Volcano National Park - Stage 2

Today we had tours 2 & 3 of the Big Island series. Both tours were in the National Park. We actually live in the park so we didn't have to go too far. First, I had NO idea how big the entire park is. We drove 18 miles down to the coast line where the lava hits the ocean and you could see acre after acre of lava fields.

the black is the lava flow


picture down by the coastline


Thurston Lava Tube


Biggest "hole" (there is a more official name for, just can't remember) on Kilauea


I would highly recommend Volcano National Park to everyone. This is one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. It's hard to fathom where all this lava came from and it's crazy that this volcano is still alive!

Tour de Big Island

Today I did my first of four tours of the Big Island. The resort is allowing all of the interns to take all of the tours provided by KMC. This allows us to become better acquainted with the island and above all perform better in our internships because we will have a better understanding of the attractions around us, culture, and Hawaiian people. And the tours are great too because we don't have cars and we wouldn't get a chance to see most of these things if it wasn't for an organized tour or someone else dragging us around to the sites.

The first tour was in and around Hilo.

stop #1- Orchid Greenhouse/Farm


stop #2- Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory


stop #3- Akaka Falls


stop #4- Hilo Farmers Market


stop #5- 4 Mile Beach


Stage 2 begins tomorrow morning!

camping- hawaiian style

This weekend we had our first taste of the beach and had an authentic Hawaiian camping experience! I went with two other interns to the nearest beach (30 mins away) for a night of camping and cooking out yesterday and today. We went with three locals who work at the resort- they said knew all the best camping spots on this side of the island. We pitched 3 tents for everyone to sleep in and constructed a fire for our cooking. We spent most of yesterday walking the lava beach and exploring the lava rocks and small hills.

A lava rock beach!


The beach is home to many sea turtles and monk seals. We didn't see any seals but we saw quite a few sea turtles!

look closely and you can see the sea turtle!


The locals brought great bbq chicken, pork, and sausage that was grilled over the fire. This morning a few rock fish were caught from the ocean but we didn't stick around long enough to see them hit the flames. All in all we had a great time and are excited to see more of this diverse island.

well i'm here

I finally made it to Hawaii last night after nearly 24 hrs of travel. I had a horrible flight schedule and was exhausted and feeling pretty icky by the time I finally got here.

View of the Big Island from the plane:


The resort that I am working at is actually located inside Volcano National Park. The park sits at 4,000 feet making it a bit chilly up here! Today has been rainy ... I think we may actually be inside a cloud? I have a little furnished cottage with one of my good friends from school so we've been exploring the place all day together. The cottage looks very old from the outside but it's actually really nice inside. We even have a fireplace. We don't actually start work until Monday so we're hoping to go back down to the coast line this weekend if we can find a ride down the mountain.

Our little cottage:


Update on my other half-
AHOP left for NYC the same time that I left for Hawaii on Thursday morning. He is networking with people he met during his internship last summer and trying to make one last strong effort to land a job.

"new" sister Any!

Mom and I went to the airport today to welcome a new exchange student for the year. Any (Annie) is from Georgia in Eastern Europe. She has now been here 5 hours and has already learned to ride a bike, had her first tastes of peanut butter and ranch, and met about 30 people.

Other news-

I leave for my internship in Hawaii in exactly 2 weeks!

AHO's sister got accepted to the University of West Virginia so AHO and I will be going to WV for a few days next week to meet up with his parents and family.

AHO is still searching for jobs. Any help/hints/ideas..etc are welcome. He plans to stay with his friend in Rochester, NY after I leave for Hawaii and continue the job hunt until his visa expires October 4.

WARNING! graphic content below.

Here are two pictures from the plantain frying disaster that happened July 10th at the Habegger House.

4 days after the accident


3 1/2 weeks after the accident


A full recovery of the hand is expected with no scarring.

graduate

On May 9th I graduated from Indiana with my BS in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies. Grandma, Mom, Dad, Chip, and Alex were all around to help celebrate.

picture at the Sample Gates


Dinner with Alvaro's Family (they came from Cali, Colombia for Al's Graduation)