Day-5 – The Big Island: Hawaii

Today we are flying to Hilo, Hawaii.  That means we are leaving the hotel by 7:30 am to get to our flight on time.  After landing in Hilo we will make our way to the Kailua-Kona coast on the west side of the island, with our first stop at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  From the plane I was able to take this picture of the mountains on Hawaii.

After everyone is on the bus we leave for the Volcanoes National Park.  Once there we go to the Jagger Museum for the overlook to the Kilauea caldera and the Halema’uma’u volcanic crater which is smoldering because of the recent lava flow.  Part of the rim road around the caldera is closed because of the recent flow.

You can clearly see the newest crater inside the older caldera.  The new crater is where the lava is coming to the surface and creating the steam venting up into the air.  It is said that at night you can see the red glow on the steam, although you cannot see the red now and we will not be back.

Looking at the north end of the Kilauea caldera and Kilauea Visitor Center you can see how steep the crater side is.  The lava on the floor is from the 1919, 1954, 1970’s and 1982 lava flows.

The floor of the larger Kilauea caldera has many steam vents created by water seeping into chambers and cracks where it is heated and the steam escapes.  Here are a few of the steam vents which are about a half mile away.

Heading back to the bus we can see grass lands on Mauna Loa untouched by the current eruptions.  This land belongs to a ranch and in some of the places you can see cattle grazing.

Before getting in the bus I had to take a picture of this bird.  It was the color that drew my eye.  When asked, the bus driver said it was a Saffron Finch.  It was eating the grass seeds near the rock. 

Driving along the parks roads we make a quick stop at the Lua Manu lava flow.  There is a small caldera here, but what is more interesting are the formations created by the lava.  (Lua Manu is near the beginning of the Chain of Craters Road where 20 years ago we drove to the Sea to see the lava flowing into the Pacific Ocean.  At that time the lava had passed over the roads and you could no longer drive on it, so we hiked to the sea.)

While we are here at Lua Manu I walked on the lava and it feels brittle like you are walking on lava rocks for your gas grill.  For a picture it is mostly just grey on grey, but to look at it it’s incredible.  Here a lone fern is growing out of the lava field.

There are many holes in the lava and as I'm headed back to the bus I nearly walk into this hole.  Good thing hot lava isn’t underfoot.

Now we are on our way to the Thurston Lava Tube (Nāhuku) which is back on the road we just came in on.  The diversified plants here are great; this fern is in the process of growing new fronds.  Now these are neat looking.

Whoa!  It is probably difficult to really get a feel for the size of these fiddleheads, but they are about 6-8 inches wide.  Now that is a meal and a half.

Carmen is on the bridge getting ready to enter the Thurston Lava Tube along with others in our tour group.  Although it is dark inside they do have lights spaced so you can see your footing.  The “tube” also has crushed pea lava rock on the ground so you can walk on it without tripping or falling into holes.

Let’s take a walk through the lava tube.  Further along the tube the ceiling dropped to just around 6 feet so taller people, like me, have to remember to duck.

Nearing the end where we will take the stairs out of the lava tube.  You can see the water that has dripped onto the ground which I had to walk around.  Look at the roots that have grown through the ceiling of the lava tube.

Leaving the lava tube we enter a fern and tree forest.  You can see the fern on the right has grown to over 8 feet tall. 

Look at this little green fuzzy fiddlehead.  There are so many different fiddleheads in this section of the trail that I could show you five more pictures, but Carmen says three are enough.  After all this isn’t a fiddle head blog but a travel blog, so onward.

We are back on the road and our next stop is a black sand beach where sea turtles frequent.  This is Punaluu Park and when we arrive there are a number of sea turtles sunning themselves on the beach.  They must come here often because they are roped off so no one goes up to them.

A close-up of one of the more active turtles – whoa, slow down dude you might blur my picture.  Have you found Nemo yet?  Ha, ha, ha.

We are after all at the Black Sand Beach, so I should spend some time looking at the beach.  Here is the beach and the sweep of the sand around the small cove.  I just love the way the palms jut out of the black sands. 

Here I am looking out to sea from behind the trees on the black sand beach.  Can you imagine sitting here on your beach chair, snorkeling and drinking a margarita or two? 

Just behind the black sand beach is a small pond filled with lilies and these Hawaiian Ducks.  Its pretty hard to see unless you enlarge the picture but the duck in the foreground has a reddish bumpy face.

After the black sand beach our trip is mostly uneventful, but we do have these kinds of views along our way. 

We arrive at our hotel in Kona and are staying at the Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel.  It has become overcast, but we walk the grounds anyway.  I see this flower growing outside the hotel.

So the last flower isn’t lonely, I had to take a picture of another unusual flower.  It is getting late so we are off to dinner and then back to the room to unpack and get ready for tomorrow.  We will leave in the morning for a helicopter ride around the island.