Today we visited the island Hilo, Hawaii. We visited the Volcanos National Park, and had a walk through a lava tube. We also visited a Macadamia Nut Farm, however I would have given this a miss given the chance, yawn.
A lovely park in Hilo.
Kilauea Caldera. The most active volcano in Hawaii. This one is overdue for some action.
1974 Lava flow from a fissure in Kilauea Calderas rift zone. A path was cut through the rainforest within two hours.
Lava flow from fissure in 1974.
You are not permitted to remove any Lava rock from Hawaii, to remove the rock is to bring you bad luck. Apparently hundreds of rocks get sent back to Hawaii from around the world each year, because the people who took them believe the bad luck they received is because of the rock.
Entrance to the Thurston Lava Tube.
Wall of the Lava Tube.
Lava tubes form on lava flow channels. Fast moving central currents keep the core hot, while the slower moving edges cool and thicken. As the surface cools, the top of the flow crusts over from the sides, like the way ice freezes on a river. The interior flow is now insulated and when the eruption stops, lava often drains from the interior tube to leave the vacated conduit beneath the surface.
When active, the lava flowing through this tube exceeded temperatures of 1,090 degrees centigrade, and after the eruption ceased, the walls took a year to cool.
Picture taken for our walk to the Lava Tube.
In the distance you can see Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth. It stands at approximately 17,000 meters above its sea floor base. There are five volcanoes on the island of Hilo.
Halema'uma'a Crater on the Kilauea Caldera summit. The last activity here was in 1982.
Kilauea Caldera.
Steam vents. You can see the steam just left of centre in this picture.
Just some pictures taken from the ship as we were leaving Hilo.
Tomorrow we arrive in Honolulu.
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