Wednesday, January 20 we spent on Hualalai Volcano. To locate the volcano in the map in the March 8 blog entry, Hilo, Hawaii, start at 3-Kailua-Kona and go Northeast about three quarters of an inch. You can see the caldera.
In this picture you can see in the foreground on the left and right sides the ohia bush. It is an early colonizer of lava flows. The plant has the unusual property that its stomata close in the presence of sulphur dioxide. In the middle of the picture you can see a fissure. Notice the reddish areas where during the lava flow water reacted with iron in the lava to form "rust" and the yellowish area indicating the presence of sulphur. In the background you can see black lava flows that went down the side of the volcano to the ocean. Notice how some areas are covered by lava and some are spared. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Breakfast at the hotel was a buffet of typical American fare with the addition of local fruits. Since many of the tourists staying at the hotel were Japanese, the breakfast choices also included miso soup, nori (dried seaweed), tofu, and fried rice. In the main lobby next to the main reception counter was an area with the label Japanese Guest Services.
We went to our point of embarkation and transferred to the Pinzgauer all-terrain six-wheel drive vehicle. These vehicles were originally built in Austria during World War II. They are designed for rugged terrain. They have some light airplane parts. They have two oil pumps so that, no matter what the engine orientation, the entire engine is lubricated. They have three driving modes, 4x4, another 4x4, and 6x6. Those must be 4x4 (differentials unlocked) for driving on streets, 4x4 (differentials locked) for driving on rough terrain, and 6x6 (six-wheel drive) for driving on very rough terrain. On our ride we certainly encountered plenty of rough terrain. The tour company, Hawaii Forest & Trail, buys the Pinzgauer vehicles from a company in Arizona. They buy them and modify them so that they meet the traffic codes to be driven on Hawaiian streets.
We headed up the side of Hualalai Volcano to the Realm of the Gods and where local Hawaiians believe their ancestors reside. The area we visited is private land and we passed through two gates going in.
Our Pinzgauer made several stops. We saw a pit crater where the ground collapsed into a void below. We had a photo opportunity at the location shown in the picture at the beginning of this blog entry, saw plenty of ohia plants, descended into, walked inside, and then climbed out of a lava tube.
After we returned home our Tour Manager sent each of us an e-mail with a link to a site with photos he took during our expedition. Here are Michael Kuranoff's pictures of guide Jon showing us how to use a rope to enter a lava tube.
We learned that eleven of the thirteen different climate classifications exist somewhere on the Hawaiian Islands. This is because some areas are on the rainy Northeast sides of the volcanoes, some are on the dry Southwest sides, some are at sea level, some are extreme elevations, and there are lots of areas in between. On our way down the volcano we could smell coffee. Yes, we were passing through an area three miles wide and one mile high where coffee is grown.
After a day on the volcano we returned to our hotel. Each time we entered the low lying area of Kona we saw signs stating 'Entering Tsunami Evacuation Area'. We also saw sirens. And, when we left the area we saw 'Leaving Tsunami Evacuation Area'. [After the recent earthquake in Chile and with the threat of a tsunami hitting Hawaii I saw similar sirens on television and now know they rotate on their central post.] This is our hotel, built on lava right at the edge next to the ocean. The hotel was definitely within the Tsunami Evacuation Area.
The sun set on our final day in Hawaii.
In the evening we had a farewell dinner. Here is Michael Kuranoff's picture taken as Michael Shara addressed our group. Tomorrow we go to Kona International Airport and head off in our separate directions.
