This morning we awoke to torrential rain, what is this we hear you say….it is not supposed to rain in Hawaii!!
We drove out of Hilo to visit the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor’s Centre and factory. Ben of course had to have a quick photo with the big tub of dry roasted macadamia nuts!
We took a self guided tour of their factory, ending with a visit to the gift shop and tasting room.
As we drove back to the hostel we stopped off for a spot of free tasting at Big Island Candies, and also took the chance to take a nose at their production lines.
Back at the hostel we had a couple of hours free before our next Arnott’s Tour began.
We were picked up at 4:30 by Eldridge, the same guy who had guided us up Mauna Kea. As we drove south from Hilo we soon realised that his jokes were not as funny the second time around! He was a good and knowledgeable guide though, so we felt lucky in that respect.
We arrived near to the site of the former Kalapana Village (which was destroyed by lava flow several years ago) and got kitted up for the evenings adventure. We were given a wooden walking stick, torch and bottles of water…it will become clear as we explain the evenings events why we required these items.
The first part of the hike was on a marked trail, across an old lava flow to a black sand beach.
We then passed the ‘no access’ sign, and as Eldridge described it, we would be “blazing our own trail” across the hardened lava. Now for the warning; we were to stay in one single line, stamp the lava with our sticks to test if it was dry/hard enough to stand on, and if we fall try and put as little body surface area on the ground! But, don’t worry Mums, he was an expert, and had a first aid kit!
As the sun dipped below the horizon we flicked our torches on, concentrating our light and eyes on the person in fronts feet. The darkness heightened the intensity of the light produced from the lava outlets, of which there were 3 appearing in the distance.
You can see that as the red hot lava was pouring from a tube (an underground vent from the volcano) into the sea, there was a huge amount of hot steam produced.
A couple of miles later we were close enough to feel the heat from beneath our feet, we were walking on lava that had been dried by the air/sea only hours prior to our visit. What lay beneath that, as we glanced through the cracks was glowing red…we could also smell a strange odour, Eldridge told us it was the soles of our trainers melting! “The key from now on” he said, “was not to stop for a long amount of time”…our imaginations ran wild with that statement!
The 1st lava outlet we reached was not stable enough to get close to, the 2nd however, was absolutely stunning!
We looked on as the hot lava bubbled and gurgled in a tidal pool (below right), occasionally bursting forth high into the air.
The lava then cascaded into the sea; as the hot lava met the cooling waters of the Pacific Ocean a plume of steam reached for as far as the eye could see.
We then moved across to watch outlet number 3, which impressively covered the largest surface area.
This meant that it produced the most steam, making photography difficult. You can see in the picture below that the lava pours from right to left.
When we had all got our fill of watching this spectacular sight we started our long hike back, which took longer than going as it was now pitch black.
We arrived back at the van at 9:30pm, and after what felt like a quick drive to Hilo we got back to the hostel at 10pm. As the adrenaline was still pumping we sat up looking back through our pictures and videos, taking in what we had just seen…it is just a shame non of them do it any justice!
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