Kilauea Week

A view of Mauna Loa from the HVO eagles nest -- it may look unassuming but it is the largest volcano in the world with a 10,000' elevation gain from where the photo was taken.

Saturday morning Jamal, Anna, Emma and I headed in to Hilo to pick up lunch and groceries before going camping again on the west side of the island. Our favorite lunch spot is the farmer's market where we get thai tofu spring rolls, sticky rice (rice mixed with banana and coconut wrapped in banana leaves) and coconut milk straight from a coconut. The farmer's market is filled with native Hawaiian fruits, including my new favorite rambutan -- the exterior is red and covered with long, thick hairs that you bite through to rip off the skin and get to the fruit in the middle that has the same texture as leche (or eyeballs, as I was told). We were traveling to Beach 67 to go camping for a fellow volunteer's 25th birthday celebration and made it to the beach late afternoon. What we found out was that Beach 67 is a nude beach during the day and we had the delightful pleasure to come across 10 overweight men in their 40s and 50s lounging in the sand. We set our tents up as fast as possible, while be watched by hopeful eyes, and then bolted out to a beach a mile away to watch the sunset. This weekends sunset was made extra special by the breaching whales seen a few miles off the shore. By the time we returned to the beach it was filled with at least 9 tents and about 20-25 people. The party lasted late in to the evening and was capped off with some fire dancing (which I missed because Emma and I went to bed a hour too early)

Sunday morning, after watching some sea turtles splash around in the surf, we headed out early and went 50 miles south down the coast to a snorkeling spot called Place of Refuge. A lava flow goes right up to the water and juts against rather shallow water teeming with plant and animal life. After I got over my initial fear of inhaling seawater, flailing around like a crazy woman and then sinking to my death, I enjoyed the 75 degree water. A few times I was so focused at looking at the coral I did not realize I was swimming right in to a school of fish! At one point I was completely encircled by a school of about 10-15 long, skinny, blue almost transparent fish. The waves were gentle and the only real worry was colliding with other snorkelers since the place was packed! Too bad my camera is not waterproof/underwater capable.

In work related issues, Jamal and I were passed off to Andy to learn how to use the GPS system since he is leaving for home (England) this Sunday. His current work requires him to walk a loop around the Kilauea caldera and take GPS measurements at specified locations to compare against his past data to determine ground deformation. It is currently moving just a few centimeters since the eruption has moved away from the caldera and down the South East rift to Pu'u O'o around 15 miles away. Jamal and I needed to learn how to assemble the equipment and take accurate measurements for our work on Mauna Loa. The contraption is heavy and awkward to carry plus a 10-15 lb battery that we chuck in our backpack.

Thursday a group of about 25 people (interns and park service volunteers) got a guided tour by Don Swanson -- resident genius on all things Kilauea. He has been with the HVO since the middle of the 60s and is jam packed full of useful information. Part of the field trip he recounted for us the Hawaiian folk lore on how the island chain formed and the backdrop for the current eruptions.

Tomorrow we head up to Mauna Loa for the first time! Its at an elevation of 14000' and we have to leave the house at 6 am. Stay tuned.