Back to the Volcano! 🌋

With the eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano last November, and the Kilauea volcano erupting in January, we felt our chances were good to finally be able to see some hot volcanic action, after our first two attempts were unsuccessful. Was our third time a charm? Stay tuned…!

On this drive to Volcanoes National Park, we decided to first stop at The End of the World. Thankfully, it wasn’t the end of the world for us, but unfortunately, this was the end of the world for hundreds of Hawaiians during a battle over tradition and principles.

End of the World

After King Kamehamea I died, his wife and son broke the strict ancient social order (kapu) which had previously ruled Hawaii by eating together. The King’s nephew demanded that the King’s son restore this social order, which he refused, and this resulted in traditionalists and supporters of the regent clashing at this spot in the Battle of Kuamo’o. This battle was one of the last battles of Hawaii and is known as “The Place Where the Hawaiian Gods Died”. The nephew and his wife were killed on this spot along with more than 300 warriors, and their graves are marked by stone cairn terraces built out of lava rocks that lie across the hillside. The ancient Hawaiian kapu system and religious structure came to an end even before the Christian missionaries arrived in March, 1820.

End of the World

The End of the World is a popular spot for cliff divers. However, watching the powerful waves batter against the rocks, we imagine this might be a place where cliff divers might experience the end of the world for themselves! For that reason, we think it’s better suited as a place for appreciating the mighty force of the sea and giving respect to these sacred grounds.

End of the World

As per tradition, no drive to the volcano would be official without a stop at the famous Punalu’u Bakery in the little town of Naalehu. This is the southernmost bakery in the US, and they are known for their mouthwatering malasadas. Our group’s consensus is that these are the best malasadas we’ve had anywhere!

We made it to the park at dusk and checked out a new viewing spot we hadn’t been to before. It wasn’t too crowded, and the clouds had parted enough for us to see lots of steam vents from Kilauea. We got excited in anticipation for seeing it after dark and hoping we could see some of the lava lake that had formed since our last visit the year before. After having dinner at our rental home, we came back to the same viewing area, and unfortunately the cloud cover was so thick that we couldn’t see anything more than the glow from the lava lake, which was still pretty neat to see, but not what we had hoped for.

Kilauea at dusk

Kilauea after dark

So, that was obviously a bummer for us, and we’re now convinced that we’re the reason for the volcano not performing every time we’ve visited it! It’s a good reminder, though, when visiting natural places like this or going to see phenomena such as the Northern Lights, to hope for the best but to also have realistic expectations. Will we take our chances again in the future? We’re not sure. But, on the bright side, the drive out to Volcanoes National Park is a beautiful one, and our visit to the Botanical Gardens the next day definitely took the sting out of our disappointment. Pictures of the gardens, coming up next!