Today was a long one. But, seeing the volcanoes is the main reason we chose to come to the Big Island this time. We got an early start and drove out to the south on the way to Hilo to take a helicopter ride out over the volcanoes. We drove through the Volcano National Park on the way, and went part way around the rim of Kilauea. Made some nice photos of steam vents and craters. You could spend days hiking and / or biking in the park. There’s really a lot to see. But, time was short, so we headed on down to Hilo for lunch.
The Helicopter tour is probably the best way for the average tourist to see the volcanoes. The tour operators always know where the current action is, and that changes day by day, and hour by hour.
The tour takes you out over Kilauea (the youngest and currently most active volcano) shows you the different kinds of lava flows. The tour also flies over several of the water falls on the North Eastern part of the island that you can’t get to by car. Older folks, like us, appreciate that since we don’t hike as much as we used too.
We drove back to Kona from Hilo on the northern route. We saw some more water falls, and beautiful ocean views. The variety of scenery and climates on the different parts of the island is really amazing. We made it back to Kona in time to have a really nice diner at Hugo’s on the water front.
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Published by Richard in: Hawaii December 2006
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