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| Aloha, Part II |
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Well, I thought maybe I was going to be making several entries about my trip to Hawaii, but I think that in the interest of time (the stuff that is quickly dwindling away), I will make one entry. (This will be just a bit image heavy.)
The Lu’au
 Our first real night on the island was spent at a wonderful King Kamehameha’s lu’au. It is apparently the “Big Island’s Most Popular Lu’ah.” Heh! It was tons of fun, to say the least. It started with some complimentary mai tais. Mmmmmm. They were completely watered down, but they were good nonetheless! Before the dinner and show, there were a few demonstrations and such of things like hula dancing, coconut peeling, and the fire pit in which the pig was being cooked.
The princess was brought in and then the lu’au truly began! There was much eating and laughing and enjoyment had by all. The hula dancers gave us a taste of the diverse cultures that make up Hawaii – Tahitian, Samoan, Maori (New Zealand), Cowboys (yes, there were cowboys in Hawaii), Polynesian, and of course, pure Hawaiian! It was fabulous. It was definitely a wonderful way to get us in the mood for the island (as if we needed help?)!!
The Punalu’u Black Sand Beach
 The condo at which we stayed was just off of this beach. In fact, we walked to it from our place in just a matter of minutes. How spectacular it was! The sand is really black. Black! It feels like regular sand, it’s just black. Its color is due to the volcanic ashes. The rocks around the beach are volcanic flows that hardened. Green Sea Turtles also are known to come up on to the beach to rest or nest. We saw one that was just resting. It was wonderful to be so close to something quite magnificent—both the beach and the turtles!
The Green Sand Beach
This was quite a feat to see. We drove down the coast just a bit (maybe twenty minutes) and followed the signs to South Point (the southern most point in the United States) because we knew it the two were near each other.  Once we got down there, we found signs directing us to the green sand beach. We had to sign in at this little headquarters kind of thing. Once we did that, the young man told us that it would be a two-an-a-half mile hike. Wow! We had no idea that it would be a hike, but we had brought our backpacks with water bottles, hats, sunscreen, and our sneakers. We followed the alleged trail and wound around and around, up and down the rocks and hills that lined the coast.
It was a spectacular view all the way there, but we had no idea when or if we were ever going to find the beach. We needn’t have worried. Once we got there, we were utterly amazed at the beauty. Not only was the green sand great (due to algae, I think), but the color of the water that was crashing into the shore and against the cliffs surrounding the green sand beach was also amazing. It was well worth the two-and-a-half-mile-turned-four-mile hike! Fortunately, the hike back was much less; we actually followed the trail!
The Helicopter Ride over the Volcanoes
If you want to see pictures of the ride, you can view them here. Because of my poor seating, I wasn’t really able to take that great of photos, but you can get an idea. It was a magnificent ride. We flew over all of the craters and the very active volcano. It was sputtering and smoking, and raising all kinds of havoc! We saw lava flows here and there. We also saw all the places where the lava had actually covered up residential areas and roads. It was kinda freaky! Our helicopter pilot was awesome! He had such great humor and really made the lack of a good seat seem less important. It was well worth the money!
The Waterfalls
 After our helicopter ride, we drove along the northern coast of the island. All along the way, we kept stopping at all of these scenic little areas. They were all quite lovely! All three of us are big flora and fauna freaks, so we had already purchased books on the flowers of Hawaii and the birds of Hawaii. As we drove along, we would spot different things and look them up. It was a lot of fun! I was partial to the orange-flowered trees. I think we categorized them as Kou trees. We also took this time to look at the waterfalls that were up there. There were the Akaka Falls, Kahuana Falls (not so sure on that one), and Rainbow Falls. Surrounding the whole Akaka and Kahuana Falls seemed a rain forest of sorts. It was misting the whole time that we were there, and the lushness of the trees, ferns, and flowers were amazing. It was also filled with banyon trees and lots of bamboo. Spectacular!
The rest of the time was spent going to the beach and to the Volcanoes National Park.  On the way to the beach (to go swimming and snorkeling), we passed some wonderful sights: white rocks spelling out names, etc. upon the black lava rock hills surrounding the highways, ocean views like nothing else I’d ever seen, and just the lushness of the foliage. I live in the desert now, so the vastness of the green was just what the doctor ordered! There are many more pictures that I took with my digital camera that I have put up on my online photo album. They can be viewed here:
Lots of Hawaii pictures
I had a wonderful time, and so did Patsy and Katy. We all want to go back again… and again… and again!
The next time that I go, I think I might want to visit some of the smaller islands. This trip it seemed like all I ever did was ride in the back seat as we drove here and there. There was a lot of driving! There was not enough beach time (in my humble opinion – four hours one morning/afternoon is NOT enough!). I would love to go to one of the other islands and just kick back and enjoy the beaches and the ocean!
Everyone should visit Hawaii at least once!
Mahalo for getting this far (if you did).
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