Volcano Village

Has to be the coolest name for a village. On the way to Volcano we stopped at the U.S.A's most Southern point, I always thought it was in the Florida Keys.
The land was arid and hot. Huge waves pounded against the shore and there is no shelter from the intense sun, but a strong cooling wind.
I have about 30 mosquito bites on my legs (very attractive), so decided to dip my legs in the tidal pools. This was until I spotted the fish, I can eat them, but I can't swim with them.

Tidal Pools at Southernmost Tip of U.S.A

Anitra and I decided to hit the road. We stopped a little further on at a fruit stand and picked up some delicious pineapple, ice cream banana's (not quite ripe yet) and a dragon fruit.
Our next stop was Black Sand Beach. We decided we needed to relax after our night searching for cockroaches. It's surprisingly difficult to find places on the Big Island. There are few signposts and they are often confusing. It seems strange when there are obviously many tourists driving around the island each year. It takes about 7 hours to drive non-stop around the island. But we just did 40 miles to Volcano Village.
Anitra had decided beforehand to spend a day hiking in the Volcano National Park, to one of the remote campgrounds. After reading the official guide to the trail, I decided I probably wasn't up to it. It involves walking across a very open Lava Field, that can become really hot. We stopped by the visitors centre so Anitra could get a camping permit.

Anitra at the start of the trail.

As Anitra had already toured the Park, as she stayed at the military complex inside the park for her water conservation conference, I decided to use the day to explore the Park for myself.
I dropped Anitra at the trail head this morning, and hiked a little of the way. I have to say it looks like a difficult trail and I hope Anitra made it to the beach safely. I know she has plenty of water and is very organised.
Volcano National Park, gives the public the chance to learn about volcano's and see them up close.
I was looking forward to seeing some lava. For almost a 100 years lava has flown into the sea, as the Park has been developed a road has been added so cars and drive close to the lava. This was until June, yes June this year, there was another eruption and the flow of lava was diverted to a spot that can only be viewed from a helicopter. Great.
I did get to see some huge craters and walk through a lava tube.

This is the Thurston Lava Tube