Sunday January 18, 2015 Hilo, HI

We set an alarm last night before retiring.  We wanted to be up at 7 so we would have time to have breakfast before our tour.  Thinking the clock on my iPad was an hour ahead, I set the alarm for 8.  We woke up in anticipation of the alarm.  The clock read 7:15.  We then looked at the room telephone which had the ships time, 5:15, the iPad clock was still on Pacific time.  We weren't able to go back to sleep after lying in bed for another hour so we got up and went to the Horizon Court for breakfast.

After breakfast we turned in cancellations for the tours we had signed up for in Nawiliwili, Kauai and Ensenada, Mexico.  In the Piazza we were able to get on the internet using our MiFi instead of the ship board network.

Our tour to the Volcano National Park was set for 9:35 in the terminal building.  We got there early.  Our driver and guide took us to our van.  There were only six of us on the tour.  Besides Gerri and me there were three ladies from the Bay area and one lady from Germany.  Our driver, Cheyenne, was very knowledgeable.  An interesting aside was that she was from Molokai and is Miss Rodeo Hawaii for 2014.

Hilo Coffee Mill

A dragon made from machine parts

Our first stop was Hilo Coffee Mills.  We had a talk on coffee farming and samples of three different coffees.  We also got samples of other products they sold in the store.  Gerri and I split a coffee milkshake.

Our next four stops were in the Volcano National Park. 

The Kilauea Caldera

A view of the caldera

A recent crater

First was the Jagger Museum, which is practically on the rim f a caldera that is three mile across.  It is several hundred feet deep and there is a vent about the size of a football field putting out a steady stream of Vog, Volcanic fog.  In the museum there was a monitor that showed live pictures of the lava at the bottom of the vent.  I gathered the information for an Earthcache while at the museum.

The next stop was at an area that vents steam into the air.  Our guide told us that the water never reaches the lava but is caused by water hitting the hot rocks above the lava.  Therefore the steam is only that and contains no dangerous chemicals.  I gathered the information for another Earthcache at the steam vents.

We moved on to another area that overlooked a crater that was formed by an eruption in the 1960s.  

Entrance to the Thurston Lava Tube

Inside the lava tube

About a half mile further down the road we parked and walked to and through a lava tube.  The walk through the tube was about a 100 yards.  

The fiddle head of a fern ready to open

The entire walk was about a half mile.  Our guide pointed out plants of interest along the way so the walk was easy.

The hand rail almost under lava

Our last stop was at a lava field that crossed the road during a brief eruption in 1974.  At the edge of a small crater we could see what used to be the old handrail.  It was only a few inches above the lava and about 4 feet below the current road level.

 Once out of the park we stopped for lunch at the Volcano Gardens Art Gallery.  We had a good lunch of our choice of chicken, pork or vegetable wraps, chips, fruit, potato salad and drinks.

Valentine's Day decorations at the Big Island Candy Company

By the time we reached our last stop at the Big Island Candy Company we only had 10 minutes to get to the ship.  We had samples of their cookies and coffee.

We were late getting to the dock and were the last to board the ship before it pulled away from the dock.

We dropped our stuff off at our room and went on to the Lido Deck at the back of the ship to watch the sail away.  It was cloudy and Hilo doesn't have much of a skyline.  We couldn’t see Kilauea but did glimpse some playful whales in the ships wake.

We took in a show in the Princess Theater. A vocal impressionist, Michael Wilson.  He was funny and did a good job impersonating several well-known singers and actors.  Very funny and no off color content.

Decorations in the Piazza

Our final activity was to have pizza and an ice cream cone on the Lido deck while watching part of the Elvis movie, Blue Hawaii.  Gerri read until about 9:30 and I stayed up until 10:30.

Tomorrow we dock in Honolulu at 7 AM.  I want to finish the geocache that started us on this trip.