Big Island, Hawaii

Sulphur Vents, Crater Rim Drive

This place is truly a geographical marvel with 11 of the world's 13 climatic zones found on this small island . Even before disembarking from the plane at Hilo International Airport, I had already caught sight of Mauna Kea in mid flight and it's immense size and snow covered top has sorta heightened my exhilaration at being in Hawaii .

The town of Hilo as I briefly saw while on the tour bus was charmingly quaint and very rural . The weather was cool though it threatened to rain the 2 days I was here.

The first stop was the Macademia Nut Farm where we saw how these nuts are processed and we also saw the fruit trees . Many people bought loads of macademia nut products as it was much fresher than those sold on the supermarkets elsewhere.

The highlight was of course the trip to Kilauea where i saw the immense size of the caldera . For your information it stretches beyond the horizon . The Crater Rim drive brought us closer to all the sulfur vents , steam vents and into the caldera itself . It really felt as if we were on Mars or something as the landscape was so barren . The part of the Thurston Lava Tube which we got to explore was quite small really as the other part is cordoned off but still it's interesting to imagine that this tube leads all the way into the heart of the volcano.

Steam Vents, Crater Rim Drive

Lava Flow, Crater Rim Drive

Volcano Art Center

The next day we visited Parker Ranch of which I only got to see a small part of. Laupahoehoe Point has a tragic history whereby a school teacher and his students were swept into the sea by a tsunami and so now they have this park to kinda mourn this tragic accident . But we only got to see the Point from way up so I can't tell you how the park was like . Akaka Falls wasn't really very spectacular a la Victoria Falls or Niagara Falls as it is quite small with only a steady stream of water falling from one point.

But all in all this trip to Hawaii is definitely worth all the effort getting there ie the amount of time spent on aircraft . This trip has given me a brief insight into Hawaii and it's lifestyle and left me wanting more but the next time I'm back , i definitely have to allocate more time . Thus I will strongly recommend Hawaii as a travel destination if you are the sort that would appreciate nature.

Akaka Falls	Black Sand Beach