13 July 2006 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

We wake up bright and early at 7am. (We were warned that there is a big group and might have to wait for a spot if we are late.) There is no one about except those busy in the kitchen. Owner Gordon Morse is singing Christmas carols as he sets the table. He runs through the breakfast drill with us and shows us the "right" way to eat papayas - with a twist of lime, chopped pineapple and macadamia.

By 8am, people are streaming into the breakfast room - the Morses have cottages on the property and all over town, but breakfast is in the main house, where we are rooming ('cos it's cheapest). One couple who was out on the lava last night relates their experience. They went with their kids, ignored the "do not pass this point" sign and stayed past 9pm. But they advise starting earlier - they returned near midnight last night. HB says she heard them (I was dead to the world) coming back.


The Earthquake Trail is a short 1.5-mile hike - HB wants to return to the visitor centre to catch the video show at 9am. We start at Volcano House - overpriced lodging inside the park - and walk through the lounge for our first look at Kilauea Caldera (a caldera's bigger than a crater). It's HUGE! And barren, a wide gash across the rainforest. It looks like a meteorite had once crash-landed here.

As we follow the crooked trail - the yellow centre divider was shifted in the quake and we can see it at the side of the road - suddenly a line of firefighters march past us. I feel like singing "Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work we go." They stop at the lookout point and discuss the lay of the land. We find a geographical benchmark and take pictures to log it to score geocaching point.

We are late for the first video that starts at 9, so we have some time to wander around the exhibits and attend a ranger talk. I am a little reluctant as I want to do the Kilauea Iki Crater hike before the sun gets to high. But HB says hear him out for a while and walk off. We end up staying for the entire presentation. Ranger BJ is very entertaining and his analogies make it easy for the layman to grasp how BI was formed and which volcanoes precede which. He tells us a new island is being created undersea in the south - it's called Lohii for now. The video gives us an overview of the park and very exciting close-up shots of recent eruptions.