Going through the lava tubes
Today was an almost free day for us as we only had to be at the venue for 3:30pm for the opening ceremony. Last night we made a list of where we want to go while we have the vehicle and an amazing driver (Paul Heath). We decided to set off at 8am. It’s about an hours drive to the Volcano National Park. The park head quarters opens at 9 so we were ahead of the crowds. A lovely lady in the visitors centre mapped out a route for us and advised us to go to the lava tube first as the carpark there gets filled up and really busy. What a thrill.
We walked around a few walks round the rim of the volcano and were absolutely awed by the size of it. And the first alcohol of the trip to celebrate.
One of the walks took us through an old lava field where there was a lot of regenerating vegetation. Some of the flowers took our fancy.
However, some are introduced. The orchid we all liked is a bamboo orchid introduced in the 1940’s from Japan.
Opening ceremony
After lunch in the Hotel which has a great view of the crater rim we came back down in time for the opening ceremony at the venue. We changed into our black dress uniforms and gathered in the humidity and heat. It was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
I caught up with my Hawaiian friend Emily who had prepared Ma’o hau hele (yellow hibiscus, the state flower) for Rubys crew. She even had the toothpicks through the centre so we could fix them to our hats (or behind my glasses).
Its never too early or too late to start paddling waka ama
We always welcome new members to the Maitahi Outrigger Canoe Club.
We have social and racing waka ama crews catering for a wide variety of ages and abilities.