Where in the World are Francis & Greg

As usual we started our day early and arrived at the park once again. We wanted to do a crater floor and see some of the steam vents. The weather up there in the morning can be a bit wet and it was today too. We decided to give a sun a chance to burn off the drizzle so we headed back down the mountain for about 5 miles to this orchids greenhouse. It was all that we thought it would be. Things were so cheap but as we all know bringing plant life back into Canada is almost impossible. This greenhouse grows everything disease free and it is certified and everything but still no good for Ag. Can. I have attached several pictures from this wonderful spot. There were so many plants and flowers that I took about 30 pictures. It was hard to just choose a few to add here.
After our little stop it was time to head back up to the park, since the weather had changed for the best.
We quickly started down the 400 foot winding pathway to the crater floor. This was truly a rain-forest with large tree ferns everywhere. It took us about 30 minutes to descend. You can see some of the pictures from the floor. Everything looked so space like, except for the odd plant. There are still several dozen spots that steam and gas are escaping from deep below. We were almost in the middle of this other world when the drizzle started and the wind picked up. Needless to say we began to get wet J The walk back up was pretty sheltered from the drizzle/rain. It is a rain-forest and we got to see it as it is, WET.
We got back to the car pretty much in the nick-of-time when the heavens opened up. We drove back down to Hilo and went to the famous Farmer’s Market. There was tons of food and items to buy. We enjoyed the samples too. We thought of our Thai friend Joey, since there were lots of Thai people and food. After the market we just went to a coffee shop and posted to the Blog.
On the way back to the area where we are staying we stopped in at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Factory. If you notice the picture you might notice that we can get some of their products at home. We took advantage of the MUCH cheaper prices here. We also did a self guided tour. However, it was almost closing time and the free samples were all put away. It is on our way tomorrow, so who knows J
At the last minute we decided to continue pass our house and go see the lava entering the ocean. You might notice pictures of the steam cloud in our last blog; well this was the other side of it. Which you can see is a lot closer. It was pretty amazing seeing it from this side. Here is where you really experience the power of this thing.
Enjoy the pictures.