We started the day with a stop at Halema'uma'u crater. We could see fumes going out of its lava lake at day light. Whereas at night time we can witness a fuming red glow. So later that day, around 7:30pm, we visited the site at night. These days no one can walk closer to the crater, that is under the surveillance of rangers. That site is enormous and does not translate well on picture.
Otherwise we spent the day driving on the Craters Roads, stopped to see several craters filled with solidified lava, we walked on various lava fields and we visited a site with petroglyphs. The road ends on the ocean whose waves crashes on cliffs. A sign says 'road closed' - as they are building a new road there, after a volcanic eruption trashed the place.

March 30, 2015

We entered Hawai'i volcanoes National Park and stopped at Namakani Paio camp ground to set up our tent for two night. We purchased our Park Entrance and after talking to Larry, a retired volunteer guide at the Visitor Center, we decided to join his free guided tour. He made us discover the site of a volcanic eruption that occurred in 1959. Thousands of tons of lava recovered a formerly green valley. The new soil created is now hundreds of meters higher than before. Some trees have manage to grow at the top of it, like the Ohi'a lehua, a small tree with red flowers attached to it and berries like the Pilo tree.
From the start of the Kilauea Iki Trail, we could see a fuming volcano on the background, the mighty Halema'uma'u crater. Apparently, at night, it it possible to see lava going straight out of it. We'll have to come back. It is unlikely that we will manage to have a close look on the lava flow there, unless we book an helicopter ride as, these areas are closed to the public. There is one in particular that is occurring on private land, so there is no way we can go there without running into troubles. The Hawaian Rangers are protecting the area. Last night they've arrested two hikers that were walking on forbidden areas with head torches. You should not play with fire, as these areas are highly dangerous. Tomorrow, we will explore more of that Parc, taking the last remaining roads that are still open to the public. 

Nous voici enfin arrives au Parc National des Volcans d'Hawai'i. Nous nous sommes tout d'abord arretes au camping de Namakani Paio pour y installer notre tente pour deux nuits. Nous avons ensuite achete notre entree pour le Parc National. C'est a l'office du tourisme que nous avons fait la connaissance de Larry, un guide touristique benevole. Nous ne savions pas trop ou commencer notre visite, c'est alors que Larry, un retraite originate de Virginie et travaillant sur le Parc en tant que volontaire, nous proposa de suivre son tour guide. Il nous a fait decouvrir un site volcanique qui a vu le jour en 1959. Les coulees de lave ont alors recouvert une verdoyante vallee elevant son sol a plusieurs centaines de metres. Quelques arbres sont parvenus a pousser par dessus, tel le Ohi'a lehua, un petit arbre aux fleurs rouges et Pilo, un petit arbre a fruits (baies)

 Depuis le debut du chemin du Kilauea Iki, on pouvait voir au loin un immense cratere fumant appele Halema'uma'u. A priori, de nuit, on peut voir de la lave en sortie. Il nous faudra donc y revenue de nuit. Car, nos chances sont maigres de voir de la lave en fusion, a moins que nous ne faisions un tour en helicoptere. Les zones au il y a de la lave sont fermees au public, par mesure de securite. Il y a en ce moment une coulee de lave qui traverse des proprietes privees. La nuit derniere les rangers Hawaiiens ont arrete des randonneurs quinse balladaient de nuit a la lampe torche dans ces zones non-securisees. Il ne faut pas jouer avec le feu, car ces zones sont haute meant dangereuses. Demain, nous explorerons un peu plus le Parc, en prennant les routes encore ouvertes au public.

One of the particularities about countries in this part of the world (read me... 'At these latitudes') is that it's dark at 7pm. So it was well pitch dark by the time we've made it to our first campsite on the Big Island, freshly arrived from Honolulu. This was also the first time for our brand new MSR tent (a replacement for our Hilleberg tent that we lost during our trip a few years back, somewhere between Sydney and LA...). We did not see clearly where we out our tent but we thought we'd put it away from the beach. We had to do it knowing that you had some poisonous centipedes in the area and unfortunately, this brought us closer to a nearby property with hens. And we have discover a truth in this world: who said roosters sing at dawn? They can do than in the middle of the night and so on...Roosters are probably the most stupid animal.
Fresh from our early rise, we have made it to the volcanoes national park.

hello Blog and Bloggers!
Long time no speaky! After a long time focusing on our jobs, we have finally decided to take some time off and dust off the backpack, the hiking boots and hit the roads. Destination: Hawaii!
We arrived in Honululu after a 11 hours flight from Toronto with a stopover in Vancouver. We flew with Westjet for the first time and it's staff has been really welcoming and funny on board. when we landed they said "Aloha to Honolulu and the beautiful island of Oahu, the temperature outside is around 20 degrees". 
It is certainly a whooping 30deg difference with Toronto, and we won't complain! It's warm, it's breezy, it's sunny and the sea is blue. We spent the afternoon on Waikiki Beach which is currently retracting. In 2012, 27,000 cubic yards of sand was piped in from offshore in an effort to restore the beach. But Waikiki Beach is a man made beach whose situation has aggravated since builders have erected many towers too close to the sea shore. The beach seems indeed to be too narrow to welcome the massive numbers of tourists. It was hard to find an empty quiet spot. As we've noticed Honolulu is very touristy, especially on a Sunday. Fortunately, we are flying to the Big Island tonight for more adventure.

Bonjour Blogueurs et Blogueuses,
Voici longtemps que nous n'avions pas donne de nos nouvelles. Nous nous sommes beaucoup investis dans nos metiers respectifs, puis est venu le temps de reprendre nos vie illness habitudes, la route, la tente, les sacs a dos... Destination : Hawaii!
Nous sommes arrivés dans Honululu après un vol de 11 heures depuis Toronto avec une halte à Vancouver. Nous avons volé avec Westjet pour la première fois; leur personnel a été vraiment accueillant et drôle à bord. Quand nous avons atterri ils ont dit "Aloha, bienvenue a Honolulu et la belle île d'Oahu, la température exterieure est de 20 degrés".
Nous avons eu un choc thermique de 30 degres depuis Toronto mais nous nous n'allons pas nous plaindre! Il fait chaud, il y a un petit vent, c'est ensoleillé et la mer est bleue. Nous avons passe l'après-midi sur la plage de Waikiki qui est en train de disparaitre. En 2012, 27000 metre cubes de sable ont été acheminés depuis le large pour essayer de restaurer la plage. Mais Waikiki est une plage
artificielle et la situation a ete aggravee par les constructions de tours tres proches de la mer. La plage semble en effet trop petite pour contenir le nombre massif de touristes. C'etait d'ailleurs un peu difficile de trouver de la place pour poser nos serviettes.
Comme nous avons pu nous en rendre compte, Honolulu est une ville tres touristique, surtout un dimanche. Heureusement, nous patrons pour la grande lie d'Hawaii ce soir pour un peu d'aventure.