Mister Lava Lava

When my alarm went off, I was already awake–ish. I got up, brushed my teeth and put the things, that I had not already stowed in any of my bags, anywhere they would fit. I didn‘t bring much, but when you are in a rush, everything seems to get bigger everytime you pack your bags. At 3:10 a.m. I was already on my way to the Volcano National Park. It is a 45 minutes drive. I was crazy tired, not only because it was in the middle of the night, but because I haven‘t had a good night sleep in three days. When I came closer to the Park I could see a big dark red cloud hanging over the park. It wasn‘t dawn, the sky was still pitch black. It must have been the light that is sent out by the lava.

I wasn‘t the first one at the park. Some people were already waiting and some were sleeping in their cars. I tried to find the envelopes for the admission fee, that according to the internet has to be put into an envelope and then put into a box. There weren‘t any left. When the tour guides arrived, everything happened very fast. They were two very sporty women who spoke fast and you could tell, that this wouldn‘t be a walk in the park. The description of the tour was very clear: only the fittest survive… or arrive at the lava. We got handed a backpack each, filled with snacks, water, a flashlight and a rain poncho (that would become my best friend). Guess what… it drizzled. We all got into our cars and followed the guides for about 50 minutes further into the park. We stopped in front of a closed street. The street had to be closed, because the lava decided to flow right through. We parked the cars and started walking. It was nice, as the street was nicely paved, which made walking in the dark easier. I felt a little sick, because everybody had their flashlights switched on and left them dangling around… an epileptic would have probably gotten a seizure. After half a mile the pavement ended and we walked on gravel for another two miles. Suddenly it started to rain heavily. When I finally had figured out how to get into the poncho, it was too late. I was soaked to the bone. It wasn‘t that warm so I walked a little faster. After two and a half miles, we went into the lava field and were supposed to stay together, one behind the other in one line. We had to wear gloves, because the lava is like glass. You can tell, when you see my hiking boots. Some of the group were slower than the rest and one woman fell quite often. You could see that she was at her limit and over it. The guides tried a couple of times to get the group together, but then some of the group decided to turn back. So the second guide took them back to the cars. From there we all had one pace. At mile three I felt that my right shoe was filled with water, a feeling that I find digusting, because I knew, that I had nine more miles ahead of me. We walked for two more hours until we could see the first lava eruptions. Yvonne, the guide told us what to be careful of and then we were free to explore the area. There was lava everywhere and new little eruptions happened all around us. You can get as close as you can stand the heat. I felt like my face would get up in flames, when I took some videos and pictures. There aren‘t many, because my phone didn‘t work in the prolonging rain. When lava gets cold it looks like shiny silver. Yvonne showed us, that it takes only ten minutes until the lava gets solid. She even showed us how bouncy lava is, when it is only two minutes old. It looked like yeast dough. I tried to stand as close to the lava as possible, to dry my wet trousers. It was cozy. My left shoe was filled with water by now, too.

The way back was tiring, but since the sun was up now, it was easier to walk and it got a little warmer. Back at the car, I searched my backpack for some suitable dry clothes. I was thankful, that I had my complete luggage with me. Since I was cold, I didn‘t care when I stripped naked next to the road. It was nice and cozy in the leggings that I found. My feet were wrinkled and cold. Ugh!

It was eleven and way later than I had planned to stay in the park. I needed to go to Ocean View, a tiny city between the Park and Kona on the south easterly coast. There I would stay for the night and there I wanted to send off my package to Berlin from. Again… too much coffee and all those Hawaii travel guides that I wouldn‘t need anymore. I had to drive roughly an hour back through the park until I would be back on a real street. When I arrived at the visitor center 50 minutes later, google maps told me, that by the time I would arrive, the post office will be already closed. I searched for a post office that was still open and found one in Kona. That meant a two hour drive. But I had planned to go to Kona anyway, because I wanted to buy a new tablet, so why not now. So I drove to Kona and passed through Ocean View. It looked tiny and nice.

when I arrived at the post office, which wasn‘t a real post office, more like a Hermes desk in a store, I searched the place for a customes form, but there weren‘t any. There was an older couple next to me who lend me their duct tape, so I could close my package. When it was my turn, the guy behind the counter said „Oh, I can‘t accept that, sorry.“ So I turned around and decided to send the package from Canada.

From there, I went to the shop that had the tablet I wanted. They were hidden somewhere in a business park between insurance offices and hairdressers. I knew what I wanted, so that was quick. When I drove through the business park, to get back on the street, I saw an other shop with a post office sign on the wall. A table in the middle of the room, that was supposed to be for filling in forms etc., was covered with official papers and open letters. A very confused woman ran back and forth between counter and table, looking for an address and telling the lady behind the counter her whole life story. After I had been standing there for ten minutes, the lady looked at me, smiled and rolled her eyes a little. When it was my turn, she gave me a customes form to fill in and took my money. Off went my package. Easy as. Well it wasn‘t that easy in the end. The package was sent back to Donna‘s house, because some label was hidden. Donna managed to get it on it‘s way now.

My room for the night, was the dolphin room, which was a pretty sweet dolphin themed apartment. I watched tv for the first time, while I repacked my stuff for the flight to Vancouver.

I was hungry. My host had recommended a pizza place in town, so I decided to go to town. It was 300 meters from my apartment to the pizzeria. There I made a huge mistake, one that can only be explained with my lack of sleep. I ordered a big pizza and didn‘t even realized that I had ordered a BIG pizza… in the USA!!! when I paid 30$. The three slices I ate, were great. I don‘t like throwing out food, but Ocean View did not have any homeless, I could have indulged with the rest of it.

I fell onto my dolphin pillow and slept very very long and heavenly.