Aloha Hawaii! Our 10 Day Cruise to Hawaii on the Disney Wonder, September 7, 2015 Trip Report completed 07/31/2016 About This Page:

[goofyboysmama]

Originally Posted by Disneybine

Wow, sorry you got soaking wet on your excursion but the waterfalls sure look amazing!

Good job being frugal at the goodies store. I'll admit, I might have gone crazy over the chocolates

It was very difficult to only come out of there with just a few things!

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Hilo continues: Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory and Thurston Lava Tube

Hmm... I guess my pictures were ok, it looked like a couple weren't loading right. Anyhoo...

We all piled back onto the bus, wet and warm, but impressed. I didn't like having to leave so early, but I took lots of photos that I could look at later and it was still pouring down rain Our next stop was at the macadamia nut factory and I love macadamia nuts so I was ready to see what was next.


Of course!




Next to the property were acres and acres of orchards of produce and nuts. The driver told us that these particular orchards are papaya. He told us that literally tons of fruit aren't picked and just go to waste. I thought that was so sad as there are hungry, down-and-out people in Hawaii, just like everywhere else. I'm sure much smarter people than I have thought about this problem, but it just seemed so sad to waste all that fruit.




These blurry photos are of the actual macadamia nut trees.


These pine trees were all over the place and I loved them. They were so alien looking to me. I asked the driver the name and he said they were Norfolk Island Pine trees.


These flowers were around the visitor center.


A character meet!


Which one's the nut? har har


The sun had finally made an appearance. When it did, it came out in full force! (We heard from locals all the time, apologies for it "being so hot and humid - it's never like this!" )


You could take seeds and seedlings home with you - customs approved! I wanted badly to take some flowers back with me, but we still had 11 days left (!) of vacation and I was pretty sure they wouldn't make it back intact In case you can't zoom in, what you're looking at on this side of the stand are blue ginger, Hawaiian ti plant, bird of paradise, orchids and the mac nut. I can imagine bringing a giant coconut seed on the plane with me in my carry on!

We went out to the back where they had a small place that sold sandwiches and ice cream. I tried a Portuguese hot dog, a local favorite, and the kids and Dh got some sandwiches and chips. The food was VERY reasonable and tasty and we got to sit down in the shade under some fans. I wanted to try the ice cream but I wanted to look around some more. The kids got to sample some mac nut ice cream.








While I shopped around, Dh and the kids checked out the factory


Lots to choose from. This is just one corner. I got some variety packs.








On the grounds behind the visitor center was a garden that you could walk around in.






I have no idea what this fruit is




This was our bus. Green Travel and Tour is one of the companies contracted under Island Marketing, Ltd. We loaded back on with our goodies and headed for our next destination: Thurston Lava Tube, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park


It had started raining again while on the road to the park. It stopped, but things were still pretty damp by the time we got to the lava tube. I'm glad we wore comfortable shoes and clothes - you'll see why!


Here's our driver giving us a little science of lava tubes. I wish I could remember his name I can't find my spiral notebook that I took so many notes in during our excursions


Since the area was part of the National Park Service (like much of Hawaii), there were handy signs everywhere, noting the vegetation and flowers. Like I said before, we'd missed most of the flowers, so I got lots of foliage instead






Ferns everywhere! It felt very prehistoric.






Telling us about the ferns


Here, he's telling us how the baby ferns curl out like a monkey's paw I think. Also, you can eat them




I don't EVEN want to know what is living in that hole I know there aren't supposed to be snakes on Hawaii islands, but what about spiders, centipedes and who knows what??




There were a few left






After we walked about 1/3 mile (downhill, steep slope) we came to the bridge leading to the lava tube. It almost looks like a movie set!


Who knows where that (or to what) that hole leads...




It looks like a cave. It's formed by a river of lava that starts to cool and harden on the surface. As it cools and hardens, the lava underneath still is moving. When it eventually empties out to wherever, it leaves a tube shaped cave. This particular tube was discovered by a journalist. There used to be stalactites hanging from the ceiling, but they were all taken as souvenirs by tourists


Volcanic rock is porous so the water just drains through it like a sieve.


We had to really be careful to watch our steps. The floor of the tube was rocky and puddles were everywhere.


#lavatubeselfie




I know it doesn't look like it, but that "puddle" is ankle deep! We were all trying to skirt around it, but the wall came out so it was hard to get around it. Finally, I was like, whatevs, and walked right through it. (Cold!)


See the vegetation growing "down"?


There was a little dark cave on the way out












It's so damp and moist in the rain forest, it looks like the tree bent over like a noodle!


Crater Rim Trail. Maybe next time.


Next: craters and volcano