Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

In honor of Jennifer I had a Hawaii plate lunch today.  I know that it was one of her major goals when she visited Hawaii on her honeymoon and she talked about it often - one of our Survivor celebrations included a Minnesota version of the plate lunch.  Mine was a scoop of rice, macaroni salad and a hunk of Kalua pork baked in banana leaves.  We ate at a great little outdoor cafe in Volcano Village called Cafe Ohia.  Rick had Portugese Bean soup.  Delicious.

The big island of Hawaii was created by eruptions of five volcanoes.  Kilauea and Mauna Loa are two of the world's most active volcanoes and contine to add acres of land to Hawaii Island.  The summit of Mauna Loa is 56,000 feet above the sea floor (not above sea level) which means that if the whole bulk of the volcano was on land it would be 27,000 feet taller than Mt. Everest.

Both of these volcanoes are on the south end of the island.  Their height and activity makes that area mostly unaccessible except by taking a winding road along the coast.  Once again this road is part of the old foot trails that circle the island.  It is a beautiful drive with spectacular views.  I loved the many small towns, old churches and cemeteries, and small farms.  Lots of homes had gardens that included coffee plants.  We could smell the roasting coffee as we drove.  Folks set up card tables along the road to sell fresh fruits, veggies and coffee!

The drive was about 2.5 hours on this winding, narrow road.  We went to the Visitor's Center (after getting into the park free on our Golden Age Pass) and saw a movie describing the development of the volcanoes.  We also discovered that there is no visible lava flow at this time which is sort of a bummer as I was thinking that an evening cruise to scee the glow of the lava hitting the sea would have been great, but next time we get here I guess.  We were also warned about the sulphur dioxide gas that can cause breathing problems when the wind blows the wrong way - roll up your windows, turn on the air conditioning and get away swiftly!  Part of the drive around the crater's rim was closed due to the gases, but we drove part way and saw the huge crater, the many steam vents puffing up through the landscape all over, and the huge lava tube that you can walk through - very cool!

Our return back to Kona was on a new road called "Saddle Road" which took us over the top of the island between the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.  The only time we have seen the tops of these tall volcanoes was during the flight in when we could see them peeking above the clouds.  The drive shortened the trip back by about 45 minutes which was good because we were bushed and ready to sit and listen to the waves and watch the sun set.  Only three more days of this.