17 September Hilo and Volcanoes NP

Saturday 17 September

Anita had organised a tour with a guide for the day and he was there as we stepped off the ship. Scott had a beautiful comfortable ‘truck’ to take us around for the day. We were off to see the volcano. Having learned so much about Hawaii’s volcanoes at school this was to be a very exciting day for me.

Arriving into Hilo Harbour

Love watching the tugs going about their business

Jim in front with Scott separated by a huge console

Mt Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and before we left on this trip an eruption had taken place with a flow of lava into the sea. So it was very exciting to think we may be able to see it. As we were away very promptly, we were ahead of the ship tours. We visited the Thurston lava tube first then headed for the visitor centre to view the caldera of this very active volcano. The lava tube was fascinating.

When we arrived at the visitor centre there were not many people there and we were able to watch the steam rising and occasionally there was a glimpse of lava in the lake which, with the recent eruption, had risen and created the flow which was making its way into the sea.

An artists impression of how the Hawaiian people would have seen the constant eruptions

Once the cruise ship coaches arrived we departed – lovely to be able to keep ahead of the pack! Scott asked if we wanted to wander through the scrub to see some steam vents up close – well of course we did! He explained about volcanic glass and the plants along the way. The volcanic glass is created when lava spurts into the air with such force it creates strands of very fine lava which almost instantly cool and fall to the ground like fine threads.

We all had a turn standing in the steam - good for the nasal passages. Not at all sulphur smelling

Jim and I looking for volcanic glass

A native orchid

Fine threads of volcanic glass

After a further visit to the visitor centre to see if the lake was clearer (as we also had some rain and clouds around) we headed off down the Chain of Craters road. We then went to the lookout at Kilauea Iki crater before going to one end of the Devastation Trail.

This time we could see the lava bubbling up

Kilauea Iki Crater. The main crater can been seen in the distance

At the base of the high point on the above photo is the vent from which this caldera was formed (bottom right of this photo)

Kilauea Crater from Kilauea Iki

Some intrepid walkers on the trail in the Kilauea Iki Crater

A bit difficult to see all the detail, but you should be able to zoom in to read the details

We were also able to visit a lookout where we could see visitors who had the time and were fit enough to take the walk through the crater which had been formed from an eruption in 1959. Some trees are already growing through the lava.

The trees are growing back

Scott dropped us off at one end of the Devastation Trail which is a short walk through a lava field. Called Devastation Trail because of the eruption which devastated part of a forest, this was a very interesting walk. It starts going through the trees and then you come out on to the lava field. Scott came in from the other end of the trail to describe what we were seeing and talk about the landscape and how it is recovering and becoming reforested.

This little fellow greeted us at the beginning of the trail

Again, information should be readable if you zoom in

Scott approaching from the opposite end of the trail

More volcanic eruption creations

This plant is growing in lava rocks

Lots of introduced species (ginger on the right) which the park is trying to eradicate

On this particular lava field there are many of these holes. As the lava surrounds the trees during an eruption the heat burns through the trunk. Ultimately the tree falls and the remainder rots away.

The fallen tree remains where it falls on the now cooled lava

A trig point. Constant changes require monitoring of the park's elevations

New growth in this lava field created in 1969

Some trees are quite well developed

Continuing on down the Chain of Craters road we stopped for various other points of interest before stopping to view the huge plume of steam which is created by the current lava flow into the sea. Then we drove to the bottom to view the sea arch – coaches are not allowed down this far – and there were a lot of people down there viewing the steam further down the road, which had been closed because of the lava flow.

Nenes an indigenous goose and quite rare

Standing on a river lava flow

Scott and Ian

This lava flow was part of the 1969 eruption

The 'truck'

Steam from lava entering the water from the current eruption

The powerful waves reach almost to the top of the cliffs and it is not a very wild weather day

The sea arch

We had seen so much during the day that Scott thought we may be short of time to get back to the ship, but in the end we still had time to visit Rainbow Falls and the black sand beach where we were lucky enough to spot a turtle swimming around the rocks off shore. A fine ending to a superb day.

However, there was more to come. Our stop tomorrow is at Kona and our sail route takes us right past the coast where the lava is flowing into the sea. The captain announced as we were leaving Hilo the estimated timing of our sail past. When we approached the red glow could be seen from a very long way off. As we came within 750m of the flowing lava, the captain stopped the ship so everyone had an opportunity to see the spectacle. He then did a 180 degree turn so those not on the starboard side could also see the show.

Our visit was complete.