The volcanoes of Hawaii

We've had a great few days on the 'Big Island' of Hawaii. After yet another taxi journey back to the airport here (last time I complain about taxis, sorry) we picked up our 'compact' car that would be our transport for the next few days. And here it is:
















Nice and compact isn't it? With a mere 4.5 litre, 275 BHP engine and doing 21 miles to the gallon (at best), at least this bad boy was ready to take us wherever we wanted to be, even if it was halfway up a mountain. And yes, I did feel manly driving a big truck about, even if it was beige.

After spending a day or two around Hilo, taking in the Rainbow Falls and watching guys throw themselves into pools of water from high cliff faces, we headed out to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This park is home to the most active volcano in the world, Kilauea. And here it is, in all it's glory:






























Not exactly a picture of activity, is it? This is because most of the lava-spewing-based action is down at the coast, where a volcano vent spends all its time spewing red-hot lava into the Pacific. We drove down a dead-end road towards the lava which finished like this:
















Yup, a lava flow had blocked the road. How rude. However, as it started to go dark, in the distance, this is what you can see:
















Pretty cool eh? Looks like a big fire, but it's actually REALLY hot rock.

We've stayed the last few days in the aptly-named village of Volcano, just outside the park. This hostel is right in the middle of the rainforest here, and it's really cool. Best thing is, it gets cold at night so you don't need any air-con to be able to sleep properly. Which is nice. And the internet is free.

On Friday we took the Mauna Loa road, which is a single-track road that takes you halfway (6662 feet to be precise) up Mauna Loa, which is Hawaii (and the Worlds!) most massive volcano. Mauna Loa is huge, forming about half of the Big Island alone. It doesn't look like a volcano though, more like a REALLY big hill. Check this out:
















Anyway, we got to 6662 feet up and parked up the truck. We were just admiring the view when these couple of guys ran out of the woods up there and asked Clare to take their picture. These guys turned out to be Bill and Pat, a couple of guys from Washington state who run up the highest peaks of the U.S. in their spare time. For fun. As Bill said, 'we each have our own game to play'. True indeed.

Clare was impressed when Bill quoted some Dylan Thomas poetry, and seemed to know a lot about Wales (a real bonus, as a lot of people here don't know that Wales exists, or thinks the country is called Welsh). Anyways, these guys were really cool and were as excited about our travels as we are, which was really nice. As Bill spoke, Pat tells his own story through the medium of mime (he can speak, we're not being mean here!) which we thought was awesome. These guys are legends.

Here's a picture of them anyways:
















Bill is on the left, and Pat on the right. Hey guys, you made our blog and are now famous in Wales and maybe even some parts of the rest of the UK. Enjoy!

The day after this was taken, we took a drive up Mauna Kea, the highest volcano in Hawaii. Due to hire car and fuel restrictions, we only made it to the Visitor Centre, at a mere 9000 feet. However, the view from up there was awesome, but the pics are on Clare's camera at the moment, sorry!

We're now back in Waikiki ready for a little more rest and recovery. Planning on going to see Pearl Harbor in the next few days, then it's off to Fiji and yet more serious beach action.

Over and out

-Si