Day 9 Lava, Craters & The Nene

I have never said before that I woke up and went out collecting macadamia nuts, but that is what I did. After gathering quite a few, we headed up to the main house on the farm where the owner showed us the tricks to opening the nuts. I opened a handful and decided we could take the rest home to open. They had a coconut taste to them. Today we are off to Volcano National Park. Along the way we stopped at another black sand beach and saw a turtle feeding. His shell must have been taking a beating from the waves and rocks. Our camp for the night is inside the park and is first come first serve so we stopped there first to make sure we got a spot. This camp is in a eucalyptus forest and smelled great. Spreading our wet towels on the table to dry, we made it clear we claimed our spot and were comfortable heading into the park to explore. We opted to drive a 20 mile road called chain of craters down to the coast. The lava fields were amazing. The volume of lava that flows wiping out everything in its way is really incredible. Down by the ocean we saw the sea arch formed by the erosion of the rock by the waves. It’s like a battle where the sea gets ahead then the new rock is poured in. Nearby was a hike to the largest concentration of petroglyphs in Hawaii. Across the lava field we hiked arriving at a large area where past Hawaiian’s told a story through their carvings in the rock. I do think the mainland Indians were slightly better artists, but maybe they had better instruments to record with than just rock chisel. On the way back we stopped at the many craters, some much larger than others, and found steam vents where hot steam was coming out of the rock in different places. This must be like a release valve for the pressure under our feet. The next site was really special. The native Nene bird is a Hawaiian goose and their state bird. As of yet we had only seen signs to watch for them crossing the road. All of a sudden I heard the distinct honk of a goose and quickly did a u turn in our 22 foot van. Sure enough we found the Nene’s honking their way across a grassy area by a military camp entrance. Now satisfied we saw one of the few endemic animals of hawaii we returned to camp for the night. On the menu - Chicken Alfredo.Okumaya devam et