2012-1-9 Hilo, Hawaii

I am aware that I posted five copies of my last blog yesterday but at 40 cents a minute, I don't want to take time to correct it. Yesterday, we stayed onboard. The high point of the day was seeing whales breaching near the ship. 

We took a long tour of Hilo today. We saw a black sand beach, another gorgeous Japanese style park called Liliuokalani Gardens, an orchid store, a macadamia nut plantation and factory and the best of all was the active volcano at Kilauea. We saw the smoke rising from the caldera. At night, it glows. I walked through the longest volcano tube in the world. That was way cool.

The next picture is the black sand beach. 

These people were practicing water rescues using a dummy. 

This is a huge banyan tree.

We are looking at a statue of the king. 

Visiting an orchid grower. 

The volcano!

Bill warms his hands over lava rock. 

Entering the lava tube near Hilo. 

Walking out of the lava tube. 

Then we went to the WalMart and bought toothpaste and toothbrushes for the people in Fanning Island. We didn't have much time to get back to the ship so I bought the first thing that was on the list. We won't be there for several days. 

Just now, the captain announced that any passengers who feel ill should report to the infirmary to be evaluated as we are going to be way out there in the Pacific Ocean for the next week. 

We are set to eat dinner with John and Laurie, a great couple from Sun City, AZ.