November 18th, we go see a volcano.
It was raining that afternoon. I'm pretty sure there's a pot of gold
down there in the crater.
All parks have rangers.
There's a better view of the steam down the road from the museum.
Actually, that's "vog" which is what they call the smog coming out
of the volcano. Can get pretty bad if you're downwind. The Chain
of Craters Road has been closed for the last month or so due to it.
It was actually raining pretty well at times. On the east side of the
island it rained pretty much every day we were there.
Back at the ranch, Ron is putting in a couple sheds to house the gardening
equipment.
The one closest to the house holds Ron's mowers and stuff while the as
yet to be finished one will house Marilyn's stuff.
Taking a jaunt around the yard we find a tangerine tree.
With really tasty tangerines.
A lemon tree.
With really huge lemons.
A bunch of them.
Coffee trees.
Some purple weeds growing behind the coffee trees.
The elephant ear plant.
A banana tree.
The bananas hide under a leaf, growing upward.
With a weird blossom thing that looks like something from an HG Wells
novel.
Papayas.
The pineapple trees are just starting out.
A pepper plant with very hot little peppers on it.
The fig tree has no fruit on it at this time.
The avacado tree...
... has some nice fruit on it.
Some sort of flowering bush.
Marilyn demos her grapefruit tree. No, wait, those are the lemons.
While Ron whacks his weeds
And Koko guards the house, bad knee or no.
November 20th
We take a trip to the planetarium. We saw a show on the origins of the
universe followed by a demonstration of the November 20th night sky
along with a description of how the imaginative Greeks came up with
names for their constellations.
November 21st
We take a trip to Kapaahu, but the path to see the red glowing stuff doesn't
open until 5pm. The path to the beach is well marked, however.
Pretty blue berries on the way. I'm sure they're edible.
No-man's land is still off limits. A little more vegetation than
back in 2002.
They're trying to grow some new coconut trees here.
Steam in the distance from the lava falling into the ocean.
I could sit and mesmerize myself watching the waves crash in for hours.
November 22nd
We take an excursion to the leeward side of the island. We'll stay in the WorldMark in Kailua-Kona for a few days where we expect to find a bit more sunshine and more touristy activities.
We stop in Kawaihae for some lunch at the Tres Hombres Restaurant.
This car could be fast. At least the paint job makes it look fast.
We check in into the WorldMark and take a sunset stroll along Ali'i Drive.
November 23rd
We take a drive down to the City of Refuge or the Place of Refuge or
whatever they're calling it today.
The turtles like to get a little sun.
It looks like these guys have had enough sun as well.
If you try to get some shade you'll likely get bonked on the head by
a coconut.
It's under a big dubya, I tell you!!
Some fish in the ponds.
Back in Kailua-Kona we take a break out of the sun to sip mint julips.
Or maybe it was a Coke and an ice tea.
Later that evening we're at the luau.
November 24th
Captain Chad of Sea Hawaii Rafting takes us snorkling on his Zodiac.
The vog rolls across the island and attacks the leeward side.
Before the snorkling part we cruise into some caves formed when the
waves erode the old lava tubes.
Captain Chad takes us right inside the caves. He has a pretty good
handle on controlling those twin Yamaha 150s.
Dolphins met up with us.
Captain Chad let us go swimming with the dolphins. He said those other
guys don't let you do illegal stuff like that, but what does he care,
that's what pirates do!!
No fear.
We cruise into Kealakekua Bay where we do our snorkling.
The Fairwind II beat us here, but they didn't get to ride their
catamaran into the caves or swim with the dolphins.
One fish.
Two fish.
Yellow fish.
Black fish.
Weird fish.
All the time we're snorkling around, about an hour and a half,
Captain Chad is jockeying his Zodiac around with the motors. He
can't anchor since it would disturb the corals.
Into some more caves on the way back...
The image of Pele's face is left here in the lava.
Back at the pier first mate Roger ties up the boat. All these guys
double on the various tours. Roger here is wearing his UFO Parasail
shirt. The news last night had a story of a lady who got lost on a
UFO Parasail excursion.
Back at the parking lot this hedge is one huge Christmas cactus.
This Marligator was on the wall in the Crazy Shirt shop here.
Marligators inhabit brackish water and remain -- like the jackalopes
of West Texas -- one of nature's most peculiar species. On a diet of
krill and styrofoam they reach 500 pounds at maturity and often live
to be more than 80 years old.
It's under a big "W", I tell you.
The amber street lights keep the glare down for the observatories
on top of Mauna Kea.
November 25th
On the way back to Mountain View around the south end of the island
we stop at the bakery at Pāhala.
Where this little gizard was climbing around.
As was this little red headed bird.
Back on the road we see some more surf.
I could sit and mesmerize myself watching the waves crash in for hours.
A couple of turtles swimming along here.
The turtles are heading for this lagoon where the natives used to herd
the fishes to catch them for dinner. At least that's what someone told
me once.
On the way up the coast we stop off at Punalu'u, the black sand beach.
Fine sand is really little rocks...
... and not so fine.
Whichever, it gets into your Crocs.
The turtles like it here, too.
Here's another one coming in.
Gilligan's Lagoon is at the back of the beach.
November 27th
After a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, we decide to take a
tour of a lava tube. This tube system covers 40 miles. We're taking
the one hour tour so we won't be doing the full 40 miles on this trip.
Mr Wu, or whatever his name is, is very knowlegable about lava tubes
and the plants. He's also very excited about them. I just want to
get out of the rain and mosquitos. Hopefully it'll be dry when we
get underground.
No such luck. Due to the saturated ground it's actually raining harder
underground than above. At least the mosquitos don't come down here,
though.
The air in here is actually filled with a suspended mist. The mist,
according to Mr Wu, tricks the mind into thinking that everything is
closer than it appears by 25%. Or maybe everything is further than
it appears by 25%. Either way, I have no reason to doubt him that
some sort of distortion was there.
In the light of our flashlights, due to the mist and/or whatever, all
these rocks appear as black and shades of gray -- no different than in
the next few pictures. The color that pops out in the pictures like
this one is totally unexpected. Well, not so unexpected since Mr Wu
told us to expect it, but amazing nonetheless. You have to be here to
appreciate it.
According to Mr Wu, this lava tube first formed some 3500 years ago, but
it has been reused by more recent lava flows. The floor is something
like 197 years old. These stalactites were either formed in the last
flow or an earlier one or maybe they came from trickling water or something.
How am I supposed to remember? I was trying to keep all the dripping
water from going down the back of my neck and getting my camera all wet.
This shiny smooth stuff was really, really hot when it was flowing.
All totally gray when we looked at it with our flashlights. If Mr Wu
didn't tell us where to point our cameras we would have missed it
completely.
This blob that looks like animal droppings was formed when gasses
under the floor burped out and then solidified.
Most of the lava tube is fairly open with a relatively smooth floor.
In other places you've got to crouch down to get through the passage.
According to Mr Wu, this pattern was formed when something from the
ceiling was slammed into the floor and was then carried off. The
ripples were formed just as the hot lava solidified.
Here a newer flow has remelted and undercut the floor from an older flow.
End of the line -- it's too tight to continue unless you're a serious
spelunker.
A little bit of the color in the floor here was observable with the
flashlights. Didn't know it was the color of peanutbutter, though.
Little animals or possibly fungi live in these little pools that are
fed from the dripping water from the ceiling.
Mr Wu can tell the color of the blossoms on the trees above the
lava tube by looking at their roots that come through the ceiling.
They call this formation "The Cathedral". Some stalagmites that formed
on a shelf halfway up the wall of the lava tube.
Ahhh, finally the exit. We can get out of the rain and back into the
mosquitos.
November 29th
Our last full day here, we decide to try a little snorkling at Richard's
Beach. Unfortunately the winds and currents aren't quite agreeing with
that plan.
The lifeguard is obviously a native. It's freezing out here; probably
as low as 78 degrees or so with the wind chill.
I could sit and mesmerize myself watching the waves crash in for hours.
November 30th
Time to go home. We're waiting for the mechanic to change a flat tire on the plane that leaves before ours. Ours sits on the tarmac unable to unload its passengers.
Trivia question: Where is Gate 6? We're at Gate 5. The sign on the
ceiling says Gates 6-9 are in front of me, the sign to the right on
the wall says Gates 3-6 are behind me.
Finally on the plane; taxiing to the runway.
Flight attendants have prepared for take-off. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea
off in the distance.
In the air. Look at all the people -- they're like little ants down there.
I could sit and mesmerize myself watching the waves crash in for hours.
It snowed on Mauna Kea last night.
Or maybe it's powdered sugar. The trade winds are blowing up the
hill there from the cane fields this time of the year.
Approaching Honolulu. Looks a bit overcast here as well.