We awoke this morning to rain, rain and more rain. Our intent was to tour Hilo Hawaii, one of our two stops on the “big island” of Hawaii. This is the largest Hawaiian island. We checked the weather on the Internet and it didn’t look promising. We have a car rental reserved and are debating whether or not to cancel it. We went to breakfast on the ship, came back to the room and decided to cancel. I was going to get off the ship, catch a bus and do a little shopping. It doesn’t take much coaxing to get me to do that. We spoke with a couple of the wait staff and that was the suggestion of the ladies. No problem. Dennis was going to stay on the ship and just chill.
A half hour later it looked like it might clear up and we began rethinking our plan. Why not give it a whirl? We really wanted to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and that would take a car (or a tour bus and we both have an aversion to them). So, we hustled and disembarked. We caught the shuttle to the car rental location at the airport, picked up the car and were on our way. It was still raining intermittently but we persisted in our efforts to see the volcanoes. This park is one of the few active volcanoes. It is a mere 4,000 feet, considerably shorter than the island’s other volcano, Mauna Lea (which towers at almost 14,000 feet).
The volcano park is
only 30 miles away. We drive along a very well maintained road (the big 
island of Hawaii has over 500 miles of road). Upon entering the park, we stopped at the visitors’ center to get the “skinny”. We learned that a number of roads are currently closed due to lava flows and others are closed due to high concentrations of sulfur dioxide. Oh those darn environmentalists. They are going to save us by 
protecting us from what millions of people have been exposed to over the years. Darn. We drove a mere 2.5 miles of the 11 on the Crater Rim Drive. We were able to see Kilauea Caldera, and the crate of the Halemaumau Volcano. There was a huge cloud of smoke emanating from the center. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, it was so overcast, that the smoke tended to blend in with the very grey sky.
Next, we took the drive down Chain of Craters Road. This eighteen-mile drive descends all the way to the Pacific Ocean, traversing previous lava flows. It also has a “lava tube”, a tunnel that visitors can walk through as part of a rain forest environment.
We continue on the descending road, stopping at Mauna Ulu, a lava flow that was active from 1969 through 1974. We also stopped at Kealakomo Overlook, which gives the viewer a look at expansive areas that include some plant life, lava river flow areas leading to the Pacific. Again, since the weather was far less than ideal, the lighting didn’t give the scene the contrast that would have really made it pop. Okay, I’ll stop complaining…we are in Hawaii and I don’t think everyone back home cares that we are enduring some less than stellar weather. lol
As we neared the ocean, we had an opportunity to actually get close to the water, watching the waves crash violently against the lava shores. Not that long ago, 43 acres of “land” broke away from the shore. Yikes. I didn’t want to get too close. Might end up like Gilligan’s Island, out in the middle of nowhere. We wouldn’t even have the Captain with us. We did get some great shots, however. After taking a number of exposures, Dennis yelled that a huge wave was
coming. I turned my back and started running, trying to protect my camera. A huge wave crashed against the shore and pummeled us with salty water. We were both soaked, but we were quick enough to protect the cameras. Wow, now that will be an indelible memory.
We saw this prose about volcanoes on a shirt today:
Stay active.
Keep your inner fire burning.
It’s okay to let off steam.
Go with the flow.
Be uplifting.
It’s all a matter of time.
Have a blast!
Driving along the road, we saw a tsunami evacuation route sign. Gulp. Here we are in a lava flow area and now we see a tsunami sign. Might we be playing with danger? lol
We finished our picture taking and realized that we would need to get moving if we were going to be able to shoot anything else.
We headed back to town, looking for an imposing statue of King Kamehameha, in Hilo. We also wanted to catch a
glimpse of Rainbow Falls. Back in town we found the impressive statue. King Kamehameha was born on the island of Hawaii. He is credited with uniting the islands and leaves a family history in the islands.
We crossed the street and Dennis wanted to photograph some outriggers in Bayfront Park. As we were getting back in the car, I noticed we had a flat tire. Uh oh. Could that have been from the curb I hit as we exited the area where the King’s statue was located? We had to be back to
the ship in an hour. I called the rental car place and got an answering machine! We looked in the trunk and found one of those little tires. We got out the jack and the directions. Dennis quickly figured it out and began the task of changing the tire. We didn’t have an option, as it would be very pricy to miss that ship. Within ten minutes he had the tire changed. Thank you, thank you. We filled up the tank and quickly headed back to the car rental location at the airport. We caught the shuttle back to the ship.
We found out that we will be treated to a nighttime sight of the flowing lava tonight. The ship
will slowly travel past an area of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (a spot we could not get near today by car). We have been promised quite an exciting show as the lava flows into the ocean. We were not disappoointed!
Tomorrow, Kona. Since coffee is my all time favorite drink, I can’t wait!
A half hour later it looked like it might clear up and we began rethinking our plan. Why not give it a whirl? We really wanted to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and that would take a car (or a tour bus and we both have an aversion to them). So, we hustled and disembarked. We caught the shuttle to the car rental location at the airport, picked up the car and were on our way. It was still raining intermittently but we persisted in our efforts to see the volcanoes. This park is one of the few active volcanoes. It is a mere 4,000 feet, considerably shorter than the island’s other volcano, Mauna Lea (which towers at almost 14,000 feet).
The volcano park is
only 30 miles away. We drive along a very well maintained road (the big 
island of Hawaii has over 500 miles of road). Upon entering the park, we stopped at the visitors’ center to get the “skinny”. We learned that a number of roads are currently closed due to lava flows and others are closed due to high concentrations of sulfur dioxide. Oh those darn environmentalists. They are going to save us by 
protecting us from what millions of people have been exposed to over the years. Darn. We drove a mere 2.5 miles of the 11 on the Crater Rim Drive. We were able to see Kilauea Caldera, and the crate of the Halemaumau Volcano. There was a huge cloud of smoke emanating from the center. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, it was so overcast, that the smoke tended to blend in with the very grey sky.
Next, we took the drive down Chain of Craters Road. This eighteen-mile drive descends all the way to the Pacific Ocean, traversing previous lava flows. It also has a “lava tube”, a tunnel that visitors can walk through as part of a rain forest environment.
We continue on the descending road, stopping at Mauna Ulu, a lava flow that was active from 1969 through 1974. We also stopped at Kealakomo Overlook, which gives the viewer a look at expansive areas that include some plant life, lava river flow areas leading to the Pacific. Again, since the weather was far less than ideal, the lighting didn’t give the scene the contrast that would have really made it pop. Okay, I’ll stop complaining…we are in Hawaii and I don’t think everyone back home cares that we are enduring some less than stellar weather. lolAs we neared the ocean, we had an opportunity to actually get close to the water, watching the waves crash violently against the lava shores. Not that long ago, 43 acres of “land” broke away from the shore. Yikes. I didn’t want to get too close. Might end up like Gilligan’s Island, out in the middle of nowhere. We wouldn’t even have the Captain with us. We did get some great shots, however. After taking a number of exposures, Dennis yelled that a huge wave was
coming. I turned my back and started running, trying to protect my camera. A huge wave crashed against the shore and pummeled us with salty water. We were both soaked, but we were quick enough to protect the cameras. Wow, now that will be an indelible memory.We saw this prose about volcanoes on a shirt today:
Stay active.
Keep your inner fire burning.
It’s okay to let off steam.
Go with the flow.
Be uplifting.
It’s all a matter of time.
Have a blast!
Driving along the road, we saw a tsunami evacuation route sign. Gulp. Here we are in a lava flow area and now we see a tsunami sign. Might we be playing with danger? lol
We finished our picture taking and realized that we would need to get moving if we were going to be able to shoot anything else.
We headed back to town, looking for an imposing statue of King Kamehameha, in Hilo. We also wanted to catch a
glimpse of Rainbow Falls. Back in town we found the impressive statue. King Kamehameha was born on the island of Hawaii. He is credited with uniting the islands and leaves a family history in the islands.We crossed the street and Dennis wanted to photograph some outriggers in Bayfront Park. As we were getting back in the car, I noticed we had a flat tire. Uh oh. Could that have been from the curb I hit as we exited the area where the King’s statue was located? We had to be back to
the ship in an hour. I called the rental car place and got an answering machine! We looked in the trunk and found one of those little tires. We got out the jack and the directions. Dennis quickly figured it out and began the task of changing the tire. We didn’t have an option, as it would be very pricy to miss that ship. Within ten minutes he had the tire changed. Thank you, thank you. We filled up the tank and quickly headed back to the car rental location at the airport. We caught the shuttle back to the ship.We found out that we will be treated to a nighttime sight of the flowing lava tonight. The ship
will slowly travel past an area of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (a spot we could not get near today by car). We have been promised quite an exciting show as the lava flows into the ocean. We were not disappoointed!Tomorrow, Kona. Since coffee is my all time favorite drink, I can’t wait!
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