The Big Island
 

Well, we're back! Most of you probably didn't even notice I was gone, but we just got back from the Big Island of Hawaii, the youngest of the chain at only about 600 thousand years old. There are many more photos to come. :)

From the balcony of our room.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psdabfe69e.jpg

A sunset picture from the resorts beach.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps84bae9e6.jpg

Akaka falls on the Southern East side of the island.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps44bb7c00.jpg

A beautiful, but very rough, black sand beach on the Southern end of the island.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psc3ce0163.jpg

Re: The Big Island
 

Yes, we saw the volcano although there was no lava to be seen unless you rented the chopper to see it pouring into the ocean. This is the main crater.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps0c6f7556.jpg

On our way to the telescope(s)! This is about 11,000 feet, give or take.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psfbfa544b.jpg

Just a simple horse we stopped to see on our long ride up the mountain.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psac9bea76.jpg

Just three of the 'scopes.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps814c85c7.jpg

I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so! (They were everywhere!)
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps23ff0075.jpg

Re: The Big Island
 

A simple palm tree at our resort with the moon behind it.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psd658ded5.jpg

Re: The Big Island
 

Welcome back!

Beautiful pictures!
I have been to Maui and Oahu. Love it!

Re: The Big Island
 

Thanks!

The only part of Oahu we saw was what we could see out our airplane window as we flew into the airport on Honolulu on our way to the big island. We did get a good Ariel view of Pearl Harbor though.

Re: The Big Island
 

The history of Hawaii is fascinating. Nearly all volcanoes occur on fault lines but Hawaii's is the result of the continental plates slowly drifting over a hot spot in the mantle which causes a string of eruptions as the magma melts through. For one thing this causes most lava to "flow" which also results in the Hawaiian chain volcanoes to MUCH less explosive than the typical fault ones. The Big Island has old lava flows covering most of the coast, with the West side being the most extreme by far since it is so arid there which much less naturally occurring vegetation to break the hardened lava down. There are flows a few hundred years old covering flows which are 3-5 thousand, covering even older ones.

Re: The Big Island
 

Up by the telescopes. This is one of those pics where you go "Hey, would you mind taking our picture?" to a passing tourist and hope that you set the correct settings on your camera. In this case I hadn't but was able to do some minor "corrections" in photoshop.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps190da48c.jpg

The resorts beach.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps72fafdb7.jpg

Re: The Big Island
 

Walking along the crater rim there was a steam or sulfur vent every 20-50 feet. You were either feeling hot steam or it smelt like someone was lighting fireworks off, or both.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...psb81e34e8.jpg

Re: The Big Island
 

Great pics! Congrats on a wonderful trip. we finally made it to Hawaii five years ago. It was Oahu and we loved it. We want to go back and spend some time on some of the other islands as well.

Re: The Big Island
 

As much as we enjoyed the big island, the next time we go again it will probably be back to Kauai. For as beautiful as this place was it was really really $$$. On Kauai, you could go to almost any little shack selling food and get EXCELLENT fish, or whatever else they were selling for a fraction of the price.