Wednesday was one of my best birthdays ever with one $182 exception. We got up and hit the road with the idea that we'd take our time and enjoy the scenery between Kona and Hilo; the two opposite ends of the Big Island. We headed south and made a few stops at scenic points including a few that looked like they may have been on other planets; the volcanic landscapes were awesome.
We continued south and in fact made it to the southernmost point in the United States. After an aborted attempt to find a green sand beach, we had a nice lunch (hamburger on Hawaiian bread) at the southernmost bakery in the United States (woohoo!). Our dining guests included some very curious birds.
After lunch things really got exciting. Our first stop was the Punalu'u black sand beach. Yumi and I were mesmerized by the fine black sand and the ocean waves. We were walking along, transfixed, when we came upon a sign facing away from the ocean. We read it. "Turtles Resting: Stay 15 feet away." Hmmm... we wondered, I wonder when they come here to rest. We turned back towards the ocean and nearly had a heart attack as they were right there behind us. Huge. And well camouflaged by the black sand. We must have just stood there 10 or 15 minutes watching these huge and ancient creatures resting. Wow.
Amazingly, the best was still yet to come..
In order to see Kilauea's fireworks show, we had to leave Hawaii National Park, head east, then south to the coast. Along the way, we stopped for a quick Chinese food take-away and started to make our way to mother nature's show. Ensuring that I was not dreaming my perfect birthday, John Q. Law stopped me for a very questionable $182 speeding ticket for supposedly 50 in a 25 mph zone. Of course the speed limit had been 45 mph on this 4 lane road and somehow I happened into a speed trap. Amazingly, this was my 2nd speeding ticket on a birthday! (I've only had a handful in my whole life, yet two on birthdays.) Anyway, after a little while we shrugged it off, filed it as a miscellaneous expense of less than 1% of our Hawaii/wedding budget, and drove on.
.
We made it to the parking lot and walked over really neat, hardened lava flows to our viewing spot; about 200 yards/meters from where Kilauea's lava flows into the ocean. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
We entered Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and I was like a kid in a candy store. There were the incredible plumes of water vapor clouds rising into the sky, the vast volcanic landscapes, the calderas; I could barely contain myself.
In order to see Kilauea's fireworks show, we had to leave Hawaii National Park, head east, then south to the coast. Along the way, we stopped for a quick Chinese food take-away and started to make our way to mother nature's show. Ensuring that I was not dreaming my perfect birthday, John Q. Law stopped me for a very questionable $182 speeding ticket for supposedly 50 in a 25 mph zone. Of course the speed limit had been 45 mph on this 4 lane road and somehow I happened into a speed trap. Amazingly, this was my 2nd speeding ticket on a birthday! (I've only had a handful in my whole life, yet two on birthdays.) Anyway, after a little while we shrugged it off, filed it as a miscellaneous expense of less than 1% of our Hawaii/wedding budget, and drove on..
We made it to the parking lot and walked over really neat, hardened lava flows to our viewing spot; about 200 yards/meters from where Kilauea's lava flows into the ocean. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
The cherry on the sundae was looking up at the night sky and seeing the beautiful Southern Cross; the first time I've seen it since I lived in Papua New Guinea. After the nearly perfect day, we drove to our B&B outside Hilo.
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