Just as it was for Mark Twain, over a century ago, this was truly the experience of a lifetime!
Our tour included:
> A drive through Hilo along Banyan Drive
> A visit to Rainbow Falls
> Exploring Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
> A visit to Jaggar Museum and Volcano House
> A walk through Thurston Lava Tube and across part of Kilauea Iki Crater
AND a visit to the macadamia nut factory (with sampling!)
Our adventure began with the stinging piercing shrill sound of the phone. It was the 4:00 a.m. wake up call from the good folks at the front desk. At 4:30 we were out on the street waiting for the bus to take us to the airport for a one-day excursion to the Big Island. Thoughts and comments from four sleepy Canadians at that time were far from Mark Twain's reported verse.
Our tour guide "Harry" we soon learned, proved to be one of Hawaii's treasures. Harry weaved the history, legends and facts of the tour into a facinating story. We soon forgot we were tired and listened, watched, and experienced the SCENE OF WILD BEAUTY.
Harry explained that the Hawaiian islands are located above a hot spot and plumes of magma rising from deep within the mantle have reached the surface erupting on the ocean floor creating a seamount. After several hundred thousand years and countless eruptions, the volcano rises above sea level to build a new island. The volcano continues to grow until the movement of the Pacific plate carries the island away from the hotspot. During the last 70 million years, the Pacific plate has acted as a conveyor belt, moving the islands northwest off the hotspot at a rate of about 4 inches a year. He explained that this is similar to the growth rate of a fingernail. The parks active volcanoes, Moana Loa and Kilauea, continue the island-
building process that formed the 3500 mile Hawaiian Island/Emperor Seamount Chain. They are not the last: To the southeast, Loihi Seamount, an active submarine volcano, is rising from the ocean floor to someday link with the Big Island.
The most compelling parts of the story were concerning the volcanoes. In Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park we walked on a moon-like surface: a vast area of "newly created" land spanning nearly 4000 acres. We were told if we wanted to pick up a piece of the dark BLACK stuff we had to be careful to return it to it's exact place of origin. Failure to do so, or to remove a piece of lava and take it home, we were told, would bring bad luck and hardship. This, we were assured, was reported on reputable shows like the Discovery Channel. Thus, we CAREFULLY observed the lava rock pieces not wanting to bring Pele's wrath down upon us. The material, or Pumice as it's called, is very porous and ressembles a luffah sponge or one of those rocks that you use to file your calloused feet! The air bubbles make this stone remarkably light. The patterns in the lava told the story of its flow and how the water and waves met the heat of the magma: you could SEE the movement.
We were surprised to see coconut trees growing out of dried coconuts splayed all over the lava. This is how these islands grew.
Each year Hawaii grows. It gains new land mass which becomes the property of the state. Amazing.
We didn't take the two-mile hike to see the hot lava flowing: our tour didn't have sufficient liability insurance for that part of the trip.
Only those who don't have respiratory problems were permitted to take the 20 minute hike in the crater due to the steam of sulphuric gases. It really stung the nostrils and gave you a gagging sensation. The sight of the steam was a constant reminder to the inevitable reality that it "will blow again."
During our tour of the Thurston Lava Tube, we learned about how this unique geological feature is formed. This particular tube runs continuously for 29 miles. The Thurston Tube is located in a tropical rainforest providing us the opportunity to experience its biological diversity.
We experienced rain, sunshine and quite chilly temperatures as we travelled from sea level to the 4000 feet at Kilauea's summit. All this prompted many questions from Erik and Dieter and our guide was equipped and ready with the answers.
Dieter jumped and the seismograph registered the activity at the Kiauea visitor's center. He will never forget the experience. Word he's added to his vocabulary include: lava; hotspot; magma; crater, caldera, plate tectonics and pacific plate.
After all this amazing information, the part of the trip I had been looking so forward to (the macadamia nut factory) seemed anti-climatic.
Mark Twain was right. It was an "experience of a lifetime."
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