6. Aloha Hilo
Nearing Hawaii the temperature rose pleasantly and this resulted in two things, firstly an increase in the variety and loudness of Hawaiian shirts on display and secondly, less space around the pool as well fed guests dozing in the sunshine resemble a herd of contented elephant seals.
We rose early to watch the sail in to Hilo, the largest town on the Big Island. The captain announced that "we've finally made it, we had to stop and ask a couple of fishing boats for directions along the way, but here we are, welcome to Hilo."
Due to its position, Hilo is the wettest place in all of the United States but today the sky was virtually cloudless as we climbed aboard our minivan for an excursion into the Volcanoes National Park. Our destination was Kilauea, the most active volcano on the planet. Unfortunately (depending on your point of view), the volcano had stopped after continuously erupting for 35 years, just a few months ago. However, the area around the crater rim was quite spectacular with steam venting in places, lava flows clearly visible and deep cracks in the (now unusable), roadway.
As there were still no rain clouds in sight, somewhat unusually, we were also able to see two other volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea from our Kilauea vantage point. The former is totally barren, whilst the latter rises to over 14,000 feet and is the highest mountain in the world when measured from base to summit. It is a Mecca for astronomers as its height and clear air provide the perfect position for several observatories.
We had a short stop on the way back to the ship at the rather pretty Rainbow Falls (although no rainbows were in sight today).
As to shipboard matters, we finally managed to win a trivia session and lost a second on on the tie break question.
We rose early to watch the sail in to Hilo, the largest town on the Big Island. The captain announced that "we've finally made it, we had to stop and ask a couple of fishing boats for directions along the way, but here we are, welcome to Hilo."
Due to its position, Hilo is the wettest place in all of the United States but today the sky was virtually cloudless as we climbed aboard our minivan for an excursion into the Volcanoes National Park. Our destination was Kilauea, the most active volcano on the planet. Unfortunately (depending on your point of view), the volcano had stopped after continuously erupting for 35 years, just a few months ago. However, the area around the crater rim was quite spectacular with steam venting in places, lava flows clearly visible and deep cracks in the (now unusable), roadway.
As there were still no rain clouds in sight, somewhat unusually, we were also able to see two other volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea from our Kilauea vantage point. The former is totally barren, whilst the latter rises to over 14,000 feet and is the highest mountain in the world when measured from base to summit. It is a Mecca for astronomers as its height and clear air provide the perfect position for several observatories.
We had a short stop on the way back to the ship at the rather pretty Rainbow Falls (although no rainbows were in sight today).
As to shipboard matters, we finally managed to win a trivia session and lost a second on on the tie break question.
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