Hawaii Report - Day 4

[kmusser]

Today it's time to fly. The weather kindly clears for us (the past few days had been a little "voggy"). We drive over to Hilo, which contrary to its reputation proves to be sunny. We booked a helicopter tour with Blue Hawaiian. Neither of us has even been on a helicopter before so there was a little trepidation, not to worry though - I was amazed at how smooth the ride was - and even the pilot is squeeing about how clear the weather is which we take to be a good sign. The views were pretty amazing, we took a lot of pictures here, but the pictures don't really compare as you can't see the lava making its move. The pilot was good, doing several circles so that everyone could get good views as well as narrating about the crazy hold outs living in the subdivision that the lava is flowing through. There area has long been cut off by lava flows, but there are apparently still 3 residents willing to do the hike in - with the current flow they can't even do that, so I'm not sure what they're going to do. Anyway we also get a great view of the Pu'u 'O'o crater which was just billowing out smoke. To round out the tour the pilot also shows off some waterfalls NW of Hilo before we head back to the airport.

We have a very yummy lunch in Hilo. Zammis gets to get her fill of schlock shopping in at Hilo Hatties. Then it's off to explore Puna, the southeastern end of the island, calling us are the Ahalanui hot springs, heated by a underground lava flow. We take a dip which is quite relaxing. Afterwards we just drive around for a bit, the area is very pretty with alternating rain forest areas and lava flows - drive to the end of the paved road just because. We also explore some caves that serve as natural steam rooms - some even set up with benches inside, though the entrances look a little narrow for us to fit through. From there it's back home to our Hobbit House.

As a P.S. - It's interesting looking at what the eruption has done since we left, apparently the lava flow we saw made a rush for the sea March 4-6 maps, images, pictures of the road from where we stopped to the new flow, news report of the residents staying put.

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[wanderingbastet.livejournal.com]

Have I mentioned yet how RIDICULOUSLY JEALOUS I am? ;-) Hawaii's the only US state I haven't yet been to...