day 6 - Blogabond

Today we had a lot to do and we also had to move accommodation. Fortunately Turtle House had no one moving in so we could worry about moving later on and get straight out and about.
First stop Halemaumau overlook again. Pele again didn’t perform but there was a little more in the way of steam/fumes probably due to the overnight rains. It seemed strange actually being where I’d been watching for the last year on the webcam. I was one of those lucky people I had seen on there. You could smell the fumes and it was catching in Abbie’s throat quite badly but we did manage to get a few photos.

Abbie and Tam, Halemaumau Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

There were also some white birds with long tails that kept swooping over the vent that we looked up afterwards. They were Tropic Birds and live around the crater so I assume they knew what they were doing. Then we popped into the shop and museum to see the exhibits and also check on the seismographs – only background tremors.
We then headed for Steam Bluff where steam and sulphurous fumes were escaping from large cracks at the side of the caldera due to slippage down fault lines.

Steaming Bluffs, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

We then wheeled Abbie in her chair to Sulphur Banks where the gases coming out of the ground are mainly sulphur and turn the ground yellow. You can even see the crystals of sulphur that are forming.

Sulphur Banks, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

By this time it was midday and hot and Nick and I both got “wheelchair pushers sunburn” down our arms.
We then headed down Chain of Craters Road to Hilina Pali Overlook for a picnic lunch. The view was fabulous from the top of the 1000’ fault escarpment where the coastal land is slipping away and was laid out like an aerial map way below us.

Abbie and Tam on Hilini Pali Overlook at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

After lunch we retraced our steps to the Mauna Ulu overlook where in 1973 the road was buried by lava and to a fissure that once fountained. There was lava everywhere from this series of eruptions of both a’a and pahoehoe types and upslope you could see steam rising from vents.
We then carried on down the pali planning to stop several more times to see views of lava and petroglyphs but the fumes were too bad so we had to stay in the car with the aircon on full. Poor Abbie and Tam were suffering with it rather and Tam spent a lot of time with a tissue permanently attached to her nose!
By the time we got to the end of the road we were in clear air and we were surprised to be able to see a cloud looming up ahead of us. We didn’t really expect to see the Ocean entry from the park as it had moved quite a way down the coast but there it was looking quite spectacular. So, photo time again at the end of the road and the lava plume. Then on the way back to the car we went to Holei sea arch and watched the waves crashing into the land –Pele arguing and fighting with her sister.

Holei Sea Arch, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Then we had to go back up to Volcano Village and try to find Nahele where we had to move to. That took some doing as we had to go down tiny grassy tracks through a maze of houses and tumble down shacks in the middle of the rain forest. We did find it eventually and entered it into our Sat Nav then left Abbie there and went back to Turtle House to get our stuff. That wasn’t a problem. Finding our way back to Nahele was the problem. We seemed to be going round in circles on tracks that were getting less and less navigable in the pitch black. The Sat Nav had us in totally the wrong place! Eventually, with a bit of map reading and total guess work we found our way back to Abbie, unpacked and settled in.

written by

AnneC on August 13, 2009 from Hilo, United States

from the travel blog: summer 09

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