Big Island Saga

Leaving at 5am for our early flight to the Big Island we were blessed with a break in the rain, the clear skies meant the view from the plane was amazing, we saw volcanic fields on Maui and the green mountains of Molokai. We were on a trip to visit Hawaii's active volcano, that's Catherine, Dylan, Ellen and I. We had returned the rental car, a Buick, and taken a shuttle bus to the Island Air terminal where we waited for our delayed flight. We received individual security checks as a result of our overseas passports. American airline security is nothing if not predictable.

On landing at Hilo airport we discovered to our dismay that the bags were still in Honolulu. In a comical debacle involving clearly uninterested staff, we were informed that replacement necessities such as toothbrushes and toilet paper could be supplied, but that there was no guarantee of the bags being delivered within 24 hours. We managed to get an agreement to expedite the bags via Aloha Airlines, and took our leave to get supplies. After six frustrating hours we saw our stuff delivered through the little bays with the black rubber curtains. It felt good to have a towel and clean underwear. We were off! Signposts read, Volcano: 29 miles.

At Ellen's suggestion we booked a cabin in Volcanoes National Park so that we could be near to the action. As soon as we arrived we saw the huge caldera of Kilauea and the steam rising from its vents. Looking across the harsh blackened land was akin to seeing Mordor from Lord of the Rings, except tour parties snaked through the hanging cliffs and blistered earth, taking photo's and feeling the heat through their sneakers. After parking the car we trekked to a lava tube which measured about 15 feet across and 100 yards long. Formed by historic lava flows that cooled underground, the lava tube was a stark reminder of how powerful, and recent, Kilauea's eruptions have been.

At about 5pm we set off from our basic cabin towards Chain of Craters road, which snakes through the old lava fields down the Southern flank of Kilauea towards the site of the most recent volcanic activity. Here a part of the Eastern Rift Zone is spewing lava into the ocean. The eruption occurs inside the volcano and travels underground, occassionaly breaking the surface during peak flows, appearing at the shore about a mile from the carpark where we alighted with our torches and rain jackets. Throughout most of the journey we had been able to see the billowing stream of cloud gushing from the ocean edge where the magma hits it. Like the smoke from a burned-out car this mix of steam and hydrochloric acid wafts in the wind, towering above the land appearng to feed the cloudy sky above.

Thankfully it was dry, and the sun still shone while we trekked across the solidified lava. Black and sinuous like a spill of molasses across the road, here is a lava flow which engulfed the road and destroyed homes just a few decades ago. Now thousands of visitors appear every day to see the spectacle. Reaching a promontory opposite the spill, just as the sun set, we could see the red and yellow glow of the magma and the rolling billowing steam of the scorched ocean. We didn't go any farther out. Recently a bench of new land created by the flows collapsed, sending about 50 acres of solidified lava plunging into the sea. The water nearby is not only superheated, but is a strongly acidic solution of sulphur and chlorine. Although it was tempting to approach the flows, we contented our selves with watching and using a telescope provided by the Parks Dept to see close up the roiling, boiling creation of new land in Hawaii. This process spans thousands of centuries, an act of creativity that formed each of Hawaii's islands. The process is ongoing, with a new island being built on the sea floor several miles from the coast of the Big Island. One day, it too will emerge from beneath the waves.