well just to let you know that we hiked to the volcano yesterday and it was amazing!!! really was one of those experiences that we will remember forever. i was so nevous aseveryone that had been on the hike had said it was brutal!! it was bad and dangerous but really good fun. i think we hiked about 8 miles and the surface was so uneven and dangerous if we had fallen we would have been cut to shreads for sure as the lava fields we razor sharp in places. we got to see the lava going into the sea which was cool and then we hiked to a new skylight that had appeared which is an opening in the ground that you look into and you can see into the lava tube so we could see lave flowing. which was awesome. the pictures are fantastic. if that wasn't cool enough we then hiked on further and came right up close to lava which was surfacing!! it was so hot it was unbearable and i was so scared i was shaking as we walked over lava that had only just set, i looked down and could see it glowing underneath!!!! aaaaHH!! it melted my shoes to and we had to keep moving fast just incase we melted to it or burnt ourselves it was crazy but worth it as we saw lots of lava breaking through. some picture will be on the arnotts lodge website if you do a search for it. and ours will be up next week when we are on the main island again. if that wasn't crazy enough we then got to walk through an old lava tube (Thrurston) in the dark which was really cool too. phew what an incredible day and I'm so pleased with myself for not being a whimp and doing the hike fairly easily. anyhow, i'm thinking it is a ONCE in a lifetime thing now i've just read through what i wrote and its hit me how crazy and scary it sounds!!!! well must go tris has gone to fetch us a hire car so we can see the waterfalls and the rest of the island and im getting eaten alive by bugs now the sun has finally come out!! the pictures will be worth the wait i promise love laura x x x x x x x x x x x x x