Volcano Village

It’s important to remember that the Volcano National Park and Volcano Village area are around 4500-5000 feet above sea-level and often COLD!!!!

One time, we stayed in a cabin there (which had no heat…or walls…well, there were walls, but they didn’t quite reach the roof (the cabin was still a work in progress)…and the roof had a hole in it for the tree to grow through…loved the cabin! BUT it was COLD! It was so cold, I actually wore all the clothes I had in my suitcase, all at once, to bed. It didn’t snow, but it could have.

So, bring a sweater. And, a raincoat. (The first time we were there, the rain was so cold and drizzly, and I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and was already acclimatized to the 80°s Fahrenheit (27° Celcius) temperatures from lower altitudes, I ended up wearing a plastic grocery bag on my head to keep the cold rain off.)

That’s not to say it’s always cold. But chances are good. And, even if it’s not cold, it’s still more chilly than down by the ocean.

Sometimes the rain is a relief, anyway. If you are prepared.

About 15 minutes from the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (going towards South Point) is the trail head for Ka’u Desert Trail. (There’s a much longer way to get there, too, through the park, but…it’s much longer…)

This Trail takes you to (and passed) foot prints, forever embedded in mud-ash. Just every day footprints. We actually saw one footprint in the back yard area in one of the vrbo’s we stayed at, down by the shoreline (we think).

We haven’t been on this trail yet (I had it on my to-do list this last trip, but ran out of time… However – that link tells all about it. Don’t panic when you read the first description – keep going till you get to the easier route.

In Volcano Village is one of the best Thai restaurants on the Island – Thai Thai. People come from all over the Island just to have dinner there (and, since, as I mentioned, the Island is HUGE – this can mean drives up to 2 1/2 hours or more!) If you go to Volcano, you are just as likely to be asked if you went to Thai Thai as you are to be asked if you went to the Thurston Lava Tube. It’s delicious food, an acceptable price, and mismatched wine glasses. You never know at what point you are going to go someplace, with high expectations and have them destroyed by popularity and conformity. I will be so disappointed the day I go and my wine glass matches someone else’s. But for now – so far so good.

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You can stay right in the National Park – the Hawaii Volcano House has motel rooms and cabins available. It’s the oldest hotel in Hawaii (state or Island? not sure), established in 1846, but has been restored, and recently renovated. It overlooks the Halema’uma’u Crater.

We’ve never stayed there, but I’m sure the view makes it all worthwhile! We always rent homes from the www.vrbo.com (Vacation Rental By Owner) website. So far, we’ve had very successful stays, with no disappointments.

So far, in the Volcano area, we’ve stayed at the aforementioned cabin (not a vrbo), a house in the nearby jungle, and a house at the Volcano Golf Course.

The Golf Course is an 18-hole course (par 72)… I took golf lessons (from a golf genius here in Calgary) and so was anxious to go golfing here. I decided I’d just do 9 holes, so as not to frustrate myself, the people with me (Peter and Richard, that particular time), and the people behind me.

It was so much fun, with such beautiful views (you can see both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea from the course), I decided to continue on for the 18! (Although, I must confess: I did really lost my concentration when the group of Nene’s* wandered through, with babies in tow… SOO CUTE!!)

Visit, too, the Volcano Winery, for wine tasting and gift shopping. They are open 10am-5pm, every single day, except Christmas. (10am seems a tiny bit early for wine tasting, but at least you know it’s open if you forgot to buy someone’s gift!)

And, Don’t forget the Volcano Farmer’s Market! But, you have to be there at the crack of dawn – I mean, truly! it’s only open from 8am to 10pm…so… we slept through it. The friends we were travelling with, though, sacrificed themselves and went – bringing home yummy samplings for us to try when we woke up!

It seems to me that they brought malasadas…which, I don’t know if that’s true, now, or just a sweet dream… Wait’ll we talk about malasadas! They are even more popular than Thai Thai!

See you Wednesday!

* Nene are the Hawaiian State bird, and looks very similar to a Canada Goose. However (and I’m not sure what all the differences are), but the Nene can only be found in the state of Hawaii (and specifically on the islands of Hawaii (Big Island), Maui and Kaua’i.) I thought that they couldn’t actually fly since I’ve only seen them running and walking along the ground, but apparently they can fly…they just don’t choose to do it often. The Nene is, it turns out, the World’s Rarest Goose… in 2004, it was estimated that there were (approximately) 800 in the wild…

There are signs everywhere that caution you to “watch for Nene crossing the road” and “don’t feed the Nene”. PAY ATTENTION!

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Speaking of Volcanos, we spent the day in the Volcano area.

As mentioned, Kilauea is the longest continuous erupting volcano in the world, erupting steadily since 1983. In 1983, it wiped out and buried Kalapana. (I plan to talk about Kalapana on Sunday’s blog…or maybe Wednesday’s…)

The first time we went was in 1999, and we were able to walk out a couple of miles over the lava fields, from the end of the Chain of Craters Road, and see the red lava flowing down the mountain. You can still do that, apparently, but it’s a longer walk (MUCH longer, by hours and miles), and you need to do a LOT of research to learn where to go and what to take to make the trip safely: enough water, proper shoes, snacks, first aid kits, overnight gear in case you don’t get back in time…) We could’ve walked further out that night and gotten a better view, but I was all in a panic because we didn’t have flashlights…water…snacks… In fact, we ended up finding our way back by using light from those little snap bracelet things that you used to wear at concerts… (In my picture – the one with the bag on my head – the red glow in the background is lava…)

Anyway – it was cool – the lava stream (river?) was still making its way down the hill, so on occasion, we’d see the lava hit and surround a tree and explode like a candle lighting up! really cool.

Now, it’s more of a steady stream, I guess, and sometimes (often?) it’s more underground, so most of the show happens around the point it enters the ocean. There are boat tours that take you around, to see that angle – but the rangers said that even then, you don’t get to see actual hot molten lava. What she actually said was: “Forget what you THINK you SHOULD see and all of your preconceived notions, and be happy with what you DO see.” I thought that was pretty good advice… for everything – not just lava.

The cost to get into Volcano National Park is $10 for your car, but this year, we happened to be there at National Park Week and got in for free!

Once inside the park, there are hours worth of things to see, including random viewpoints along the way, steam vents which feel like a steam sauna when you stand in them, and the Jaggar Museum look out & gift shop.

From that view-point, you get a really good view of the Halema’uma’u Lava Lake in the Kilauea Crater. AND, if you come back at night, you might get any even BETTER VIEW!!!

Inside the museum, there are a lot of fascinating facts, accounts, and discoveries.

We had walked up to the Museum from a lower parking lot and along the way found long shiny hair-like strings – like…Rapunzel’s hair. Well, the Ranger on site identified them (and had a display) as Pele’s Hair (which…DOES make more sense than Rapunzel’s hair) – tiny fibers of silica fused together into strings – melted strands of glass.

Also worth seeing is the Thurston Lava Tube (Nahuku). A self guided tour, but with a lit pathway through the Tube. A Lava Tube is formed when flowing lava hardens, forming walls and a ceiling. Eventually, the lava stops flowing, and drains out, leaving a cave or a tube. This one is about 600 feet long with a ceiling height of about 20 feet high ~ comfortable for walking and roomy.

One trip, we went in after the Park had technically closed (the Park is open 24 hours, but the Visitor’s Center closes at 5pm and the Museum closes at 7:30pm.) The Tube, at night, is just like it is during the day – a dark tunnel with lights.

HOWEVER, walking to the tunnel (which is about 1/3 of a mile…20 minutes) at night when nobody else is around and it’s pitch dark is CREEPY!!! It is SO CREEPY, we had 2 teenage boys with us the first time who actually cuddled with their mommy on the way (on the pretense that they were protecting her.) I mean – CREEPY! Big leaves falling in the jungle – croaking and creeking animals (which, by the way, are frogs, mostly – nothing dangerous…technically). BUT, in the middle of the night, cute little frogs and falling leaves transform into the boogie man (the Hawaiian’s have a “boogie-man” legend, but I forget what they call it – anyone know?) and wild ravenous animals.

IT WAS FUN!!!! If you can handle it, you should try it. (Also, though, go during the day, too, because the walk is beautiful.

We also took a drive down the Chain of Craters Road – it is a chain of craters – we stopped at about 5 maybe – all worth seeing!!

The plan was to get to the end of the Road, to the place where the lava overtook the road… but we got side tracked by a really interesting 9 mile detour, so by the time we got to the end of the Chain of Craters Road, it was too dark… I mean, well – other people were going out, but they were equipped with backpacks, water, flashlights, picnic baskets, and hiking sticks….we had cameras.

It was also too late to see the Petroglyphs, which were 0.7 miles from the road, according to the sign. Next time, we’ll have to start there.

Speaking of “next time”, Sunday, we’ll talk more about the Volcano area.

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http://www.gohawaii.com/big-island/regions-neighborhoods/kau/nahuku-thurston-lava-tube
http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/index.htm