Hawaii, which I’ll refer to as Big Island to avoid confusion, is the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands and the only one that is volcanically active. Kilauea, though small compared to the other volcanoes, is the most active of the five that together form Big Island. It put on quite the show for us while we were there. The lava was so turbulent, it sloshed around, bubbled, splashed, if it wasn’t for the bright orange colour, I’d say it was behaving more like water than lava. It was so cool. I was mesmerised.

The Napau Crater Trail was a two day hike. The volcanic desert that lay before us was a vast expanse, rich with striking rock formations. The shapes, features and contours of the landscape varied dramatically; whorls, spirals, obelisks, too many forms to count, or name. Sparsely dotted desert shrubs added flourishes of colour (red, green, white), to the grey-brown tones of the surrounding area. In shaping the outward appearance of this environment, from formless magma deep within the Earth to the sharply defined structures that I could see in front of me, nature drew on a pool of infinite possibility. Here, on this ancient lava field, the realisation of nature’s geological processes seemed no less varied than the boundless potential that seeded them.

When Jill and I got our camping permit in the morning, the park ranger told us that we’d be the only ones out there. There wouldn’t be anyone else around for miles and miles. It was a little unnerving knowing this, especially when it rained at night, when we wouldn’t have been able to hear someone approaching our tent. Jill kept saying that we were going to get murdered by crazy people living out in the forest and repeatedly insisted that I sleep with my camping knife within arm’s reach.

Apart from a little mouse (possibly a rat), that kept trying to climb up onto our tent, we didn’t have any trouble. Jill was quite vigorous each time she shook him off though.

Chain of Craters Road was an absolutely stunning drive, reminiscent of both New Zealand and Mongolia (my two favourite countries outside the U.K.); verdant mountains, volcanic lava fields, unique vegetation and expansive views of the Pacific Ocean. Such a vast range of environments being represented while driving down a single, relatively short road was a rare gift. We stopped by the side of the road at several points to fully absorb the immense beauty of our surroundings.

Thurston Lava Tube.

Jill and I cycled 8 miles to Big Island’s “Lava Viewing Point”. This was where Kilauea’s hot, flowing lava could be seen entering the cold, unforgiving ocean. The lava was only about half a mile away but it was largely obscured from view by the immense plumes of smoke it generated upon contact with the water. The appearance of those billowing clouds rising from the ocean changed dramatically as daylight faded. We caught glimpses of the lava itself, much more frequently. We even saw chunks of smouldering rock (freshly cooled lava), being thrown from the smoke into the sea. The rocks sizzled like a frying pan does when you throw water on it. After sunset, the now orange smoke was hypnotic. Every now and then, the lava would flare up, piercing the clouds of smoke to dramatic effect as the calm dance of reds and oranges became momentarily violent.

Big Island’s black sand beach (Punalu’u Beach), is known for the hawksbill turtles that frequently visit. Before we’d even started to look for them, we saw five just chilling on the beach. There were many more in the water. Jill and I hadn’t planned to snorkel here but the fact that we had our masks and snorkels in the car meant that we could if we wanted to. We realised quickly that we didn’t want to miss this.

The turtles in the water were massive and didn’t seem to mind us being there at all. They swam right by me several times. Apart from the turtles and the fish, Jill and I were the only ones there.

A curious pod of dolphins swam alongside our small boat when Jill and I were on our way to a scuba dive.

The tiny 8-seat aircraft that took us from Big Island to Maui was so small that the co-pilot doubled as cabin crew and gave us the safety briefing. I could see the cockpit during the entire flight and our seat belts went over the shoulder, just like in a car. The views during that short, 45 minute flight were amazing.