Monday, March 13, 2006
Big Island continued - Hilo side
This next set were taken after I left the volcano for the eastern side of the island for a couple of days.
Akaka Falls
This waterfall is the tallest on the Big Island, at 400 ft. There had been quite a bit of rain in the days before I went there, so the waterfall was roaring a bit. It's really dramatic - the viewing point is I guess about two thirds of the way up, so not for those with vertigo.
181- Lava tree monument
When lava flooded this area, it cooled down around the trees and solifidied - so when the lava subsided the solid structures remained. The trunks inside would be burned to charcoal and disintegrate - which you can see when you look at the ones which are lying down on the floor having been toppled over - they are hollow inside.
Kumakahi lighthouse
We nearly didn't make it there in one piece - we were barrelling down the highway at about 60mph when with about 20m to go, it signposted a crossroads and the end of the highway - obviously we weren't expecting this so I carried on across the intersection at a high speed and ended up on a gravel 4WD track! I had actually intended to go straight across this intersection, though perhaps not quite that fast to end up on a dirt track... And then we found out that the lighthouse we thought we were going to see had been pulled down some years ago, leaving just this steel structure! Oops...
Akaka Falls
This waterfall is the tallest on the Big Island, at 400 ft. There had been quite a bit of rain in the days before I went there, so the waterfall was roaring a bit. It's really dramatic - the viewing point is I guess about two thirds of the way up, so not for those with vertigo.
181- Lava tree monument
When lava flooded this area, it cooled down around the trees and solifidied - so when the lava subsided the solid structures remained. The trunks inside would be burned to charcoal and disintegrate - which you can see when you look at the ones which are lying down on the floor having been toppled over - they are hollow inside.
Kumakahi lighthouse
We nearly didn't make it there in one piece - we were barrelling down the highway at about 60mph when with about 20m to go, it signposted a crossroads and the end of the highway - obviously we weren't expecting this so I carried on across the intersection at a high speed and ended up on a gravel 4WD track! I had actually intended to go straight across this intersection, though perhaps not quite that fast to end up on a dirt track... And then we found out that the lighthouse we thought we were going to see had been pulled down some years ago, leaving just this steel structure! Oops...
# posted by Sue Lambert @ 7:25 PM 
