Aloha Iris!

So when you do not update regularly of course a lot of things happen. For now I'll stick with the big Island adventure:
Iris and I really wanted to see the vulcano. She has decided to become a vulcanologist and I simply didn't have the pleasure of seeing it properly the first time I was on the Big Island because we had Hell week there (first waterpolo practice week after christmas) so we tuned our bankaccounts upside down and booked a couple of tickets.
After having flown in there we also rented a car; of course, in America you cannot rent a car if you are under 25 and if you can, you pay for it. No matter that you have learnt to drive in Europe or that you have been doing it for a couple of years already, no matter that there is only one highway that leads you all around the island and that the maximum speed is 55m/h which is about 80km/h. Being YOUNG costed us $25 per driver per day, so we decided I would drive as Iris prefers driving on the left hand side of the road. We asked for the smalles cheapest car: We got lucky, we had to pay the smallest amount (which nearly killed my bank account ;) ) but as they did not have small cars anymore we got a maroon shevvy!!! It sorta felt like driving my dad's Audi for the first time, maybe even better!!!
It was a thrill to drive again after being deprived of driving for a year!!! Wheeehaaa! VROEOEOEOEOEM!! sorry Iris, LOL

We had flown in at about 7 in the morning so we still had the whole day. We drove into Hilo and explored a couple of maps to see where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see, because now that we had a car we decided to drive around the island and use the car to sleep in. We are students after all! On arrival the east side was as usual, soaking wet, however not uncomfortable. We drove up along the coast and set off for the Akaka falls first.
When we got out there was a man sitting there who wove baskets of plam leaves, they supposedly last for about 15 years and they were beautifull, I watched the process thinking I really wanted to try it. I'm sure I can, the problem however would be getting palm leaves (the fourth level growth was the best as he told me...

The walk down was beautiful, we saw all these amazing plants, creepers, bugs, views...

And the climax was of course the waterfall':
and aimed for the ruims of the King Kamehamaha temple, which was really ruin and not more than a pile of stones, but the stories about the Puukoholo Heiau (a temple for the gods built by Kamehameha, who massacred a whole lot of people there to be the sole ruler of Hawai'i in compbination with being there at sunset and rainclouds in the back made it quite the experience.

We drove till we had no clue where we were exactly anymore except on our way down on the west side of the island and then parked the car in a side road and passed out. We've been keeping a pretty nice schedule of going to bed at about 10pm and getting up at 5, max 5:30 am to get going while it was still cool and to see the sunrise. We went to see some lavatubes, caves created by the outsied of a lave flow cooling and the inside continueing to run untill eventually the molten riock stops flowing and a hollow space is left behind. It was interesting but I think I had more fun looking at birds and the view (wish I had brought that birdbook I saw in the shop).
After that we went to see some petroglyphs: ancient drawings in stone, a bit like the cave paintings in France only these were engraved in barren rock for which the ancient Hawaiians would have had to hike through the blazing sun for miles. We luckily got to walk through a sort of forest which spaired us the worst heat. The trees seemed dead but occasionally at the stem some green would start a new branch. It was very fairytale like, and it definitly inspred me to do art.. when I get home...The purpose for the petroglyphs is not known, but I presume it had something to do with worshipping the gods of which Hawaii has many.


After that we drove down to a beach which would be a great place to go snorkeling. When we came there we found it was the most touristy beach you could think of so, as it was extremely hot on this side of the island we decided to lie in the shade and read for a while first. When we finally got in I got the surpise of my life, it was actually a good place to snorkel and there was a lot to see, even though I am a bit spoilt by having been to the 1000 islands in Infonesia. I saw the first turtle and motioned Iris, I haven never seen Iris swim so fast! we followed it a while and on our way in saw a couple more. they came very close to shore they even swam by people while they had not notion of the creature. Stupid! Awesome! and we also saw the (unofficial) hawaiian state fish: humuhumunukunukuapua'a. I hope pictures will follow we bought a throwaway underwatercamera but I want a picture of Iris surfing before we get it developed: *Evil Laugh* On the way out we saw this guy who did some kind of art. It looked like mandala's in black and white with a HAwaiian theme. We got to pick our favourites and take them. We donated 10 dollars. Not enough for the hours that obviously went into it but we didn't have more on us at that moment.
Driving down the road it was good that we came by a cona coffee plantation because with driving and not very much sleep I was ready for some... sleep. We had a look around there, saw how it was grown and how it was grinded and then went back to the car to take a well deserved nap. Then came back for a cup of real cona coffee. Hmmmmjam!Next stop: A black sand beach(obviously caused by the the vulcano and the currents depositing the eroded black basalt there) it was beautifull to see the contrast of it with the rest of nature, including the next mornings sunset (which I woke up to, to give Iris a quick wakeup call to go see):
After which we went snorkeling.. yes at 6 am in the morning. We swam out quite a bit and saw little to nothing except for a few fish and coral. It was really interesting because it was behind a reef and so once every other 5 minutes a gush of ice cold seawater would come in and make the water cloud over.
When we were about to give up and slowly paddeld in Iris saw a turtle. I swam over and saw another one, two, five!!! They were everywhere but had been swimming aorund the stony side instead of by the beach where we went in. It was really amazing, at moments it was quite clear and I would dive under to swim with them. It feels like you are suspended in time trying to swim as gracefull as the turle you'd almost think you could breathe under water too. I tried, I promise, it doesn't work! So we stayed in till Iris was getting too cold (I think I got pool hardned at home). I have no words for it, all you want to do is stay in a bit longer, I just can't get enough!
After that we basically drove straight to the vulcano where we saw all the things I had seen 1,5 years ago and more (because that was the mission) We first went to see a humongous lava tube which you could walk through, but on our way down there we saw a huge fern and had to take a picture of it with Iris'hand behind it. It was huge! and still artsy, like the other picture! We saw the crater, interesting rock formations caused by the lava,

We searched for cracks, ...and found bigger ones.
We saw a lot but I'll try not to bore you with it all, I realise this is quite a chunk. You are still reading?? Cool!

Next we went to the actual lava, at least we thought that is where we went. I was there last time and it is rather amazing. All around is just black lava, in all kinds of swirls and bubbles, frozen in time. Last time you could hike up to the lava but we didn's as it was the end of hellweek, we were wearing slippers, we were rather dead and were not equipped with enough water and flashlights. so we sat down and waited for sundown and saw the lava glow in the distance. This time there was no lava running down the hill but only a big plume of steam where the lava flow hit the sea which we could see very early on our drive down.
Well prepared with walking shoes and plenty of water and snacks and sweaters for when it got cold and flashlights for our hike back after dark we set off. We came about half way before we were obstructed bu a fence. We were not allowed out there, so after about an hours hike over blackness we were done. we sat down to wait for dark to fall and still had quite a spectacular view, but it is like saying no to a kid, the more I'm not allowed the more I want to go out. But we think they were afraid the land would break off into the sea, and you don't want to be caught on there when that happens. We didn't get many good pictures because I didn't bring my tripod, but the people sitting next to us did so they promised to send some. This is the best one I got before it got really dark.

After that we drove up to where we saw the lava tube, maybe not the smartest idea because it was over 3000 feet so after about 3 hours of sleep we were both really cold and really awake. When Iris asked if I was awake at about 4am we decided to go bathroom and run around at the crater to see the sunup again.. brrrr.. It took me forever to get warm, I ran and jumped, I really was chilled to the bone. the next problem to conquer was the fuel. The tank was nearly emtpy after driving 3/4 of the isalnd and we had to fill it up. Upon trying to find what kind of fuel should be in the car and reading the manual the only thing they could come up with was: If the fuel light starts burning, to turn it off, add fuel. I reckon I look like a dumb blonde...

The rest of the day however went really well, surprisingly. We drove through an amzing area where the scenery as well as the vegetation changed continueously. We picked up a couple of hitchhikers along the way, all very much hippies that promoted peace and all made sure we knew that before they said thanks for sharing your car and left us wherever we put them.
We saw some lava trees, created by two lava flows: the 1st one engulphed the tree to leave a mold, where the second lava flow would fill the mold and make a cast. Very cool!

We also saw some beautifull trees and flowers (dad I know you would be jealous!) The ferns were downright amazing and well, it was just very relaxed, fresh air, strolling down the plants and mud with an occasional mosquito biting your legs.

After stopping in downtown Hilo at little farmers market and buying some really ripe kidney mangoes we spent our last two hours where we began our trip, on a small beach just outside of Hilo and a 15 minute drive away from the airport. We dozed, read our book, I tried to update my journal and had lunch. Returned our car :( to the rental company and sat in an orchid garden at the airport eating mangoes the way you are supposed to eat them: juice runnign down your chin dripping off your elbow and with pieces of yellow on your nose. It is a good thing both our hands were too dirty to take a picture of that, I'll leave it to your imagination. If you have ever eaten a perfect mango, you know what it looks like. DELICIOUS!

We boared and concluded a rather succesfull trip..
Bye bye big island.

Quote:Freedom is a possession of inestimable value. -Cicero
Music: I'm on the top of the world, Richard Carpenter and John Bettis