Volcano Site Seeing On Hawaii

End Of The Road

Judy Inspects a tunnel

    Today we were on another full day tour of Hawaii, the island where the most recent volcanic eruptions have taken place. This was the last of the 4 straight days of ship tours. I don't think we ever took that many ship planned tours before. We have been hearing about a large storm that is in the area for the last few days. We were suppose to leave tonight around 6 pm but we have been delayed for 12 hours to let the worse of the swell move on. Another announcement about sea sickness! So we will remain in Hilo until the morning.

Recent Eruption

Lava Flow

   Our all day tour today took us on a crater hike to Kilauea volcano. There were only 24 people on this tour as it was billed as a strenuous activity for fit people. Judy thinks we were the oldest people on the tour. We travelled the Volcano highway to the National park to do our hike. It was a 2 mile walk down a highway that is now blocked because of the collapse of the road and other dangers. Hardly more than a stroll! Along the way we stopped in an area where ash had fallen. Walking on ash from a volcano is like walking in course sand. Hard to believe that there is no solid ground underneath. The rim of the volcano provided us with our first real look at the size of Kilauea and why a volcano would be so destructive. The caldera really is a massive area. A final stop at the cracked, collapsed highway and then we headed back to the van.

Volcano Floor

      The next stop was an area of steam vents. Add water any you have hot pools or geysers. We also viewed the full extent of the crater. Again the reaction was awesome! As we made our way back to the city, we had the required stop at a store. This one was a macadamia farm. We had more than enough time there. The final stop was the Rainbow Falls and then we headed back to the ship. It was another long tiring day.

Rainbow Falls

     The sail away party was held on the aft deck and not in the pool area where there is plenty of room. About 100 people were there and if we had sailed it might have been a good idea. It did not turn out that way. Dinner with friends and then the ventriloquist was on stage. A few parts were funny but it was all we could do to stay awake. Judy had a much stronger reaction.

Sailing tomorrow morning at 6 am. Formal night and Captain's Circle party tomorrow as well.