Aloha & Mahalo continues....

As we were on our way to GREEN SAND BEACH, we stopped in a market to grab something to eat. Me, second guessing myself, asked the clerk if GREEN SAND BEACH was in the same area as South Point. She said oh yea you're headed in the right direction but it's about 20 minutes past the South Point exit. So we were not going to be heading in the right direction, good thing we asked, or so we assumed. She told us once we past a certain point you'll see the name of the beach - can't recall what it was. But when we got there guess what we saw. BLACK BEACH! WTH, not once did I say Black Beach when talking to the clerk. LOL oh well it was nice we got to see a black beach. We headed back to the correct destination which was exactly where I knew it was going to be.








South Point is super super super windy. Can't stress that enough. But I think the look of the shrubs below can give you an idea of just how windy it is. Tree's look the same way, well what tree's you can find.





We had to hike 3 miles to reach Green Sand Beach and the hike was in those very windy conditions, surprised we didn't get back looking a little slanted from the wind ourselves. But we were covered in that orange looking dirt here in this pic.



AHHH and here is our destination. That is me taking it in and thinking...wow not what I thought it was going to be. Where is the GREEN SAND! LOL



But it is stunning. It was more like a greyish green color. If you go and Google Green Sand Beach, you will be decieved by the awesomeness of photoshop and of course to find out how this came to be.



Yes you can swin here, but you have to climb down this slope to get there.
Crazy to think that lava, red hot lava, flowed through here



So we had to hike back those 3 miles to get to the SUV we rented. It was not as bad, since the wind was to our backs and giving us a little push, but still...darn wind!



We also explored the Kohala side, which if we moved to The Big Island, this seems to be the side we could live on. Just when we thought we would be able to go all around the Island on one road we came to this dead end. But what a dead end - Pololu Valley Scenery





Just stunning right? We took a look at the map and said, lets head back and see the other side which is Waipio Valley.



On the way we past very nice green scenery. This picture looks like a picture of a model of the area, but it was taken from the moving SUV.



Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in the distance.



Here is Mauna Kea with all the observatories on it's peak. Many telescopes up there



This is the other side which they call Waipio Valley. Just as stunning and you can actually get down there but not without a 4 wheel drive or a tour van taking you down. Oh well we ran out of time and energy at this point.



Here I am again. It looks like I was photo shopped in this pic.



And so our hike into the caldera begins.



This is what awaits us below.



Here is an even better view of the Pu'u Pua'i cinder cone. We're almost there.



Here we are finally in the crater and what a view from inside. Yes the ground was warm; a little scary and exhilarating at the same time.



Jason climbed up a pile of lava. Look at the crack, where I assume lava flowed.



Smoke plume behind Jason as he is holding up his OTP sign.



Isn't that dried flow so cool?





About to begin the hike back up, but as we were about to start the climb, there was this odd feeling that over came me. I can't really explain it, but it was an over whelming sense of how much bigger this all really is. This picture certainly doesn't do that sense justice but this was the moment I felt it and remember wanting to take a picture of it.



A look back from where we were. It was a big loop and we're about to hike back up. I remember telling Jason, I feel like I got a sun burn, but I had a hat on the whole time and asked if he felt that way. Well when we got to the bottom of the Chain of Crater, there was a Ranger station and it had pictures and reason's why not to do so and so. Well there was one such information sheet, "tiny sulfuric acid droplets in vog (volcanic smog) have the corrosive properties of dilute battery acid. When atmospheric moisture is abundant, these droplets combine with it and fall as acid rain" NO WONDER! It was giving drops of acid rain on our hike in the caldera. That explains why my FACE WAS BURNING!!!



View heading down the Chain of Craters Rd. You can see sections that are more black in places. This is area's where lava flowed. I believe it was from the 80's flow, but can't recall for sure.



Lava flowed into the ocean at some point and I believe over time carved this little crevious over the edge. Oh those other notices mentions not to get near the ocean when lava is flowing because it can splash up and scald you. Apparently this has happened.



We're at the point of the road where we can't drive any further. So we have to walk past those plam trees in the distance to get to where the lava crossed the road.



And here it is. Only about a mile later.



I love this picture. It looks fake for some reason but it was actually take with a camera phone.






Yea I think the road is closed, I wonder why?



Just another lovely warning.



Crazy!



Flowed right into the ocean.



oh did I mention it's really windy here too, can you telll? I think it is pretty cool how those are the only palm trees in the whole area left.



Yummy desert at the best brewery - Kona Brewery. Jason loves their beer too. Can't recall the name at the moment. Blue Wave or Ocean Wave - something or other. It's beer, nasty, so don't take a memo on it ;)



This was our amazing view from the ocean front condo we rented in Kona.



We spent our last night at Huggo's on the Rocks where we were last year on our last night to watch the sunset. I drank my last pina colada - virgin pina colada of course.



We love being able to take off our shoes and just relax and watch the amazing Hawaii sunset.



Another great perk about Huggo's we can stick our bare feet in the sand and just enjoy the surroundings, which we did.



and drink my last virgin lava flow (they're the best) for a while.



Look at this amazing sunset.





We had all day Friday to relax since our flight didn't leave till 9PM. We're walking distance to many shops in Kona, so we walked around some more, hung by the pool for a bit, and of course relaxed in front of the condo which is steps from the ocean. I saw a few sea turtles from our lani playing around so I went down to get up close and watch them one last time.



This rock looked like a heart to me and it was the last one I saw before heading out. Representing the love we have for Hawaii for sure. It will be our last trip to Hawaii for some time so we really tried to soak it all in and enjoy the nice alone time. All in all I think we did well.



Oh my...this has taken me 4 days to try and put together. Not sure what is going on with the blog, but the formatting was off so I have spent a ton of time trying to fix it. I think I finally got it down and I hope you're able to enjoy the journey to The Big Island of Hawaii.