Blogs from Hilo, Big Island, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 10

Got off the ship at Hilo and got on our tour bus to go and see the volcano’s. Jumping on the bus felt like we were getting on the senior cits bus for the day. People needed help getting on and off. Neway we were on our way went thru downtown Hilo and to the Volcano National Park. Visited a few volcanoes which were craters. It was amazing. No lava in site but each crater was just steaming. You saw some dry lava, it was like we were on another planet. The tour guide said NASA had trained there astronauts on this surface as it resembles the moon. It was very usual. Apparently the Killawa Volcano is the 2nd most active in the world. It has been active since 1983 and when the ship leaves port ... read more

Yes, I'm still alive and I am doing fine as usually. And of course I am busy as usual. So basically I have nothing new to tell. My life is boring. All I do is running, studying and working. Ok, enough. Everybody who knows me knows that this is not completely true. I do a little more than that. Well, last weekend I was on Big Island. To run of course. We had the conference down there. A week after the earthquake (by the way the eartquake wasn't bad at all. I had a great day without electricity) we couldn't see any signs of the earthquake. the race itself was awsome- I won!!! Our team got third and Todd won as well. So it was a succesful race. After the race we went to watch the ... read more

Aloha, So we've been on the big island of hawaii for 5 days now and we've seen heaps! When we got here we thought (because our guide books told us we could) that to hire a car we could just arrive at the airport and hire one - but we thought wrong and the only car we could hire (after 10 minutes of asking hire companies multiple times) was a car I'd been paying out ever since I landed in the US. A Ford Mustang Convertible! So we hired it and stayed in Hilo our first night and got bought a drink from some locals. Thursday we drove to volcanoes national park and decide to walk across Kileaua Caldera (a 7 mile return trip) in the hottest part of the day starting from Volcano House which ... read more

At some point during the week the idea of seeing a volcano became compelling. I suppose it’s that living against a ridgeline of volcanic rock gives one a new appreciation for lava. We have weekends off, so I flew over to the Big Island, staying in a Bed and Breakfast in the town of Volcano (!!), outside Hawaii Volcano National Park. While part of Kiluea is very active, it’s mostly active underground. After dark, however, you can see lava glowing in the distance. Nearby they’ve left the lava flow from 2003 to harden across the road, which does bring the whole reality of volcanic activity home. Aside from going to see the lava flows, the park offers a road around the Kilauea Caldera, for an up close look -- or as up close as I want ... read more

Went to church yesterday with the McIntosh’s. Their church is held in the local preschool cafeteria since it is still a very new and small church. Lee’s father is actually the interim preacher until they get a new one. I don’t know if I have mentioned this to everyone, but Lee’s family is Very religious. Independent Baptist. Every time I visit they bring up my religious beliefs, or there lack of, and I have to find some way to settle them down before they try to convert me on the spot. Or at least try to Witness me. O well. I appreciate that they care so much for me although I just wish they could express it in a better way. I was expecting the whole talk yesterday, but it came today instead. I’ll write about ... read more