Happy Birthday Mandy - Volcanoes

  Volcano, Hawaii, United States
Saturday, May 17, 2008

Leaving the beach and turtles behind us we set sail for Volcano National Park.

Old Lava Flow on South Coast 1

Old Lava Flow on South Coast 2

The further east we went the more volcanic rock we encountered until finally that was about all we could see. From the mountain on our left all the way to the ocean on our right was just rock with nature trying to but not quite yet reasserting itself.

Ranger Station at entrance to Volcano Nationa

Reaching Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park our first stop was Kilauea Visitor Center which told us that we wouldn't be able to drive further than the Jaggar Museum. Unfortunately the gases further south were too toxic and doing the full 10.6-mile loop of the Crater Rim Drive or heading down to the coast along the Chain of Craters Road was off the itinerary. Bummer!

First real view of the steam rising

A quick educational video showing 'blasts from the past' or previous lava flows and eruptions of Mauna Loa (the mountain closest to us, Muana Kea sits further to the north of the island) and then we were in the car again heading to the first escarpment lookout.

Mandy was there

so was Paul - Go Swannies

This is us with Kilauea Caldera behind us and steam rising from the Halema'uma'u Crater to the south west.



Next to the car park were some steam vents also, where trails of smoke, once molten lava, rose from within the inner reaches of the earth.

Map - Courtesy of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Driving further around Kilauea Caldera is the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum and the most impressive view we got of Halema'uma'u Crater. The crater is a 1/2 mile (800m) across and 1,000 feet (305m) deep.

The crater from museum

They say the crater is sacred and the home of Pele, the volcano goddess. In 1967, this crater was filled with a lake of lava that eventually drained. What a sight that would have been.

Well we were there together

Some of the photos on the walls of the Museum and in the Volcano House (back near the visitor centre) are just amazing. Also if you are interested here is what has happened this year http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/timeline/

The crater had a relatively new (Mar08) fumarole (vent emitting gasses) which enraptured Paul. That was what he had come for. A decision was made to return for sunset.



Anyway about an hour later with Mandy dragging Paul, we headed back around to the Volcano House thinking about food. Since breakfast we had only had the bad coffee, tea and taro bread. With the house closing at 5pm we had a quick shop/peruse, decided against returning for dinner and made our way to the Thurston Lava Tube (Nahuku), they say it's the coolest place in the park.

We hiked down into a natural bowl in the earth, a forest preserve the lava hadn't touched -- full of birds and giant tree ferns.
After a short walk we came across a black hole in the earth.
It's a cave, it's a tunnel no its Super-Lava Tube.

Thurston Lava Tube

with a flash

gets low at points

The tube, about a 1/2 mile (800m) long, is a 500-year old lava cave formed when an underground channel of molten lava drained from its cooled walls forming a massive, hollow chamber.




You pop out the other side back into the tropical rainforest. Strange almost.

Anyway, enough sightseeing, it was time to eat before returning for sunset.