Hawai'i - Big Island Part Two

Our second day in Hawai'i was a little more relaxed than our whirlwind first day. After another early rise (jet lag is fun) we drove to a few beaches on the southern tip of the island and finished the day at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. First up was the black sand beach, Punalu'u.

Here's a cat that lived near our cottage. Paul named him Mortimer and David looked for him every day.

National Park Sign. Check!

Black sand beach made of lava rock. You wanna visit these early...before they are like burning charcoals.

After reading this sign, all David could think about doing if he saw a turtle was riding it.

Cute pond across from the black sand beach.

Beautiful flowers near black sand beach

Lots of great vistas on the south shore of the Big Island

After the black sand beach, we drove further Southwest to see the green sand beach. This beach is a bit off the beaten path and requires either a dusty 2 mile (each way) hike or chartering a 4WD vehicle from the entrance. We opted for the later to save time and effort (hey it's hot and the terrain is rough down here). We were a little concerned they oversold the need for a 4WD, but these were the worst roads we've ever seen... like a crazy theme park ride. Steep dirt rutted roads with huge boulders. The beach itself sits in a little bay that you have to climb down to from above. The green coloration is due to a higher concentration of the mineral olivine. It doesn't show up very well in the photos, but when you hold it in your hand it's very impressive!

The green sand beach (Papakolea) is located right next to the southernmost point in the United States, Ka Lae (southpoint). We walked around and got some great views of the ocean battering the coastline. There was a surf advisory in place our entire visit to the Big Island and the seas were rough, but really cool to watch!

Behold! The green sand beach! Sometimes the waves completely covered the beach. The rocky cove setting was really neat. 

Green olivine crystals

David wore the right shirt for the beach

Not an overstatement! The ride was $15/person round trip so a pretty good deal.

Waves crashing at South Point, the southernmost point in the 50 United States

Tide pools and inlets abound. We saw some colorful fish and lots of crabs.

Rough seas this week in Hawai'i

After lunch at the southernmost restaurant we visited the southernmost bakery...I see a pattern here.

After lunch we drove back towards the national park to go on a hike and check out some of the volcanic features. We saw some steam vents spewing a sulfur/carbon dioxide mix and took a hike along the rim of the outer crater. Every once in a while you'd walk into a steam vent and get a rude little 100*F blast of stinky air.  Fun!

Walking around we saw lots of interesting plants and birds. Unfortunately, we had little sense for what was endemic and what was invasive. So many plants and animals in Hawai'i have been brought here by people since European/Western contact. For example, the Big Island is now home to coqui frogs, a loud little critter we recall from Puerto Rico. They were brought here by mistake very recently, in 1988. After our hike, we went out to the Thurston Lava Tube. This lava tube has a bigger diameter than the Kaumana Cave, but wasn't as interesting overall.

The avid outdoorsman heeds all warnings and cautions

Lots of colorful flora in the national park

A fiddlehead fern

Another weird plant. Not sure what this one is.

Stay away from steaming cracks

Bright yellow sulfur deposits at the steam vents

Yet another colorful flower

There were a lot of random steam vents along the trail

The biggest vent of them all, in the Kilauea caldera

This time it's *multiple* colorful flowers

In the Thurston lava tube

Of course Paul tried a few Hawaiian beers at the end of the day

On our last full day on the Big Island, we woke up early and spent some more time in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. We drove the 19-mile-long Chain of Craters Road until its abrupt end at a lava flow from the 1980s. It was really cool to see multiple flows from various decades (and centuries) cutting across the landscape as we drove our way 4,000ft down to the sea.

Near the end of the road, we went on a short (but hot) hike to see some petroglyphs carved by native Hawaiians. There are around 16,000 carvings here. Most of them represented families and new children. Others represented scenes from daily life, animals, etc. Very cool!

Look closely and you'll see two people hiking across the lava flows on the Kilauea Iki trail

We also drove the 8-mile long Hilina Pali Road. It's only one lane wide and curves across various lava flows. We only saw three other cars the whole drive out and back.

The overlook at the end of the Hilina Pali drive

Back on Chain of Craters Road, we stopped at the "Devil's Throat" crater. It's unmarked, but listed in one of our guidebooks. Squint and you can see David jumping on the other side!

David on some old lava

The dark black area isn't a shadow - it's a relatively recent lava flow

Lava close-up

A turtle petroglyph

There are over 16,000 petroglyphs in the area. We hiked out to an area with a lot of them.

At the end of the road sits the 80-ft tall Holei sea arch. Here it is without a wave...

...and here it is with a wave! The surf was huge.

You walk the last 1/2 mile on the road - and here's why. A lava flow that started in 1986 (with more flows as recently as 2013) completely blocks the road for several miles.

It's a really surreal sight

I guess it's time to turn around and head back up the road!

After leaving the park and grabbing a quick lunch, we drove to the eastern part of the Big Island - an area called Puna. It's known for a bohemian vibe and a smattering of beaches. The current lava flow has encroached upon a subdivision in Puna, and is threatening to cover the main road into the area.

Kapoho tide pools - we walked/swam around these for a while and saw some coral and fish

David making some fish friends in the tide pools

A beautiful rocky beach in the evening

We really enjoyed our time on the Big Island. It has such a diverse set of attractions - active lava, stunning beaches, huge mountains, historic and cultural sites, and some pretty great weather. Our next stop is Kauai, the garden island. We'll be staying in Hanalei Bay on the north shore.