Day 15: Doing cones on the big island (Hawaii)

Actually we only did one cone: Kilauea Iki. This means “little Kilauea”; “big Kilauea” is about 4 km (2.5 miles) long, while little Kilauea is “only” around 2 km (1 mile) long.
(The next day we went to Lahaina. I suspect a few of those hippies did more than one cone a day.)
The name "Kilauea" comes from the early Hawaiians. Long ago two of them stood nearby looking into the boiling lava, and the first said “that looks very hot”. The second nodded and said “hot enough to kill-a-whale-eh?”
(You see, “Kilauea” sounds a bit like “kill a whale, eh?” and… urm… ah, nevermind. Back to the tour.)

We started by walking through the Thurston Lava Tube, which would have been much less pleasant when it was flowing with lava, and then hiked down into the Kilauea Iki crater. The weather was overcast and drizzly, which we were thankful for because walking that sucker on a stinking hot day would be near lethal.

Kilauea Iki last erupted in 1959. Although the big island is still producing new lava, this is happening miles away from where we were (much to Emma’s disappointment).
It’s also fascinating to see how the plants are gradually reclaiming the area. Put a tiny crack into the ground and something will grow there.

As ever photos don’t come close to capturing the experience, nor do words. So I’ll just post the following piccie with a one word caption:
“Cool.”
All told we walked about 8 km (4.5 miles), which made us feel fatigued and virtuous in equal measure.
We also had a driving tour around the big crater. The area looks like a warzone on another planet. Eerie and amazing.
The town of Hilo was a bit of a disappointment. Some of the buildings in Old Hilo have a bit of character, but it’s all rather rundown and overall dull and dreary. Most of it was re-built well inland after the Tsunamis of 1946 and 1960. What’s been rebuilt in old Hilo could use another Tsunami.

Being reasonably peckish we lashed out and ate at the Steak Restaurant on the ship. We had a medium size (12oz) steak each and couldn’t finish them. The head waiter, Angel (a Filipino - no relation to the vampire in “Buffy”), told us about some guy on the Alaskan leg who ate two of the 22 oz steaks in the one sitting. What a pig.