Kona, on the big island called Hawaii, was more than an adventure.
We went on the Captain Zodiac snorkel tour to Kealakekua Bay. The ride turned out to be 45
minutes each way at a
rapid rate of speed with everyone holding on tight as we flew through the air over the waves
while spray drenched
us to the bone. Your hands got tired holding on and the people in front of you kept sliding
backward and crushing
those behind them. If the zodiac stopped it bobbed up and down and made you sea sick.
Kealakekua Bay has a monument which is sovereign British land in the
middle of the State of Hawaii.
It commemorates the battle that Captain Cook’s crew got in to with the natives in 1779.
In the fight, Captain Cook
was beaten to death.
The snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay was phenomenal and worth the trip there,
but just barely. The
coral is in excellent condition and there are lots of fish. The coral drops off quickly
over the space of about
25 feet to a depth off more than 100 feet. It is very eerie to go from the beautiful
coral setting to the deep
blue unknown within such a short distance. We got lots of great shots of fish and a
special self portrait of Viki and myself.
The way back was more tiring, wetter and a bigger mental challenge than the way there. I kept
looking back at Viki, through the salt stinging my eyes and dripping off my face, trying to make sure she hadn’t
fallen overboard. If she had I would have jumped in and sunk with her, as I had no energy left to swim. Luckily
we eventually made it back to the ship and it seems likely that we will make a full recovery. Viki will never
ride a zodiac again though.
The night of May 5th, we did a night sail past of the active volcano
on the Big Island of Hawaii. Although we only saw red dots in the distance, we were
close enough to see them double is size at times. It was amazing to see the earth
creating new land right before our eyes.
Hilo is famous for having had 39 inches of rainfall in one day a few years ago.
It was raining for our visit and Mauna Kea (the white mountain) was covered in cloud. We took
a tour of a macadamia factory and the Volcanoes National Park. At the Volcano, we walked through
the Thurston Lava Tube. Lava tubes are common on the islands. These are areas where flowing lava
gets encrusted by cooler rock above. When the lava flow gets blocked and empty tube is created.
When we reached the crater at the visitor site, Kilauea was pouring out steam
and the seismometers were registering small tremors. The park staff said that in 1969, the
crater we were looking at had filled completely with molten lava and that is was a great debate
among scientists as to whether it would do so again with this eruption.
