We landed at the Big Island at the town of Hilo. The Thrifty rental car wasn’t as efficient as Maui, but we finally got our rental car and headed south to Volcanoes National Park. The park was about 30 miles south and an easy drive. The park has two semi-active volcanoes—the steaming Kilauea Caldera, at the summit of the youngest and most active volcano on earth. Unfortunately, since the Japanese tsunami, the lava has been driven underground. So, what we saw was a lot of steam vents in a landscape of pumice and hardened oceans of lava.
It looked a bit like the Iron Range in northern Minnesota—with steam. We stopped to see the views of Kilauea at the Jagger Museum and drove through the park on “Chain of Craters Road”.
By this time, we had had our fill of craters and lava and decided to drive back towards Hilo. We stopped at an Orchid Farm (basically a tourist stop to buy orchid plants). James recommended a stop at the Big Island Candy company.
We sampled our way through their wonderful chocolates and shortbread cookies and took a few boxes home. With time to burn before we could get the rental car shuttle, we drove through the town of Hilo and made a stop at Hilo Hatties. (Gas- $4.19)
We made it back to the boat for our second Lei Making class—this one with fresh orchids. They were gorgeous—and so easy to make.
We dined at the Liberty Restaurant again—spring rolls, an empanada, mahi-mahi and chocolate raspberry truffle. The ship was really rockin’ and rollin’ as we headed towards the other side of the island.
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