Hawaii. Big Island road trip and Kilauea eruption.

All right, let's do a quick recap. This is me, Anton, and back in December 2020, I landed on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and I crossed it back and forth a bunch of times. Basically, everything that your soul needs is here. The ocean, waves, surfing, volcanoes, whales, amazing hiking trails, and a lot more. To summarize my thoughts on Oahu, it's kind of like a sample of Hawaii as a whole. Thing is though, Hawaii is much more than that. It includes seven inhabited islands, and it took me a while to decide on where to go next. There's the mind-blowing island of Kauai. Nice, right? Unfortunately, it is completely shut down for visitors at the moment. There's another interesting island called Niihau, but we won't be able to see it regardless of the COVID situation because it never opens for visitors, even without COVID. I can't even really show Niihau to you because videos of it are super hard to find, even on the web. It's unofficially called the Forbidden Island. Getting there is practically impossible. There are no shops there, no roads, no cars, and not even cell phone connection. Still, it's inhabited by approximately 200 people. Nearly all the residents are indigenous Hawaiians, and they practically never communicate with the outside world. Yeah, quite unbelievable, but such things still exist in the modern day U.S. I would have loved to see it, but getting there is virtually impossible. So, although my options are dwindling down, I finally made up my mind. You won't believe it, but I had to pass another COVID test to get here. Fortunately, it was the fastest and most painless COVID test ever. Oh, and guess how much I paid for it. $50? $100? Nope. $314.14. Back in the day, this money could have taken you to Turkey for a week. Well, this quickly became the most expensive solo trip I had ever done. And then I decided to raise the bar even further. I know. This car seems to be too cool for me. But it's not me trying to be macho. Just something I might need along the trip. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Big Island. As you may have guessed, this is the biggest island of the Hawaiian archipelago, and it's the newest one too. I promise we'll visit it through and through. But first, it's time for a little break. I've rented a guest room in a small town called Hilo, located on the east of the island. So this is kind of funny. I just moved in, and the owner asked me whether I felt the earthquake. And I was like, what earthquake? She said it was at 3.6 magnitude and that the windows were shaking like crazy. Apparently, it's part of the norm on the Big Island. And back in 2018, it happened every single day. In 2018, Kilauea, the most active volcano on Earth, had its final eruption. Prior to 2018, it had been active nonstop for 35 years. Now, it's dormant, with a lake right in the middle of its crater. Despite the earthquake being a bit of a surprise, the guest house owner, Diana, assured me that there was nothing to worry about, and that these things just happen sometimes. It's nothing major, and I don't get scared anymore just because we feel so much. 2018, we were having tremors every day. Just about. And it could be many times a day. Can you get used to it? You do, because it's like, okay, there's a little one. I mean, unless the house is shaking, it's not a big thing anymore. I was standing out here once in the garden, and I can't even move, because it felt like there's a wave coming over the ground. But Kilauea is in a safe zone. It is. But the volcanic eruption was triggering all this activity up from Kilauea, which is 30 miles away. So it's really not that far when you think about it. Alrighty. Enough volcanoes for now. Let me give you some more details about my guest house, as it had quite an interesting bunch of visitors at the time of my stay. My roommate traveled all the way from Alaska to get a little vitamin D and put his health back on track. Hi from Alaska. Pretty wise move, if you ask me. The big island blooms with different kinds of fruits all year round. It all happens right in your own backyard. So that's how most of my mornings began here. Oranges, papayas, bananas, and some other unidentified fruits that were super tasty. Imagine visiting your grandma and she tells you, hey, go go out and get a fresh papaya from the back garden. That's life on the big island for you. The only downside here is the high humidity caused by the wind pushing the clouds in from the ocean. Consequently, it rains pretty much nonstop here. And my only option was to get out of Hilo. By the way, there are even more rainbows here than on Oahu. This place is perfect if you decide to come here in wintertime. There are over 10 climatic zones. Because of this, it can be raining on one side of the island and the other side is guaranteed to be sunny. Let's talk about the actual island for a minute. It is formed from five different volcanoes. Simply put, it's pretty much one massive rock that sticks out of the ocean. For this reason, all roads tend to go downhill towards the ocean, which always makes for a beautiful drive. One interesting fact is that billboards are banned in Hawaii, which adds to the beauty of the road you're traveling on. Since there's nothing to restrict the view. I managed to find several roads that passed right through the local jungles, which made it feel like I was driving through a greenhouse. All the lush greenery is due to the heavy rainfall, which can reach three meters a year. Oh, and there are waterfalls too. But the real highlight of the island are the black sand beaches. Like Punalu'u Beach. This place is globally renowned for its black sand beaches. Like Vik Beach that we saw in Iceland. The only difference is that unlike Iceland's cold waters, where at times, even the wetsuit doesn't help, this place is made for swimming. The sand that fills these beaches is made up of minerals and lava fragments. And because of its black color, it gets really hot in the sun. And the local residents take advantage of it. The Hawaiian green turtles bathe in the sun, surrounded by butterflies. You can actually swim alongside them here in Hawaii. Although maybe not at this beach, because these guys just drift their days away. Just like me with my life. The Waipioa Valley has to be one of the most beautiful places on the southern part of the island. But getting there isn't easy. Located between the mountains, getting there requires that you drive down an old and very steep road, with an average decline of 25%. Because of this, the road only permits off-road vehicles, meaning all other types of cars are strictly banned. And that's the reason I ended up with a Jeep. And I guess we should just go for it. But I gotta say, I'm a little stressed out. You can walk down to the valley, but that's just not our style. Oh, and you're about to witness the magic of film. Because this super steep decline probably looks like nothing to you, but in reality, it is really sketchy. The average slope is the conventional 25 degrees, but sometimes the road is at a 45 degree angle, leaving you hanging by your seatbelt. Add to that how narrow this trail is, and navigating your way down against oncoming traffic makes for quite an adventure. This is the steepest road in the US, and some parts of it are even more steep than Bouldin Street in New Zealand, which is considered by many to be the steepest street in the world. The final part of the trail drops you 250 meters in less than one kilometer. It becomes apparent why this road is reserved for SUVs. All that being said, it's still definitely worth it. Welcome to the Waipioa Valley. Surrounded by 600 meter tall rocks, it is home to the highest waterfall on Hawaii, the Hialawe Falls. The water drops 300 meters. According to Hawaiian history, the Waipioa Valley is a sacred place, and at one point in time, served as home to thousands of indigenous Hawaiians who cultivated plants called taro in the valley. These days, there are only 100 residents here, but the taro fields remain unchanged. I jumped back in the car and returned to home base back in Hilo, and since it was still raining, I decided to move to another part of the island. Just like on Oahu, you can expect ever-changing weather patterns. First, it's a drive through the rain, then fog, and finally, the clouds break and the sun shines through. All within 30 minutes. The road that leads to the other side runs between the two highest volcanoes on the island. It's at a high elevation and is generally very windy, so it's best if we make our way back down to the ocean. 40 minutes later, we were on the western side of the island. This region is almost always sunny, and I think now is the perfect time to shed some weight on the car. Well, now it kind of looks like my smart car convertible. Kona is the main city in this part of the island, and although I had big plans, it turned out it was all for nothing. The scenery left a little to be desired, with nothing around but lava and a couple of beaches that, surprisingly, held more conventionally colored sand. Nevertheless, I still managed to find some interesting things, like the coffee. I had no idea that there is coffee production happening in the U.S., albeit we're far from the mainland, but it's still technically the U.S. Yep, thanks to its unique climate, Hawaii turns out to be highly suitable for coffee growth. See that huge mountain on the horizon? It's also a volcano, and it has a name that makes it sound like you're singing a song every time you pronounce it. It's the Hualalai Volcano. See how sunny the beach is in Kona while the volcano is covered in rain? This juxtaposition creates a highly humid climate around the volcano, and it's perfect for coffee cultivation. The locals whip up their very own organic brew. The other interesting fact about Kona is that it is home to the most renowned triathlon competition in the world, the Ironman. For those of you who have never heard of the Ironman, it's a race that includes nearly 4 kilometers of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling, and 42 kilometers of running. And what's mind-boggling is that you have to do all that in one single day. The Ironman is considered to be the toughest one-day contest in the world, and naturally, it has its own cult following. If you're like me, you probably have a friend who is into triathlons, so you might have a rough idea that these folks are not normal human beings. Many of these athletes are absolutely obsessed with the sport, and there's even a saying that goes something like, a triathlete in a family is the grief of a family, in a good way, of course. When the time of year for the Ironman comes around, expect these streets to be filled with huge crowds of supporters and teams, which creates an incredible vibe and energy. Unfortunately, I've only heard of it, but never had the chance to see it with my own eyes, and sadly, the 2020 Ironman was cancelled due to COVID. This then completes our visit to Kona. There's simply not much else to see here, and just like what happened to me on the island of Oahu, I unexpectedly ran into a couple of friends. By the way, a fairly large Russian-speaking community exists on the big island. I was really curious as to why there was such a large Russian-speaking community, so I headed out to see Ivan, who lives just outside of Kona. He's built a large house here, which accommodates an equally large family, his wife and five children. — This is a plot of land? — A plot of land, yes. — $300,000? — Our plot is the same, so we bought it for $300,000. If you go to Ocean View, the same plot of land as mine will cost $15,000. — Seriously? — Yes. The prices have already gone up. You could have bought it for $5,000. — Why is it so cheap? — Because there's nothing there. It's just a piece of lava. Another major reason why it's so cheap — Lava zone. Keep that term in mind. We'll be coming back to it pretty soon. The next morning, I headed towards Ocean View to see it with my own eyes. Yes, it does have ocean views, but that's where the good news ends. Houses in the area are built right on top of lava that came down from the Mauna Loa volcano. And despite the potential risk, locals still build homes here, hoping that the eruptions are finished. And I've got to say, they're lucky for now. Although not every part of the island has this same fortune. Let me show you a specific district so you can see what I mean. It's called Leilani Estate. At first glance, it looks like a typical Hawaiian district. But in reality, it's far from normal. Today, it resembles hell in some places. And most roads lead to dead ends, with no trespassing. From a distance, it looks like hills. But as you get closer, you discover it's not. It's craters, or volcanic cracks, formed as a result of the Kilauea volcanic eruption back in 2018. All of these cone-shaped formations were raised from the ground right in the middle of the Leilani Estates. The rest of the district got destroyed by lava. Despite the fact that the eruption took place quite some time ago, the ground is still hot, as evidenced by the steam that still finds its way through the cracks in the earth. And now, to the most interesting part. Leilani Estates remains home to a number of families. You can even buy land here. Oh, and just so you get an idea of what it's like to live here, imagine having a personal volcano right in your backyard. A volcano that can erupt any minute. This is life at Leilani Estates. Before we leave here, here are some shots of the 2018 eruption. This footage is filmed by Brian Lowry at the end of May in 2018. It captures the moments when roughly 20 cracks formed in the Leilani Estates district and filled the surrounding areas with lava. The largest crack, number eight, located on Luana Street, shot lava 100 meters up in the air and then pushed this melted mass down towards the ocean. The lava moved at an average speed of 74 meters an hour, burning roads, trees, houses, and everything else that stood in its way. At the height of the catastrophe, the district was hit by 400 earthquakes in just 24 hours, wiping out most of it from the face of the earth. Over 200 houses were destroyed, but luckily no one was hurt. I met up with Alex during my time on the island. He is one of those people who lost his home during the event. He would drive down this road every day, but now it dead ends into nothing but a huge dark mountain. It's Alex's first visit to where their house used to be. And still, he struggles to find the exact spot of where it was, given how drastically the landscape has changed. Lava zone. The nature in the area is an absolute work of art if you try to look past the damage that the now dried up lava has caused. And the ocean is just a seven minute drive from here. We were in the process of construction, and we had a big hall, a kitchen, a toilet, and a big canopy, and we were also building, buying materials, climbing for a long time. We left for Kona at this time, and when we were in Kona, we had a university, and when we went there to rest, we saw on the news that lava had started here. And when we realized that we had to come back, we had to take some things. And when we came back, we were let go to take things a couple more times. And then, in one of these times, the police and all these services drove us out of there, because a crack started on the road. Cracks started to grow more and more. Lava flowed in another place, and it didn't flow around us yet. And when these things started, well, cracks started to grow, they evacuated us and didn't let us come back and take anything. And you didn't see your house anymore? And I didn't see it anymore. It was on the 18th. We found out that the house had already collapsed. It was hard for me to tell my wife, because she still had some hope Alex and Vera bought a new house. It's also located in the potential lava zone. Afterwards, Alex took me to the beach where he and his family love to spend time. Unfortunately, it was a shell of what it used to look like before the disaster in 2018. We can actually see what this beach used to look like on Google Maps, because this area hasn't been updated yet. There even used to be a little bay where you could lower your boat into the water. And this is what it looks like today. Kilauea eruption that took place in 2018 has completely changed the landscape of the island. It has become virtually impossible to calculate the size of the island as it continually expands. In fact, it is the only U.S. state that is growing in size. All because of the eruptions that already happened and those that are still to come. And as long as the volcanoes remain active, the big island will continue to experience new rock and beach formations. And its inhabitants will keep on adapting to find livable spaces. Oh, and guess what? Turns out that my volcano story wasn't quite finished. On the morning of December 21st, 2020, I was in my bed scrolling through news stories, and then I see this. I was super tired yesterday and was like dead asleep at 10 p.m., which is when the earthquake hit with a magnitude of four. Apparently the volcano is erupting as we speak. It seems like the locals are all pretty chill about it, but I am freaking shocked. I can't believe that we'll be able to see it. Let's hurry up and get over there. This is what I saw when I was driving up to it. A huge cloud visible from miles away. The volcano is called Kilauea, and it's kind of a local celebrity given how much damage it has caused. Even so, as of 2018, it showed no signs of activity, and so I was expecting to report to you guys that there was no action or lava flowing from it. Then, overnight eruption of the Kilauea volcano. The Kilauea volcano erupted. Lava has returned to Hawaii Island for the first time since 2018. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea whether I'll be able to even enter the national park since it will probably get closed down, but I've got to check anyway, and you all will witness the story as it unfolds, just like on NBC. To my surprise, the park was open, and I was one of the first people who got there that morning. By then, volcanic gases started to cover the sky over the parking lot, and this is what I saw near the crater. Hi, this is Anton Tushkin, and we are broadcasting from Ground Zero. I missed most of the event as the main eruption took place at night. There was water in the crater, and it mixed with the lava, which led to an explosion that looked something like this. When I got there, the lookout was filled with the local journalists. It's where I met Brian Lowery, a professional photographer who has recorded every Kilauea eruption since 1991. Brian posts his pictures on lavapix.com, where you can not only catch up on the history of local eruptions captured in over a thousand photos, but also buy the images you like. And this was a big surprise to everybody, this new eruption. You know, we weren't expecting it. So I'm trying to feel it out and see how long it's going to last or if it's just going to die out in a couple of days, but so far it seems to be going pretty good. But you haven't seen the eruption? No, nobody's seen the spattering or anything because the hole was too deep. The crater was 1,500 feet deep, roughly. But what we should expect, I mean, for... Nobody knows yet. Because they originally expected, because there had been a water lake down there, that when this happened, there was going to be a huge explosion, but there wasn't. So we should stay here for a couple of more days, I think. Oh, yeah. To say that Kilauea's crater is large would be an understatement, and its caldera is even bigger. It reaches two and a half miles in some places, which is equivalent to roughly four kilometers. This place is known for its frequent eruptions. Kilauea is a shield volcano and differs visually from the cinder cone volcanoes we're used to, like the infamous Fuego volcano in Guatemala. Fuego erupts a couple of times per day, spitting lava and volcanic bombs. Shield volcanoes, on the other hand, do not put on quite as much of a show, but they do have their own unique traits. For example, you can actually look into their craters. This is what the Kilauea crater looked like a couple of days after the eruption. That huge black mass at the bottom of it is the lava lake, over 100 meters deep. It continues to fill up from the two cracks in the crater, and by February 2021, will become 216 meters deep with no sign of stopping. Everyone here says I am super lucky to be here at the time of the eruption, but then again, my initial plan was to show you the national park, since it explains how Hawaii showed up on the map in the first place. If you don't mind, let me take you through it. The Big Island is the second largest volcanic island in the world. The first is Iceland. You can see it in the top right corner of the image. Volcanic islands come from volcanoes, and volcanoes emerge at the convergence of shifting tectonic plates. What you see now is the Pacific Ring of Fire, home to 328 out of 540 active volcanoes on Earth. Hawaii is located a good distance from it. How did it become a volcanic archipelago? Hawaii sits right on top of a so-called Hawaii Hotspot. In layman terms, it's a huge mass of lava that rises to the surface of the Earth, a furnace that has produced the Hawaiian Islands. It works just like a lava lamp. The magma rises from the core to the outer crust, burns holes in it, and creates volcanoes. This is our hotspot, and here is the Pacific Plate. The hotspot doesn't move. Rather, it's the plate that moves. This is how islands are formed. If we look on the map, we can actually see how the Hawaiian Hotspot burned and created the islands on the lithospheric plate. The islands come in a row, one after another, and the last one here is the Big Island, also the youngest island of the bunch. The process of its formation is happening before our very eyes, as the construction materials that will shape the island even more rise from down below to the top of the Kilauea Crater. Despite being considered harmful, volcanoes play a very important geological role. Anyways, let's get back to the viewpoint. Nothing is really happening at the moment, apart from incoming crowds of tourists, and I think it'll be better if we come back in the evening. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Kilauea Volcano Late Night Show. This place becomes spectacular at sunset. The lava lake lights up the smoke that comes from the crater, making it look like an entrance to the underworld. Our viewpoint quickly became packed with tourists, and everyone rushed to take pictures with the star of the show. Despite being a safe distance away, it still looks so menacing. I can only imagine what it must have looked like at the time of the actual eruption. I decided to go for a little hike to find a better spot, and hats off to the local rangers who arranged additional parking in order to accommodate the throngs of tourists. A really cool thing, though, is the night sky. You don't even need a light to see where you're going because the glow from the lava lights up the sky and just the general surrounding area. As long as the hotspot that feeds these volcanoes exists, the islands will continue to expand. As the Pacific Plate moves, the islands will move with it, allowing the volcanoes to cool off and eventually sink into the ocean under their own weight. The islands will also disappear, along with the volcanoes, but we still have around 10 million years to enjoy them. Hopefully, that's enough time for you to come and visit. All right, to finish off the big island story, there is only one more thing left to see, and that's the sunset. I found the perfect spot. Originally, this was my main reason for coming to the island. We'll need some warm clothes, a 4x4, and lots of oxygen. Let's go. All right, time to fill you in a bit. Our destination is the peak you see on the horizon. It's not only the tallest peak on Hawaii, but also the highest mountain on the planet if you measure from the bed of the ocean. It's called Mauna Kea, and as you may have guessed, it's also a shield volcano. Mauna Kea is also home to one of the most renowned space observatories in the world, located over four kilometers above sea level. To get there, we have to make a pit stop. The mountain is so high that we have to stop and acclimate ourselves at an altitude of 2,800 meters. Everyone who journeys to the top has to do this, including the scientists who work at the observatory. I decided not to wait the whole hour, like the rules suggested, and took off within the first 10 minutes, which I later came to regret. This place is no joke. You have to give all your contact details to the ranger before you enter because the space on the mountain is so limited, which is why I'm here so early. Another requirement is that off-road vehicles are the only type of vehicle allowed in, but as you know, we've got that covered. Now then, let's cut to the chase, the hill climb. This road is so high up that all the clouds and even your worries are left somewhere down below. Making it feel like you're overcoming your own personal battle. Words can't describe how beautiful this place is. It's pretty cool how you can come up to 4,200 meters in a matter of hours. The only problem is that the temperature in Hilo is 27 and only 6 on Mauna Kea. So let's put on some clothes and explore this place. Welcome to Mauna Kea, home to a cognominal observatory and to 13 telescopes that belong to 11 different countries. These telescopes weren't installed here by accident. First off, Mauna Kea is known for its consistently favorable weather conditions. We are really high up and the clouds do not obstruct the view. Secondly, being so far from civilization makes the air extremely clean. Thirdly, the lack of light pollution helps with visibility, which is something I told you about in Australia. And last but not least, there's very low humidity up here, which aids to the so-called astronomical seeing, complemented by a lack of turbulence. In other words, this is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation and also just a very beautiful place. As you know, mountains, wherever they are, are often considered to be sacred by the locals. So that is why every new construction project on the mountain is often accompanied by revolt. It's the same thing that goes for the recently announced telescope, TMT. It is a 33-meter telescope and it's the largest in the world. This is something that the locals don't take lightly. They set up tents, put up billboards, and even got support from Jason Momoa, who is also Hawaiian. Anyways, for now, the construction is on hold, although I'm not quite sure if it's because of the locals or the lack of funding. The funding question is an issue when building telescopes like this, as they require a lot of cash and continuous upkeep. These highly technological machines boast mirrors with diameters from one meter to 25 meters. They require constant cooling to very low temperatures, which makes the annual upkeep costs of a single telescope in the tens of millions of dollars. Mauna Kea telescopes look extremely futuristic and some of them are quite famous in their own right, like the Keck telescopes, which were once the largest telescopes in the world, until they were overtaken by another massive telescope on the Canary Islands. It's very unlikely that we will see a significant benefit from the investments that were poured into this observatory, but perhaps the information we learn will one day save the lives of future generations. I'm starting to feel the oxygen deprivation and I'm even finding it hard to talk. Still, I'm ecstatic that I finally managed to visit this place. I dreamt of it for over 10 years, ever since I watched sci-fi movies that took place at the Keck Observatory. Now, this is the moment I've been waiting for, in particular, the sunset over Mauna Kea in the night sky. I think it's time to head back because I'm starting to feel really cold and super dizzy because of the altitude. Also, it turns out, tourists are not allowed to stay here overnight because it adds to the light pollution, but it's all good. There's another spot on the way back and it's where we'll do our obligatory stargazing. Sorry for mumbling, but the lack of oxygen really started to kick in at a certain point and it was only when we got down a ways that I started to feel better. I've set my camera and all we do now is wait and it just so happens that with space photography, the wait is usually very long. I had to wait for two hours to capture these short clips and the results weren't exactly perfect. First, the conditions weren't great and secondly, just like Kostya mentioned, I got a little woozy, but I still managed to film something incredibly special. See that red spot on the left? It's the Kilauea volcano lighting up the night sky with its bright lava reflected from the clouds. The whole space photography thing turned out to be quite the fail. The moon is shining so bright. There are cars all over the place and it's a little chillier than I expected. So, let's see what some other photographers have captured. I didn't get to see the most beautiful night sky I'd ever seen over my own Ikea that night, but the sunset was one of the best ones I'd ever seen. Before I express my final thoughts on Hawaii, I have a quick announcement to make. I finally have my own merch and if you'd like to know what this word stands for, just drop down to the link below. Now, to Hawaii. I don't really have a whole lot more to add since you have seen everything with your own eyes, but I will say that whenever you get a chance, you have to come and visit because this is one very unique place. I did have an interesting thought though while I was exploring these islands and it may seem strange to you given the whole lockdown situation, but I couldn't help but think how easy it has become to travel. I was reading about the history of Hawaii before coming here and I just started really thinking about how much has changed over the course of human history. Just a hundred years ago, people had to spend a couple of months on a ship to get to Hawaii and God only knows what could have happened to you on that ship during your journey. Today though, it takes a day, a day and a half max to reach these very distant islands. Compared to how it used to be, we're here in the snap of our fingers. We're surrounded by hotels and GPS. Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Try to see the big picture. Traveling has never been as easy as it is now. Despite the pandemic and the craziness. So please, travel. Because it's still worth it.