aptly named. The road is broken and fell into the sea! But the views from the end of the road were amazing! The ocean was such an intense blue and green and you could see the cliffs along the shoreline. Stunning!
Back on the one lane road and eventually it ended and turned into a dirt road. Generally the dirt roads are well marked, but this was a maze of intercrossing dirt paths that was supposed to lead us to a green sand beach after 2.25 miles. After the first .25 miles, I couldn’t take it anymore! It was almost impossible to know which path to take and which one was going to lead down into a 3 foot hole or up a steeply angled path to the more level area. So we headed back out. Good thing because then we found the black sand beach….
Big Island Air Tour (Photos)
I was going to add these to Tonia’s post, but there were so many I just made a new gallery. Look carefully in the second picutre of lava entering the ocean to see some stupid people way too close. At the top of the third of those pictures, between the green areas, is where we went to watch the lava on Monday evening. Pictures and movies of that later.
The Big Island by Air
On Sunday morning we got up early to take our 2 hour tour of the island with Blue Hawaii. It was amazing! The stark contrast of the two sides and then the volcano! Just amazing. Our pilot was informative and entertaining.
We saw the lava flow from above and could some orange glow. Bob gave us great views! We flew by Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa which have been inactive for a while. He liked to point out Hawaii is overdo for some major activity from these volcanoes!
We also saw breathtaking waterfalls. Must have flown by 50 small falls to get to the Waipio Valley where we saw several 1000+ foot falls!
So worth the air sickness. And I tried crystallized ginger and it didn’t help!
Pics to follow shortly!
The Big Island
We arrived in Kona about mid-day on Saturday. After spending a week on the Garden Isle of Kauai this landscape was quite the contrast. While we could see beaches and blue water, most of the land was brown or black and desolate. They get very little rain here so it is not lush like the East Side or Kauai. Still the landscape is spectacular.
We checked in to Kona by the Sea, which is more like a hotel than private residence but is nice and has its own private beach area (small but not crowded).
Got groceries, had shave ice, and then watched the sunset. Hawaiian Ice Cones here in Kona is great! This place chills the syrup which makes for a very cool treat!
For dinner we ate at Kona Brewing Company. The pizza was good. The location is way off the main road but that was ok.
Alii drive where we are staying is the equivalent of the Vegas strip with lots of hotel/resorts, touristy stores, and any activity you would like to book. Very busy on the weekends!
You know you’re in Hawaii when …
More Kauai Photos
Here are some more pics from Kauai … Big Island photos coming soon.
Act II
I will write about our last day on Kauai tonight. Right now we are waiting on our flight to Kona via Honolulu. We should arrive just before 1 pm.
Thanks to everyone for following along so far. More pics and blogs to come! Hope everyone is having a good Saturday afternoon. Go Zips and go WVU!!