I wanted to bring my big camera on today's tour so I got out my Nikon and practiced using it while Ben went to the gym.
On the Big Island, I decided we should take two tours so that Ben could get a break from driving. This was a hard decision, because you can see so much more by driving yourself. But I did not want Ben driving in an unfamiliar place on days where we needed to be back at a certain time and I didn't want anyone worried about missing the ship.
I chose a tour company called Mauka Makai Adventures who came highly recommended on both Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor. Our tour would take us to Richardson black beach, Rainbow Falls, Lili’uokanlani Gardens, Volcanoes National Park, Volcano Winery and Big Island Candies. So a pretty full day!
We all met at 8:15 am to disembark the ship and meet up with our tour guide, Josh. Our group would be 10 people, but our family was 6 of the 10. Small group tours are so much better than being in a huge van.
Our tour guide for the next two days!
Our first stop was the black sand beach. Tours stop here because there are often honu or Hawaiian sea turtles on this beach, but we didn't see any. It was a pretty spot and you could see the big volcano, Mauna Kea, from the beach.
I also got some shots of people surfing.
The next stop was Rainbow Falls. There was no rainbow on our visit but waterfalls are always cool! The falls are a result of the Wailuku River rushing into a large pool below.
Then we took the drive to Volcanoes National Park. Along the way, we saw beautiful tropical rainforest vegetation, like I had never seen before. I tried to get pictures as we drove to the park. Hilo is one of the wettest places on earth but we didn't get a drop of rain on our visit.
At the park, we viewed a film detailing the recent volcanic eruption that occurred from May-September of last year. We were then able to view the Kilauea caldera, the volcano that was the source of the most recent eruption.
On the way to the crater, Josh showed us a large open fissure that will eventually become a crater. Walking on the lava does require a little care as large holes do exist under the lava rock.
From 2010 until last year, lava actively flowed from Kilauea and visitors were able to view active lava at the national park. The 2018 eruption drained the lava lake, but it is now showing signs of slowly refilling. Volcanic gas can be seen rising out of the caldera.
We then viewed Kilauea Iki, a smaller pit crater on Kilauea.
And lastly we walked on lava fields.
The 2018 eruption devastated parts of the Big Island as well as Volcanoes National Park and displaced hundreds of residents. The whole island is still reeling economically from the damage the eruption caused.
After the park, Jason asked Josh if we could go visit the Volcano Winery that he had been to on a previous trip to the Big Island. Everyone was on board so we went--this is not a stop we would have made if Jason had not mentioned it!
Ben, Jason and I and another guest did a wine tasting and Alice did a tea tasting which was also really cool.
What a fun day we had!
We were back on board about 3:30 pm. Ben and I had chocolate covered strawberries in our room so we had those with one of our complimentary bottles of sparking wine we had received the first day.
Tonight was our dinner at the steakhouse on the ship, Cagney's. Around 5:45, Ben and I went down to the wine bar for glasses of champagne to take to dinner. Thanks to Jason for this photo!
Ben got a Sidecar with dinner and said it was really good.
Everyone really enjoyed their meal, it was the best one we had on the ship. I got a crab cake, surf and turf and finished it off with yummy macadamia nut ice cream!
Harvey throwing up the Shaka! (I love this picture--I think it really captures the fun everyone was having!)
After our delicious dinner, Ben and I went and got a cocktail at the champagne bar and listened to some music.
On the way back to our cabin, since we were dressed up, we got our picture taken by the ship photographers--cheesy but fun!
That night we sat out on our balcony listening to the waves as we cruised to Kona.
