The Big Island...

Finally, some more photos of Hawaii. I think I gook around 20Gs of photos. After leaving Kauai, we flew to Hilo, on the big island. We stayed at a very sweet B&B, where we had an incredible view of the ocean. We were treated to beautiful sunsets, when it wasn't raining :)

The moon reflecting off the ocean

Most of our time on the here was spent exploring the volcano as well as waiting for the night show. Due to the fact that the lava was pouring into the ocean via a lava tube, we were not able to get too close to the lava itself. In fact, we had to view the Volcano fumes from several miles away. Parking for the volcano viewing was actually on top of what use to be town. It was covered by lava many years ago.


What you are actually seeing here is the VOG caused by the lava pouring into the ocean.






Prior to viewing the volcano fumes, we toured the National Park. It wasn't in our original plans, but we ended up doing an amazing hike right through the middle of a crater. Below are a couple pictures of the steam coming through the grounds. With the combination of steam and VOG from the Volcano Fumes, it made the visibility very limited.

The start of our hike to the crater.

A view from the top

Inside the crater

Lava rocks

Everyone has their "Bucket List" in the back of their head. I was able to check one thing off my list while in Kona. Hubby and I rented a Kayak from some locals and headed out to Kealakekua Bay. Along the way, we ran into a school of about 30 spinner dolphins. I threw on my snorkeling gear and jumped in. I could hear them all talking to one another and saw the babies swimming with their mommas. They so close to our kayak, we could almost touch them. The dolphins were jumping out the water right in front of us. Truly an amazing experience.

Captian Cook's Monument

Driving from Hilo to Kona, you drive through the desert

And then you pass a snow covered mountain..Yes, there is snow in Hawaii

Up next.....MAUI!