Today, we left a very wet, grey and cold Hilo to explore the Chain of Craters Road all the way down to the coast. The rain continued most of the way down the steep descent. Along the way, as far as the eye could see, hill after hill of charcoal lava flows with the odd tree scrambling through the cracks. Mauna Ulu, a fissure, erupted in 1969 and continue for 4 years - so that gives you an indication of the extent and scale of the lava flows all around the area. It...

In the morning, we left Pahoa and headed back to the Warm Pools for a morning swim as we'd felt so relaxed the day before that we thought it would do us some good. These pools are situated in an enclosed area where hot thermal waters spring out of the lava rocks and mix with the cool seawater which is channeled in from the sea via a tidal tunnel. The eccentric locals congregate in this pool almost daily and it was great to just hang out and swim a few laps in the...