Big Island, Hawaii

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Written by Charles October 9, 2013

We went on a tour today, which was fun. We drove through the barren wasteland of the west side of the island. When we got to the east side, it magically turned into jungles that everyone imagines. We first went to a waterfall called Rainbow Falls. Then we went to a state park that had lava trees. Lava trees form when lava from the volcano hits a certain type of tree that has high water content. The lava cools around the tree and forms a spire of rock with a hole in the middle.

Then we went to some cliffs that were like 50 feet tall. After we looked at the cliffs, we went to a lava tube, which is like an underground river for lava. We could get in because part of it had collapsed. We went in and walked around the tunnel for a while.

After that we went to a black sand beach. We had to walk for half a mile on newly formed rock, which formed about 20 years ago. After the hike, we stopped at the black sand beach. It was super wild to see black sand on the beach. Our guide told us that there is also a green sand beach on the south side of the island! It is one of only three in the world. The sand is an olive green, but we didn’t see it.

Then we were supposed to go to a place where you could see the light of the lava in the clouds. It was such a downpour that the visibility was bad, so we had to skip the cloud/lava gazing. I got let down pretty bad then. When we were in the van going back on the 2-hour car ride, I thought the van would shake itself apart! Tomorrow we are going on a helicopter tour of the volcanoes! We might even get to see lava flowing down a mountain! The guide said that there is a forest burning because of the lava, so I’m excited to see it.

Written by Charles October 10, 2013

Today we went on the helicopter tour.  It was one of the most awesome things I have ever done.  

We took off and flew past one of the five volcanoes on the island.  Then we flew in the helicopter to Kilauea.  (The most active volcano in the world!)  I saw the main crater, and there was even smoke coming out of the crater!

Then we left the crater and flew to where the lava was actually flowing!  It was not a river, like people imagine, but it was a very slow moving mass.  The only place we could see the orange was at the very edge of the mass.  (There was only little orange dots showing that there was actually lava.)  We also saw a bit of the orange in a hole in one of the lava tubes.  It was still really cool though.  

After that we flew down to the coast and saw where an entire neighborhood that had been destroyed by a slow moving lava flow.  (No one was hurt.)  When I say slow moving, it is slow moving.  The lava moves at about 2ft per day.  After that we flew away from the volcanos and headed north along the coast.  

We went past the rainiest city in America, which is called Hilo.  It gets about 300 inches of rain a year.  (Seattle only gets an average of 63 a year.)  After we flew away from Hilo, where it was raining.  We flew along the coast towards the rain forest.  

As we flew along the coast, the pilot showed us the Valley of the Kings, which is where the Hawaiian  kings lived.  We hovered in the air looking at it for a minute or two.  Then we flew off to my second favorite part of the trip, next to the lava.  

It was the valley next to the Valley of the Kings.  We flew in, and it was amazing.  There were the tallest waterfalls I have ever seen.  There was also a ton of bright green rainforest all around me.  The tallest waterfall was at least a half mile tall!  

After the awesome valley, we flew over a ridge.  The ridge led us into a line of valleys which were not as all cool. After the other valleys we went back to the airport. The exit from the jungle was really fast.  It changed from rain forest to a wasteland in about a mile! 

We did not do much more today.  We did school for about two hours, then we swam in the pool at the resort for something like three hours.  Tomorrow we are going to go snorkeling with the manta rays.  I'm really excited for it.

Written by William October 10, 2013

When we went on our tour of the Big Island Hawaii, I saw a waterfall. It was really cool. After that, we went to see lava trees. Lava trees are made from when hot lava hits a certain tree that contains a lot of water, and the lava cools around it really fast. We also went to see a lava tube, which is formed when lava makes a path underground (which can lead all the way to the ocean). We saw a little island that was formed sunken into the ground from the lava tubes.

We also went on a helicopter ride. It was so cool because we even got to see the tallest mountain in the world, if you include under sea level. We also saw the location of an eruption. That was the BORING part. The exciting part was seeing the active lava. It was not like boom, bang, there goes the city; it was really surprisingly slow. 

We also went snorkeling and saw a big school of fish, turtles, and a lot of coral. I could even take pictures with my underwater camera!

East to West

Written by Charles October 8, 2013

Over the last 5 days we were in Cincinnati.  My parents had to go to dinners and conferences there.  My brother and I went to one of the dinners, which was at the zoo.  William and I went there and walked around for a bit.  As we were coming back William felt something wet on the back of his shirt.  He asks me what it is and a bird had gotten a direct hit!  My dad had to clean the poop up with a couple napkins.  We ate near the elephants, which were super cool to look at.

It’s our first full day in Hawaii at the hotel/resort.  When someone thinks Hawaii, what pops into mind is usually lush green jungles and mountains with white sandy beaches.  Well, you would be wrong.  On the side of the Big Island that we are on its mostly brownish black volcanic rock, instead of jungles.   The rock comes from the lava that comes down off of the volcanoes.  We saw lava boulders the size of small cars on the way from the airport.  We took a pearl white limo from the airport to the hotel, which was a complete surprise.  At the hotel we ate dinner and on the menu there was a ton of gluten free foods, which was a relief.  (My brother, mom, and I have to eat gluten free.) 

Today we already went snorkeling, which was super awesome.  I saw a lot of fish and even a whole school of fish.  My favorite thing that I saw was four huge green sea turtles.  I brought an underwater camera, which ran out of batteries half way through the snorkel trip.  It died right before the turtles so I did not get any pictures of them.  Later today we are going on a hike to one of the three volcanoes, which I think will be really awesome.

Written by William October 9, 2013

I’m back! We were in Cincinnati this last week, and we saw a lot of our friends. I also had to get my blood drawn at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and it was not fun! We went to this one event at our old school, Summit, called Fall Festival. I got my face painted like a knight, and I also got a tall silly hat for a prize after winning the game where you have to knock down the pins. I saw a sheep and a lama, which was cool, and luckily the lama did not spit on me.

My dad did a 700-mile bike ride to raise money for the cure for HLH. The ride was from Mississippi to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where we watched him and his friends finish the ride. That night we went to a dinner at the zoo, where we saw elephants, ducks, giraffes, and peacocks. It was fun because I got to see a few HLH survivors like me.

Our travel day yesterday was a very long day. We flew from Cincinnati to LA, and there was a 4-hour layover there. We got lunch, did some schoolwork, and then hopped on the plane to Hawaii (which I like to pronounce Ha-wee-wee). On the flight over I saw a volcano, but I am not sure if it was active or not. I also saw some volcanic rock near the airport, and I thought “uh-oh.” I was thinking maybe the volcano will erupt while we are here. We rode in a stretch limo to our hotel, and it was really cool!

Today we went snorkeling, and I saw giant green sea turtles. They were larger than I expected them to be, so I got a little scared at first and started swimming toward the shore. My mom had me come closer to them, and then I became less afraid of them. 

Getting ready for our big trip

Hi, my name is William Flaherty. I am 9 years old, and I live in Dorado Puerto Rico. We go to the beach every now and then. We have a pool at our house, and we go in it every day. I like playing Nerf, swords, and computer games. A year ago my dad told us to make a bucket list of places we want to go to. Some of the places that I listed were Stonehenge, Great Wall of China, and Paris France. My parents and my brother also listed places. We are home schooled, and it is very fun. We have a teacher and a classroom in our house. Our teacher's name is Miss Jenn. She is watching me as I type this.

Some of the places we are going to on our trip are China, Hawaii, New Zealand, and South Africa. I am most excited about China because I want to see the Great Wall since it was on my bucket list. We are getting ahead in school, so that we don't have to worry about getting behind as much when we are on the road. We are also getting our medicine for the trip, like malaria pills. We are writing this blog so we can share our experiences with our friends and family. If you have any questions about what we are doing, you can ask in the comments on this blog.

Hello, my name is Charles and I am 12 years old.  I will turn thirteen while we are in Botswana.  I like to go swimming in the pool at our house.  I also like to read, play with Nerf guns, and play on the X-box or computer.  We are going to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Vietnam, India, Dubai, South Africa, and on a Safari in Botswana.  I am most excited about Dubai because I want to see the different culture and the tallest building in the world.  I am worried about the shots that we might have to get for the diseases.  I do not know how William (Mr. Picky Eater) is going to fare with all the new food.  I think we will be seeing a lot of McDonalds and vending machines on the trip.  Another thing that I am worried about is that I might get blown to bits by the volcanoes in Hawaii. I also hope that a drilling company won't destroy our hotel in Dubai in their search for oil. Just kidding.