Off the ship again today on the eastern side of the Big Island of Hawaii at Hilo. First thing we noted were the "clouds" (haven't seen non stop clear blue skies since we left Oahu) and the large rock wall that encircled the harbour.
Now that's an hibiscus!
Two stories dominate here at Hilo - the threat of tsunamis (hence the rock wall to encourage the killer waves to break further off shore) and the active volcanoes (its last catastrophic eruption as recently as 2018.)
We were hoping for a non eventful natural disaster kind of day.
Organised a seat on the bus of a small group tour with C Big Island Tours with a very sensible jump off time of 10 am.
Very sensible start at 10 am
Everything was "close" today - the volcanic Crater. out furtherest point, was only a 40 minute drive.
Beautiful Japanese gardens
Started with a visit to a 45 acre Japanese Garden (the largest outside of Japan) complete with beautiful landscaping, bridges and streams filled with fish- people had their lines in and were fishing here. In our 20 minute stop off only saw one tiny corner of the garden.
Some fine sand on this beach - water crystal clear
Drove on another 10 minutes (noone late for rhe bus be as @Edmund was clear on the consequences) to visit a black sand beach and to look for turtles. Fine grains of sand here but no turtles that we could spot. The beach is also supposed to have traces of the "green" mineral olivene- but we couldn't spot it.
Rainbow Fals - sans 🌈
Back on board and literally what felt like a trip around the block we were at Rainbow Falls. Again, easily accessible, and this little "drop" of cascading water does play out some rainbows in the right light. Not the right light - no rainbows - but definitely plenty of hibiscus on steroids
Called into a local corner store to pick up a boxed lunch to go and the highlight for us was our one and only encounter with SPAM. Much to the amusement of the locals we were madly snapping pics of the good old SPAM tin. Still haven't tried anything on the menu "yet."
Just like home! Still on "to do" list
And then onto to the main event. A visit to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. @Edmund gave his intro and then played a documentary showing the history of eruption over time. Was a fabulous intro although he withheld the graphic 2018 eruption for the homeward journey - just so we wouldn't be overwhelmed by the possibility of an eruption.
Just smoke in the distance
Glad we had the video because you don't see any of the active brouling and hot molten lava pool from the viewing stations - you get to look out over the grey/black ash caldera and can see the plumes of smoke - but the lava pool is 1000 metres below you under the rim of the caldera.
KÄ«lauea and Mauna Loa were both smoking and we were grateful they were behaving today.
The steam did pour out at intervals
Our drive also took us to steam vents and to the Thurston Lava Tube . Got up close and personal to both and although there were 33 steps involved to get into the lava tube, it was lit to make for easy walking.
Our only sprinkle of rain was at the Lava Tube
T h e weather was very kind to us. We could see the clouds building but other than a little sprinkle at the lava tubes, it only rained on the drive home.
Something like 300 inches of rain a year here and it rains on an average of 290 days of the year. Can you imagine your garden here? The plants are CRAZY BIG - everything so green and colourful and HUGE. I guess the tsunamis and the volcanic eruptions occasionally INTERRUPT the perfect gardening plan
.
Not sure how it works but that rock wall is the tsunami dampener
About the cats. We have seen lots again. And @Edmund gave us a bit more insight. The Hawaiins love the cats. They control the plague of rats and mice. Lots of feral cats on the island but there is a free system here where you can acquire a cage from the council - trap the cat - take it in for desexing - and then collect and release.
Led to a discussion of the cane toad! Apparently they are a pest here as well. Although Aus imported from Hawaii - the cane toads were native from South America where they had plenty of natural predators. Same problem here now as in Aus - cane toads consuming so many animals amd growing to such large size.
We are always so lucky on tour - we really enjoy the interactions with the people we meet - enjoy their stories and love sharing in their adventures. Every now and then, however, there is "one" and in this case it was "two." You know the stereotypical LOUD AMERICAN. These two ladies were complete strangers when they boarded and then tried to catch up on each other's dog lives for the last 50 years. One of them Facetimed her dogs to show them off during the bus ride with opening line "Mummy's here." Please, please don't tell me you can relate to that! Tour guide @Edmund had to ask them on a number of occasions to stop talking - they just drowned out the commentary and the instructions.
Anyway, we never have to see or hear them again so that is the positive although we somehow jagged the "loud American" two tables over at dinner - this time the one with "THE LAUGH."
The ship is running at reduced staffing capacity - lots of restaurants and bars closed. Tonight was really the first time we have been impacted. Had our little evening planned to include a round of BINGO in between dinner and the late show. Unfortunately must have been the plan of many others. We had to queue for some time and then were given one of those restaurant call buzzer things. Had to go to one of the music bars and sample a few cocktails for our 40 minute wait which meant we missed lucky legs eleven calls for the BINGO.
Every afternoon a different treat in the room- today, choc dipped strawberries
Seafood with Asian influence tonight
Very risque adults only late comedy show that had us laughing out loud. Vince was very funny- his show is built on just a couple of "prepared" jokes- the rest he builds on the fly though interaction with the audience. We hunkered down really low and sat very still to ensure we didn't get "selected" for any of the audience participation cause once he has you he is relentless.
Every show also has two "signers" to provide translation for any deaf passengers. They are fabulous to watch - in fact sometimes a little distracting. But they are working very hard and sometimes their animated interpretation is compelling viewing. A good service of inclusivity - there was only one guest in the audience who was deaf last night but she was laughing up a storm.
@Mac was quick to turn the dial to "Do not disturb" as we entered the room. To be fair I think I snoozed off standing up cleaning my teeth. New port tomorrow is on the other side of the island at Kona.
Steps: 11454
Weather: 28-22
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