Hawai’i Day 6 – Day 4 of cruise [Hilo – Volcanos National Park]

Posted on by Aaron Boltman
Day 4 information (outside)
Day 4 information (inside)
Day 4 insert (front)
Day 4 insert (back)
Hilo map (front)
Hilo map (back)

This morning I arrived in Hilo. I took a few photos from the ship before taking a taxi to the airport to get the rental car.

The view from the ship
Closer view from the ship

Another Jeep with removable roof.

The rental car.

I drove about 45 minutes to Hawaii Volcano National Park. I’m getting use of my new National Park pass.

The sign at the entrance of the park

I stopped at the visitor center to get some information.

Information at the visitor center
Information at the visitor center
National Park Map (front)
National Park Map (back)

After a quick stop in the visitor center I hiked to the Sulphur Banks. It was really interesting seeing steam and sulphur around the small holes.

Sculpture on the way to the Sulphur Banks
Trail to the Sulphur Banks
Information on the Sulphur Banks
Side view of the Sulphur Banks
Interesting colors
A hole in the ground from a visitor walking off the trail. The visitor suffered from burns due to the high temperature of the steam released.
More information on the accident that caused the hole in the picture above.
The actual Sulphur Banks. Steam with Sulphur is escaping from several locations.

I drove to the steam vents. It was very surreal seeing steam come from the ground. I think I got my shirt ironed as I walked by.

One of the steam vents

There was a very brief hike to see the crater behind the steam vents. It was massive… Hard to take a photo of this massive crater.

The picture doesn’t show how large the crater really is.
Panoramic view of the crater

I then started driving down the Chain of Craters road stopping along the way at various craters.

Different viewpoint of the first crater. This was taken at the Kilauea Iki Lookout.
Same large crater from the Kilauea Iki Lookout.

Continuing on the Chain of Craters road…

Trees in the middle of an old lava flow
One of the many craters along the road.
The same crater as the previous picture
Telephoto picture of the bottom of the crater. I think the pattern of the rock is interesting how the lava solidified
The road goes through the lava flow (the road was cut into it, the lava didn’t magically stop at the road.
A vast amount of lava flow
A lot more old lava
You can see the ocean from this viewpoint
In the distance you can see the black lines where the lava flowed over the side of the hill towards the ocean
Another picture of the same area
More interesting solidified lava
Where old lava flowed towards the ocean…. from a bit further down the Chain of Craters road
You might be able to see a little bit of the old road that the lava flowed over
More old lava

I took a pretty lengthy hike over lava rocks to see the Pu’uloa petroglyphs.

Information about the petroglyphs at the trailhead. When I say trailhead, it isn’t really a trail – they just have rock cairns to mark the direction to find them
I really liked how this lava bunched up and solidified
Vegetation growing in the cracks of the lava….
A flower in the lava field
An information sign at the petroglyphs
One of the more defined petroglyphs
More petroglyphs
More petroglyphs
Same area as the previous picture
More petroglyphs
Another information sign
More petroglyphs
Some more petroglyphs and bunched solidified lava
More petroglyphs and you can see the wooden walkway that was built to view the petroglyphs from
Closer view of the petroglyphs in the previous photo
More petroglyphs
Even more petroglyphs
Some more patterns in the solidified lava

At the end of the road was Holei Sea Arch. The view of the coast was beautiful.

The coast from the Holei sea arch
Closer view of the coast
The Holei sea arch
Details on the sea arch

On the way back up the Chain of Craters road I stopped at a short hike called the Mauna Ulu Eruption Fissure Hike I missed because of a brief rain storm.

Taken while on the Mauna Ulu Eruption Fissure Hike
Another photo from the Mauna Ulu Eruption Fissure Hike

It started raining on the drive back to Hilo, so I didn’t stop at Rainbow Falls like I had originally planned.

I took the rental car shuttle back to the ship.

When I arrived to my room I found the chocolate covered pineapples (usually they are strawberries on other ships). The pineapple was quite good.

Chocolate covered pineapple

I had dinner on the ship at Cagney’s steak house. I apparently forgot to take a photo of the menu. For my starter I had the thick cut bacon.

Thick cut bacon with honey mustard sauce. It was a good combination.

For my main I had a ribeye with Maitre’D butter.

Ribeye with Maitre’D butter. It was very good.
Truffle fries… awesome
Another fancy flavored creme brulee…. I still prefer the normal version better
The brownie with ice cream was much better

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