A Study In Contrasts

On the Big Island, diversity is everywhere. It vacillates between boiling and freezing, barren and lush, ancient and cutting-edge. It’s a sightseeing extraganza, one which rewards the persistent with a fascinating tour de force.

- Lois Whitney

FIRE AND ICE 

At Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, rock melts into molten liquid as the contents of the earth’s core are pumped upward into plain view. Kilauea’s current eruption has been active since 1983, and Madame Pele, considered by Hawaiian practitioners to be the goddess of fire, has been busy. Red-hot rivers flow down the side of Kilauea to the edge of the sea, greeted by roiling waves. A hiss of smoke, and newly formed land hardens into rocky cliff ledges, still unstable shelves haphazardly erected over the Pacific. The water, stirred by heat and gases, is rocked by repeated implosions as underwater pillow lava explodes inwardly like a popped bubble gum bubble.

Night brings a profound appreciation for the intensity of color and heat accompanying the volcanic variety show. Up close, the fiery mass evokes an odd sense of reverence, as if one were in a church sanctuary. Visitors from around the globe gather in clusters, in awe of the raw, nascent earth.

Just a few scant miles away, a congregation of jacket-clad sightseers meditates quietly-- this time on the night sky. The top of Mauna Kea is one of the best star-viewing locations in the world, and the faithful often brace frigid temperatures-- and even snow and ice. Skiers and snowboarders take advantage of winter snowfall, while stargazers revel in the clear- albeit thinair surrounding the dormant shield volcano.

Considered by Hawaiians to be the most sacred place in the island chain, Mauna Kea was once restricted to visits by priests who understood the mana, or spiritual essence of the mountain.