Hawaii Day 5 – Circle of Fire

Tuesday afternoon was the highlight of the on shore events – the Circle of Fire helicopter ride. You spend 45 minutes in the air getting a view you will not see anywhere else on the planet I imagine.

The official guidelines said the helicopters fly at 500 feet above the ground. That’s a load of shit. Our pilot had us down to a few dozen feet at times- you could almost jump out if you were so minded – well apart from the fact it might be into lava!

This was an A+ experience. It does cost a lot, but something you will remember.

You fly over a huge amount of bush for several minutes getting over to the lava.

Then you start to see where the bush has met the lava previously. The lava won.

Some colour

I told you we got close to the ground.

The crater boiling away

Note the remains of the road. This whole area used to be inhabited.

This is the only house remaining and the owner Jack still lives there as he finished building it just a few months before the main eruption 25 years ago, and won’t move. He gets to and from his property by driving a motorcycle over the parts of the lava which have cooled. Hate to think how much sulphur he breathes in every day!

A close up of the lava taken when the helicopter tipped onto its side to allow some vertical shots. Again we were not far off the ground.

What happens when the lava hits the sea? Lots of steam.

A close up of the base of the steam.

And another shot showing how large the steam cloud is. You can also see under the water how the lava has spread out.

The chopper back at the airport.

As I said, it was magnificent getting the aerial view.

Also quite stunning was the view from that ship at around 10 pm that night as we sailed past where the lava hits the sea. You could see three or four red trails hitting the sea. The camera didn’t capture them well, but the view was superb as they so stood out against the night sky.