Once again, I started off my morning very early: at 5:30. I watched the beautiful sunrise with Lucy! Then afterward, continued with my habitual snorkeling session in the morning.
We took our first stop at the chain of craters, specifically the Puhimau Crater. This is a pit crater along the south east rift zone of the shield volcano Kīlauea. Pit craters form from when lava drains, and the ground collapses in on itself. This pit crater features erosional collapse features since it never refilled with lava. It is around 200-600 years old, and has mostly pahoehoe flows. The name Puhimau means forever smoking, which can be seen through the steam around the top of the crater.
We made another stop at a lava field, and saw some vesicular lava rock. This rock was very shiny with multicolor/iridescence, and was surprisingly light when picking it up! While walking back, we met a local who showed us some local tropical fruit and this beautiful shell necklace he made 20 years ago. The local (well sort of local, he’s actually from Minnesota), suggested places we travel, but they were already on the list!
Something that really amazes me about Hawaii is that the horizon is literally the ocean! How cool!
Stopping for lunch we were able to see the lava travel all the way to the ocean, and once again, the two types of lava. It was phenomenal. Look at the pictures below! We were able to see the pali too, which are cliffs in Hawaiian! The tension from the caldera causes the large blocks to drop off, creating landslides and the cliffs. There are two motions types with pali. The quick motion creates tsunamis, but there are also the creep, which are the slow, constant movements along the normal faults. Later, driving down, we could again really see the difference in the two lava flows!
We then visited the Pu’uloa petroglyphs. Hawaiian natives utilized sharp tools to create impressions in the lava surface. Each circle represents an umbilical cord in these petroglyphs. There are a variety of petroglyphs here of people, animals, canoes, and more. 16,000 of the 23,000 were made to put umbilical cords in. This offering was made to the mountain goddess in honor of one’s child, asking her to give them a long life and to connect them to their ancestors and the land.
After that slightly hot hike, we then drove to the sea arch by the Holei Pali and saw the bluest blue ocean I have ever seen in my entire life. It was jaw dropping. Driving with the windows down looking at the waves crashing up the cliffs and the deep blue was unforgettable. Sea arches start as a sea cliff, from where the lava meets the sea. Once the lava cools, it erodes, and the wind and water fracture the cliffs into sea caves. Then the waves erode it into sea arches. Unfortunately, this famous arch won’t be here forever. After enough time, the waves will erode the arch and create a column of rocks.
We ended our day jamming out to music on the way back to the Airbnb, grilling up some burgers and making Lucy’s famous Mac and cheese, decorating an awesome shark birthday cake for Van, getting some flicks while snorkeling, and then watching a movie! I’m writing this before the movie activities, but hopefully we will watch Journey to the Center of the Earth! See you all next time!
Fun PSA… I overcame my fear of the ocean! Kaden told us how we are 30x more likely to die from a coconut falling on us rather than a shark attack, so I ended my day with an hour or two in the water hanging on some kayaks, snorkeling around, and getting some good shots on my GoPro.