Two
short flights back via Honolulu then on to the Big Island which is
the newest island and the one with active volcanoes,tall enough to have snow, showing through the clouds on our journey.
We arrived on the wet side of the island although fortunately not raining at the time
and travelled to the National Volcano Park for our first view of a crater with an active section as you can see.
We arrived on the wet side of the island although fortunately not raining at the time
and travelled to the National Volcano Park for our first view of a crater with an active section as you can see.
Most
of the current action comes out of the sides of the mountains these
days and as they are shield volcanoes they don't have great ash cloud
eruptions like for instance Mts Etna, Fuji and of course Krakatoa.
These start some 18,000 ft below sea level and so Mona Kea at 14000
feet above sea level is one very big mountain. Mona Loa is the
biggest land mass of any of the mountains and still growing and
currently the second highest and there are 5 volcanoes on the island.
After
viewing the crater we walked through a lava tube made when the top of
the lava cools and solidifies quicker than the underneath which keeps
moving for a while eventually leaving a tunnel once the eruption has
finished. Most are not this big that we have seen.
We
then travelled around the south of the island which is the furthest
south you can go in the USA apparently. Past a black sand beach plus turtles
The hotel is in Kona country so the coffee should be good.
The hotel is in Kona country so the coffee should be good.
Up
to catch a 7.30 check-in for a helicopter ride over the volcanoes and
the north east of the island. Just stunning!
The
crater we saw from the ground
Then
an even more active one
the
lava flowing into the sea creating an even bigger island!
we
even saw moving new lava but harder to photograph succesfully.
Flew
over Hilo with some rain before flying round amazing valleys cut by
water and very green because of the rainfall.
Before
heading back to the sunny side of the island, intotal about 1.5 hours
of flying, amazing.
Early
evening we caught a boat to go down the coast showing some of the layers of lava now being eroded on this side of the island
to view the place where Captain cook was killed,
they thought he was the manifestation of a god who visited and then went away for years, unfortunately he had to return due to problems with his ship and so they realised he wasn't a god but did have metal which was not available before in the islands and so he was killed.
Dinner on board and sunset not bad way to end the day.
to view the place where Captain cook was killed,
they thought he was the manifestation of a god who visited and then went away for years, unfortunately he had to return due to problems with his ship and so they realised he wasn't a god but did have metal which was not available before in the islands and so he was killed.
Dinner on board and sunset not bad way to end the day.
Quiet
morning no alarm! Visited the local church
which
was the oldest on the island set up by missionaries in 1820 who travelled on
this boat,
well
a full size version!
Quick
lunch then donned long trousers and picked up various layers and
joined a trip to the top of Mona Kea. We stopped for dinner at 7000
ft, at this 'farm' ,
fortunately slightly better accommodation round the back but only tented so needed those jumpers,already much cooler and surprisingly hungry for 4.30pm! We then continued right the way up to 13800 ft, stopping briefly to see a 'silver sword' plant and a cinder cone showing the iron content in the lava.
We were warned about the effects of altitude apart from yawning, not the place to run or even walk fast until you've got used to the lack of oxygen.
However the views of the various telescopes and hills where people had been skiing
this is the summit about 14 feet higher than we were!
fortunately slightly better accommodation round the back but only tented so needed those jumpers,already much cooler and surprisingly hungry for 4.30pm! We then continued right the way up to 13800 ft, stopping briefly to see a 'silver sword' plant and a cinder cone showing the iron content in the lava.
We were warned about the effects of altitude apart from yawning, not the place to run or even walk fast until you've got used to the lack of oxygen.
However the views of the various telescopes and hills where people had been skiing
and then the sunset made it even more worth while.
Fortunately they provided really warm parkers and gloves which meant only your legs got cold!
We
then travelled down to 9000ft to watch the stars and were welcomed
with a view of the international space centre and another satellite
flying past.
No
pictures I'm afraid camera not fancy enough to have the long exposure
needed. The sky is just covered in stars I've never seen so many even
in quiet areas of New Zealand which I thought was pretty amazing, it
was hard to distinguish the constellations we all recognise because
of all the other stars in view. The position less than 20 degrees
north of the equator means that they get not only the northern
hemisphere but a great deal of the southern hemisphere too. We had a
good view of Jupiter with some of it's moons and a new galaxy forming
in the sword of Orion.
Home
late and early start for flight to last island of Maui but oh so
worth it, an amazing island.
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