There is a lot to do when near solidified lava. Near the hotel were fields of petroglyphs – images carved into the bare open fields of volcanic rock. It is impossible to date these images, or even know exactly what they symbolise. There were some words written in Roman script, although not in English, which are obviously after European colonisation, and the lava flow occurred around 300 years ago, so the images could not be earlier than that. We saw many concentric circles, which are speculated to be birth records of the Polynesian people. Adjacent to the petroglyph fields was a bright green golf corse and immaculate cream buildings, a disturbing contrast to the ancient black fields on which we were standing.

After spending an hour out in the blistering morning sun, we decided to take a short cut back to the restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, I had left my iPhone back at the hotel, so we had no map. Some passers by gave us directions, and we set of, we later discovered, in entirely the wrong direction. We were now in the middle of the Hilton golf course residential villas complex, and yet the footpaths were entirely unshaded. Everyone else was travelling either in golf carts or in SUVs, as this was still the USA, after all. The path twisted and turned, and although we passed miles of sparkling time-share apartments, we could not find shade nor shelter for ourselves. After an hour of trudging under the blistering Hawaiian sun, we emerge back at the shops, and stepped into the bliss of air conditioning. I downed a great deal of water, and savoured the luxury of cool air, shade, and hydration.

That afternoon we ventured across the other side of the island to see Volcanoes National Park. We walked through an old lava tube, and emerged into the damp rich rainforest, filled with birds and towering trees. We spent sunset overlooking the caldera of the active volcano, and as it became dark, I could see the pale orange light illuminating the smoke from the vents, and listening to the restless magma rumble and grumble below the earth.

As we only had two nights in Hawaii, I wanted to make the most of it, so I decided to book us on a helicopter ride across the island. A few days beforehand, Adrian had a nightmare where I raised my arms while I was under the rotors, and lost both my hands. He had also seen quite a few movies where the people in the helicopter fare very badly. So he was quite worried about flying in a helicopter over the world’s most active volcano. As we entered the cockpit, Adrian made sure that my hands were firmly by my sides, even though the rotors were still. There were five of us in the helicopter, with Toshi as our pilot. I sat next to him as his co-pilot. We were all buckled in, with our noise-cancelling headphones and microphones for talking with the rest of the crew.

Toshi pointed out the landmarks, crops, and formations as we glided through the clouds to the other side of the island. We were staying on the dry side of the island, black and desolate apart from the fluorescent green of the irrigated resort townships with their McMansions and golf-courses. As we crossed to the other side of the mountains, the land suddenly became lush, filled with squares of eucalyptus and macadamia nut trees. Finally, we were flying over Volcanoes National Park. Most of the park is vast rainforest, but amongst this life we saw huge black gashes caused by recent lava flows. The most recent lava flow occurred a few months ago, and is still pouring out to the ocean through a lava tube. As the lava stream cools, it retreats from the surface and forms a red hot tube underground filled with fast flowing lava. I have walked through old and cold lava tubes, but I have never seen one in progress. As we flew over the top of the tube, we saw the white water vapour from recent rains, as well as the blue sulfur dioxide from the lava vents. Part of the roof of the tube had collapsed, and we were able to peer down and see a pool of red hot lava swirling below the crust. In other nearby spots, some of the lava was still on the surface, visible in intense red waves that contrasted the the blackness of the rest of the landscape.

We followed the lava tube for a few kilometers, until it reached the Pacific Ocean. There, it poured out into the water, with black eruptions emanating from the cliff, and a huge plume of white water vapour rising from the point of contact. Yellow sulphur formed a ring around the entry point, and the island of Hawai’i grew larger beneath us as we watched. We flew back to the helipad via some spectacular valleys and waterfalls, and we returned to our hotel safe and sound, with all our limbs intact, and our minds full of the images of lava swirling below us.

At dawn, we began our trek across the beach in search of sea turtles. We walked a long way along the shore, searching for these creatures as the sun crept up over the mountains. The shore was a mix of white sand with black volcanic rock. We saw plenty of birds, and even a destruction of wild cats, but not a single turtle. It seemed that we had reached the end of the shore, as our way was blocked by mangroves, and our quest appeared doomed to failure. Yet just then, a lone stranger appeared, and showed us a secret track through the twisting trunks of the trees. We followed in his footsteps, and found ourselves on the next shore, and we spotted our sea turtle in the distance. She kindly waited for us to reach her so we could see her up close, before she clumsily turned around and made her way slowly back into the ocean.

As we were walking back, we saw the heads of a turn of sea turtles bobbing in one of the coves, and after breakfast we returned with our snorkelling gear. Just a few meters from the shore we were able to float above them, watching them graze on the plants just below the surface, and elegantly glide together through the warm rays of the morning sun that pierced the water.

We arrived at the Marriott on the Big Island of Hawai’i in time to watch the fading light of the sunset over Anaeho’omalu Beach. Once again we were able to take some time out to try to relax, sitting on the salt and pepper sand under the palm trees, watching the colours of the sky and the ocean transition from orange to pink to purple, and appreciating the tranquility and stillness of the moment. We strolled past the ancient fishponds, utilised by early Polynesian people as a form of aquaculture, and then had an enjoyable dinner at Merriman’s Cafe. After dinner we explored the nearby King’s Shops, and Adrian surprised and delighted me with a small necklace that I was admiring in Tiffany’s. Tomorrow morning we shall rise with the sun and search for sea turtles…