
I visited Hawaii Volcanoes National Park recently, with friends from the mainland, and towards the end of our visit we stopped by Thurston Lava Tube. These days the tube is known as Nāhuku, which means “the protuberances” in Hawaiian. There aren’t any protuberances in the tube these days, but it’s still fun to walk the dimly lit tube, imagining magma rushing through it, until the eruption stopped and the tube drained.


Lava tubes are rather special
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They’re such an interesting geological experience!
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I love a good lava tube, Graham.
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Me too. It’s a somewhat surreal experience walking through a place where magma once flowed.
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I completely agree. I kept trying to imagine the formation process so that I could explain it to others, then looking at the enormity of the tunnels and imagining the quantities. Volcanoes are long extinct in Australia, unlike your neck of the woods.
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The island is riddled with tubes and they can be dangerous. People wandering around off the trail can fall through thin ceilings and disappear!
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Ghastly! Sounds like the opal mines in Coober Pedy
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What’s the deal there?
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Loads of open mine shafts and people wandering around fall in. Some stay lost, as you’re looking out over a flat landscape.
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That sounds worse than lava tubes!
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It looks amazing but I’m not sure that I would cope, Graham. More photos, please?
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I don’t really have other photos of this tube, but a few years back I did a post about another tube in the park that is in pristine condition. You can see it at https://grahamsisland.com/2016/10/08/puapoo-lava-tube-tour/
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Thanks for showing me, Graham. I really couldn’t do this but I’m happy to look over your shoulder.
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I can get claustrophobic, but these tubes don’t bother me. Now there are some around that you wouldn’t get me in with a gun at my back!
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Every step with our old
pal that day was wonderful, Thanks
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It was great to visit with you again. I’m glad you had a good time and I hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay here. I never tire of visiting the park. There’s always something of interest down there.
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