Big Island adventure

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Big Island, Hawaii

Well, we started the second half of our Hawaiian adventure. We flew with Aloha Airlines from Oahu to Kona airport on the Big Island on Sun 19 May. We arrived there around 4:30 in the afternoon. Of course we had the same problem when we tried to rent a car. It was actually included in the package that we bought, but we still had to put down some cash because the credit card was in my name and Graeme's license. Anyway\133.we still didn't learn that you can't just rent a car and drive until you get a camp ground to stay at\133.you have to have a specific address where you are going to stay at. So we called from the rental car desk and booked a place at a small hotel for $28 with a shared bathroom\133.we didn't care about that. Anyway, we had a good nights rest and didn't shower the next morning, because Graeme forgot our liquid soap at the other camp ground.

We took off and drove from Kona to the Hawaii's National Volcanic park. It was very barren and desolate and there wasn't a lot to see. We also drove to the most southern tip of the United states ( that's not Key west)! We searched for the green sand beach, but didn't find it\133\133\133we found out later that we had to hike down a few miles over rough terrain. Well we saw the black sand beach and that was pretty cool.

Well, we finally got to the Volcanic park and that was very unique, wonderful and totally cool experience. You only pay $10 per car and that is valid for one week. We stopped at the visitors center and took a small tour to learn about the basics. This is the most active volcano in the world and it is continuously erupting since 1983. Although it wasn't erupting from the crater, lava was coming out of the ground. WE took a 11mile drive around the crater rim and stopped at different places to view the crater and look at recent lava flows and lava rocks. It was so amazing to see the different lava rock patterns and colors. The native Hawaiians still worship the volcano and believe that Pele ( the fire god ) lives there. We did a 11/2 hr. hike down another smaller volcano. Later the afternoon we drove 20 miles down to the ocean where you are suppose to see the flowing lava at night. We only saw a little bit starting to flow down the mountain. That night we camped at a camp ground in the Volcano National park and didn't shower the next morning, because there were no showers\133..! We then started a 5 hour round trip hike across lava rock to see live hot lava. The hike was not very nice, because it felt like you were walking over broken glass most of the time. There were other areas that were more solid and everything was black or bronze or silver\133\133..no plants or animals. It was the most uneven hike I ever did, because you are constantly walking up and down, up and down. As we came close to the hot lava, we stated to feel the heat and could see that the color was different. You could also see the heat waves on top of the lava. And\133.boom, there were live, running, hot, red lava right in front of us. It was very weird and almost scary to see. It was coming out of the earth and moving very slowly in one direction. This was the best thing we've seen on our trip\133\133.! We didn't take enough water with us, but with good planning, we made it.

See the attached photo of me standing by the lava. Continue in next entry!