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| We begin over 1,000 above the valley floor. |
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| River crosses the black sand beach. |
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| 25% grade - Going down is not too bad. |
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| At the end of the narrow valley where taro is still farmed |
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| Fallen blossom of the Aftican tulip tree |
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| Rocks on the beach |
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| hahaha |
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| Wild horses on the beach |
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| Hiking up and out - whew! At least now we're safe from tsunamis. |
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| On the way - View of Mona Kea and observatories at 13,796' above sea level - highest point on the island |
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| A kipuka is a pocket of land that the most recent lava flow missed. It has older growth and, usually lush, vegetation where birds and wildlife flourish. |
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| Jungle turkey? |
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| Fiddle head fern about to unroll |
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| Fiddle head fern unrolled |
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| Beautiful wood of a downed Koa tree |
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| Beach "sand" |
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| Affordable beach-front housing |
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| Non-affordable beach-front housing |
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| We had some visitors |
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| Turtles basking in the sun |
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| Humans basking in the sun |
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| Cute May and her friend, Billy |
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| Coconuts ready to fall on us |
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| Drive down the west coast where the grass is starting to break down the older lava fields |
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| The VOG (Volcanic smog) of Kailua Kona - those are houses up on the hillside (volcanoside?) |
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| View from the Kona Hotel Restaurant where we ate dinner |
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| It had been prophesied that if Kamehameha built this "temple", he would unify all the islands, which he did in 1810. Pretty nice dry stacked stone walls. |
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| Tourists are not allowed inside as the site is sacred to Hawaiian culture |
