What an adventure it's been! Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time. Thanks to my new German friends Maria and Sylva I got to explore a huge chunk of the Big Island on our 2 roadtrips together. This place is amazing in its variety- drive 2 hours and you can go from this:
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| 200 year-old lava flow north of Kailuea-Kona |
to this:
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Akaka Falls, on the east side of the island
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There's also grassy ranchland, green Canadian-looking farm country, steaming volcanos and coffee country. Not to mention stunning beaches, of course!
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| Hapuna Beach |
Now I know why everyone was so insistent that I have a car, and if I return it'll definitely be with my licence, and hopefully a friend as well.
It's all the little things that are so great as well: waking up at 6:30 every day because that's when the sun appears (as quickly as it disappears around 5:30pm), buying local bananas and coconuts from a roadside stand:
...and watching sea turtles sunning themselves on black sand beaches:
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| (I've also nearly bumped into one of these guys every time I've gone swimming) |
I've watched people leaping off the edge of the world:
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| A brave soul jumps from South Point, the southernmost point in the USA |
and seen waves smashing against rocks so hard that I was drenched in spray.
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| Laupahoehoe Point, on the east side of the island. A beautiful spot with a tragic history. |
But of course, this was only 2 days out of ten. A lot of my time has been spent shopping, eating, and exploring on foot or on my bicycle. And reading on various beaches. It's been all I could have hoped for, really. I hope I'll be back some day.
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