13/12/12 - When in Rome....

 13/12/12 – When in Rome…..

Made breakfast USA style – orange juice, two eggs, bacon (hickory smoked as per the must see movie ‘Hope Springs’ with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones), pancakes and Aunt Jemima’s syrup and coffee! Mmm tasted way too nice but we were going to need a good feed given the day we had planned.

When in Volcano one must not only see the volcano but walk across its crater. First we viewed the 1959 eruption when good ol’ Kilauea Iki really went off. Since then the chain of craters has regularly had lava flowing into the ocean thereby making this end of the Big Island an ever increasing expanse of the world’s newest piece of land. 

Great topic for further analysis re same and different… Hawaii the newest land on earth and a relatively new indigenous Hawaiian culture (200 – 400AD) with no written language but rock carvings and Australia one of the oldest places on earth with an ancient indigenous culture (40,000BCE) with no written language but rock paintings.

As it was still raining at peak level we decided to travel down to the ocean to see where the lava met the ocean and check out the road closed flow and the Arch. Interesting to note that people have received severe burns here when the crashing waves made hot by the flowing lava splashed back on them.

Next we walked 1.7km to the Petroglyphs – carving in the rock showing boats, people and animals. There were also little divots where women would put the umbilical cords of their babies for the Volcano God Pele to bless the child and ensure a long, happy and healthy life.

Next the Thurston Lava tube – a big air bubble in the lava caused by the crust cooling and solidifying while the core is still molten and flowing – with the result being a long empty tube … there is a section of it about 800m long that you can walk through – so we did.

And now for the big challenge… walking around and across the Kilauea Iki crater. Seemed a good idea until one viewed the numerous places where sulphur dioxide was still seeping out of the rocks as the crater cooled. Given it has been cooling since its last big eruption in 1959 and yet is still quite warm in places, we could only guess at how incredibly hot the original eruption must have been. All a bit daunting really … but we bravely took up our cameras and ventured forth. And what an experience it was. The walk up and down through the rainforest in the wet contrasted magnificently with the harsh dry and warm conditions of the crater floor. This is what I imagine the moon must look like but at a way different temperature. As we came out of the crater the sun set and it was a beautiful sight despite our exhaustion.

Finally went on a short drive to see the still active lava pot at the centre of Halema’uma crater at night when its molten lava glows a fierce red. Sensational sight to finish the day.

Grabbed a burger and a beer at the Lava Rock Café in Volcano and listened to some 150kgs Hawaiian men (and an even bigger wahine) with sweet voices sing some traditional tunes…..slept very well indeed.