Hawaii (The Big Island), Hawaii, 23 February 2015

After Oahu and the Surfing Photography Workshop, Jools and I flew to Hawaii (the Big Island) and stayed for four nights at Ma’ukele Lodge on the South-West Coast with Raven and Mark.  I don’t usually show where I stay but I took some images for Raven for her website and include them here.

You can see the sea from the front verandah and there used to be a black sand beach there but a volcanic eruption in 1990 replaced the beach with lava.

.

There are numerous little green geckos scuttling around the verandah railing at breakfast time.

.

Dining room/ Lounge.

.

Our bedroom.

.

Our bed.

.

Part of the outdoor bathroom.

.

View from the lava at the front.

.

Wandering around on the lava fields where the beach had been was a real surprise.  Coming from New Zealand and having visited Iceland, I’ve seen lots of lava but none like this.  It has cooled into a cracked skin with remarkable shapes and contours.  Other old lava I have seen has been very jagged.  It may be that this is very recent and hasn’t had time to erode; it may also be a measure of how slow the flow was and how smooth the skin initially.

.

.

.

.

.

.

There are also some interesting colours and patterns of minerals separated out from the cooling lava.

.

.

It was late afternoon and the low angled light helped give definition to the shapes.

.

.

Plants can be surprisingly resilient.  Wherever there is an opportunity….

.

.

.

.

.

The coast, looking to the south west, in the fading light.

.