Sunday, April 24

This was a day of transition- we moved from Waimea to Volcano, a very tiny town at the edge of Hawaii Volcano National Park. We are in a delightful small hotel in a very nice room and feel very well cared for. We got here in the early afternoon, so were able to spend the time at the park. Again, we are astounded at the difference of this area from what we have seen before. As there is more rain here than the Kona Coast and Waimea, the lava areas have foliage much sooner, so there is a lot of growth and even forrest here.
After a quick lunch at The Lava Rock Cafe ( ? which came first - this or Hard Rock Cafe?), we went into the park. Our first view as of  the Kilauea Caldera and associated steam vents

 Since we are again at about 3000 feet, the air is on the cool side- so the heat from the vents was noticeably warm.

  The following are sulfur crystals that form over the outlet of a steam  vent:

So we continued on the trail that went back into real forest with some beautiful flowers:

Then we started to explore the Kilauea Crater more by driving and stopping at various points. We went through the Thurston Lava Tube- truly an underground tube or tunnel made  by lava, but our photo of that really is not worth your viewing, too dark. It was pretty amazing.
Then onto a view of the Kilhauea Iki Crater, which is within the larger Kilauea Caldera:

 Then we walked what is called "Desolation Trail" which goes over a fairly recent ( 1900s) lava field, where you can really appreciate the evolution of habitats as they are restablished:

We then checked out the Halema'uma'u Crater, also part of the Kilauea Caldera, which was even more impressive:

 Unfortunately, a good bit of the Crater Ring Road is blocked off due to the sulfur fumes, so we could not drive all the way around the Caldera.  Also, there seems to be no running lava at this time. Life is hard, but we will cope!.We are hoping to hike down onto the Kilhuea Iki Crater tomorrow- and walk across it---which should be pretty interesting.  Maybe be will then even find a beach in the afternoon...... Who knows. Meanwhile, after a really great Thai Dinner, we are off to bed...... Cheers, love- Deb/ Neal