Another wonderful breakfast - pancakes filled with macadamia nuts, maple syrup, homegrown bananas, papaya, limes plus coffee from Kurt's plantation. Yum!!

With our picnic in the coolbag we set off South, then East towards Volcanoes National Park. Thanks to Kurt we had lots of information about places we could visit on the way. At first we went the wrong way, which involved driving along a very winding, narrow road almost to the beach, then emerging onto the road we had left ten minutes before! Back on the right road, we went past little settlements with names such as Honaunau, Kealia, Papa & drove miles to see Milolu beach as it's a typical Hawaiian settlement. We were not impressed! Apparently the original village was destroyed by lava so the inhabitants simply moved along & settled on top of an older lava bed! Most of the homes are, essentially shacks made of wood & corrugated iron with an occasional more permanent looking building. The shore was very pretty but deserted because of Dengue last year!

At Kurt's suggestion we drove to Ka Lae (South Point) which is the most southerly point of USA, but found that it was a six mile hike to the beach. It was so hot that we decided to stay put under a tree in the car park & eat our picnic there. On the way back from Ka Lae we found a cafe/ Hawaiian flowers Orchid farm where we had a lovely cup of tea. This place could easily have been a garden centre in England, even the surroundings seemed surprisingly familiar! By now it was fairly late in the afternoon so we headed for Hawai'i Volcanoes through Pahala, Wood Valley & on to the Kilauea Visitor Centre where we bought a National Parks pass for $80 which we'll also be able to use on the mainland.

First of all we went along Crater Rim Drive toThurston Lava tube (Nahuku tunnel) We walked through lush rainforest to the 500 year old lava tube formed by travelling magma & went through the dark, dank, dripping tunnel to the other side! Incredible & a little scary! Then it was back along Crater Rim Drive to see the steam vents (wahinekapu) In every direction we could see steam rising from the vents giving the impression of mist pouring across the landscape.

Dusk was almost upon us so we set off for the Jagger museum where there's an overlook from which the glowing fume cloud above the molten magma can be seen. The active vent is within the Halema'uma'u Crater in the caldera of Kilauea. We were able to catch a glimpse of the glow, but within half an hour it was raining & the clouds had completely obliterated it! Another visit would have to be made!!

After an amazing day we made good time on the return journey & even managed to navigate the dreaded drive to "The Edge" in the dark - phew!