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| Week 8: Hawaii- Oahu and Hawaii island |
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| So it was on to Hawaii, where we had a half day on Oahu before our flight to the Big Island of Hawaii. We visited the Arizona Memorial (above), in Pearl Harbour, where the Japanese struck the US fleet and began American involvement in WW2. Then on to Waikiki beach (right)- the bus took ages to get there, so we just had enough time to dip our feet in the sea, and hail a taxi back to the airport. Whistlestop tour for sure! |
| We stayed in Volcano Village during our stay. For 3 days we explored the Volcanoes NP. It is an amazing place- old lava flows everywhere, craters large and small, and a air of desolation all around.We loved it! It's a great place to hike, and this is what we did for most of our time. |
| Kilauea, the active volcano, has had some violent eruptions in the past 20 years, but is currently in a fairly quiet phase. The lava flow is 4 miles from the end of the road- a hot, hard hike across lava, which the park staff do not encourage. We were determined to do it, and after seeing a ranger and explaining that we were equipped and fit, he gave us some hints to find the lava. |
| The Chain of Craters road, cut off in 1995 by a lava flow. This is now as near as you can get in a car to the lava. |
| Lava Shots |
| Well, this is it....... after a long hard hike, we felt the air getting warmer, and there was more steam around. Suddenly ahead we saw the ground moving. At first we watched from a distance of 20m or so, but after a while felt braver and came closer. These pictures were taken at about 2 metres from the flow. We could hear the crackling of the lava, the heat felt like being next to a large open fire, and there was not a soul in sight! We kept checking the soles of our boots, to make sure they hadn't melted! The 3 pictures here are taken a few seconds apart- creation in action! |
| Singapore-Melbourne Tasmania Sydney-Ayers Rock-Kings Canyon (big cities and great coasts) (devils, koalas and roos) (operas, bridges and big rocks) Alice Springs-Cairns New Zealand North Island NZ South Is. Kaikoura-Queenstown (reptiles and fishy stuff) (big balls and gas masks) (dolphins 'n' ice) Routeburn Track-Milford Sound Honolulu-Hawaii Volcanoes NP Maui-San Francisco (mountains, waterfalls and 4 wheels) (Volcanoes and Active Lava Flow) (beaches, bridges and prisons) |
| You have to look out for the exploding trees! Any lava flow under a bush or tree can cause a methane build-up and then an explosion- so a 100 metre circle is wise. |
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