Day 9: Our last day in Hawaii

Yesterday was our last day in Hawaii. Since our flight did not leave until 8:50 p.m. and we had to check out of the hotel much earlier, we decided to spend the day around the volcano area. As much as we love snorkeling, we knew we would not be able to shower, so we stayed dry.

The volcano is on the other side of the island from Kona, so we wanted to get an early start. We ate breakfast at the Sheraton, then checked out of the hotel. We left our luggage there so it wouldn't be in the car all day. The drive across the island was beautiful and scenic, and we were constantly reminded of the newness of the island and of its volcanic nature. As the vegetation became more lush and green, it became clear why most of the hotels are on the Kona side of the island, which is much more prone to sunshine.

We stopped on the way at a black sand beach called Punalu'u as we had never seen a truly black sand beach. We saw another beach on Hawaii that was called a black sand beach, but it was more salt and pepper pebbles. This beach was beautiful. The black sand was incredibly sparkly due to the bits of obsidian that make it up. It was so dark that it was hard to tell where the asphalt ended and the sand began. We had read that there would likely be turtles at this beach, and we did indeed see a lot of turtles sticking their heads up out of the water to breathe. Had we put on our snorkel gear, we would have been hard pressed to stay 15 feet away from them, as requested by the sign at the beach.

Next we headed for Kilauea, which is part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. We started at the visitor's center, as we had a very small amount of time and wanted to find out what we should do with it. We headed out around the rim of the volcano, stopping at several places for views and photos. At the visitor's center, we read that Kilauea is considered the only active volcano with a drive-through caldera in the world. The lava that is coming out from today's eruptions comes out through rifts in the side, as opposed to out the top.

We stopped at the Thurston Lava Tube, which is no longer active. There is a hiking trail that goes through the forest with unbelievably lush plant growth, and then through the actual lava tube. The contrast of the vibrant green forest against the cold dark lava stone in the tube was breathtaking. There was also a sign showing how the lava tubes work, which we found very interesting. This photo is a view from inside the tube out into the surrounding forest. Below is a photo to show the scale of the plants outside:

After the lava tube, we stopped at a few more lookout points, and at the Jaggar museum, which had a lot of fascinating information about the volcano. The steam vents were very dramatic and unlike anything either of us had seen before. We decided to skip the sulpherous areas of the volcano, as it just didn't seem worth it. After leaving the park, we headed back to Kona. We stopped along the way to get some coffee from one of the small coffee farms we passed. Our intention was to do more shopping in Kona, but to our dismay, we learned that nothing is open on Sunday in Kona.

We had a nice dinner at the Kona Inn Restaurant, and we saw yet another beautiful sunset. We underestimated the time is would take to return the rental car, and we came VERY close to missing our plane. In fact, had the nice family ahead of us not arranged for us to skip ahead by a few familes, we would not have made it. The airline had told us that our luggage might not make it, but we were very relieved to find that it did.

We had a wonderful trip, and although we could have stayed longer, it is nice to be home.

Aloha!