Hilo to Kona Hawaii 2-18-13

The last day we spent in Hilo was a nice calm down day.  Mostly due to the torrential downpours that kept us from doing too much.  We needed some rest anyway though, and what a beautiful place to do that in. 
This lovely cardinal visited the front yard between the heavier rains.

 

We went for a drive around downtown Hilo and a park/garden area with pretty trees.  Here we saw a golden plover, some other sandpiper type doing a wierd dance, a whole street lined with banyans and then a flock/pack/sneakparty of mongooses.

 

 

 

We stopped at one of the many beach parks and found this cool turtle as were in so many of the parks.  They come ashore to rest.

 

After we got back to the house, Dave and I tried to dash out between downpours to check out Richardson Beach right across the street one last time.  What a great choice!  While hoping for a nice veiw of the sea and maybe whales, we ended up seeing maybe two dozen green sea turtles, honu to the Hawai'ians, which had come in for the evening to the quieter tidepools to rest.

 

I was glad I brought my underwater camera for this walk

 

This morning we said goodbye to Hilo and our pretty white kitty. Not sure if I mentioned her previously, but feral cats are a huge problem in Hawaii and we ended up falling in love with one who lived on our back porch.  She was white, super tame, but had tattered eartips, a crunched pretzel tail, angry yellow eyes, and a hideously harsh meow.  She won us over instantly.  I will probably start a separate blog regarding the cats, and intent to donate to The Hawaii Cat Foundation. 

But I digress.... Our first stop today once clearing the rainclouds was a lovely black sand beach.  Here we saw even more sea turtles, pulled in for a nice warm nap.

 

We drove along through what looked like a savannah with golden grasses and windswept trees.  A lot of farm land here on Highway 11.  We saw a cute baby horse and a cute little calf. 

 

Our next stop was the southern most point of any U.S State.  There was a blow hole, old canoe moorings and a lot of biting wind.

Ancient Canoe Mooring

Then it was off to the olivine beach.  This beach is mixed with olivine sand, which is a greenish gold and just lovely in the sunlight.  Normally it would be about 2.5 miles each way unless you have a four wheel drive.  Dave and I were prepared and looking forward to the hike, while his Mom relaxed and waited in the sunshine.  The reality though was this incredible punishing wind that had me swapping contacts for glasses and our skin stung with the shower of sand.  It turned out locals to make a bit of $ would ferry people out, wait and ferry them back in their own 4x4s.  We eagerly accepted and it was still a long and dirty trip! 

I went around taking pictures, wading into the the surf, taking a picture of that, sitting down, wondering what to do next, taking some more pictures, wondering what to do next... and suddenly it ocurred to me.  I didn't have to do ANYTHING.  So I just sat.  Sat and stared at that blue, blue sea, listened to the waves hitting that green-gold shore, felt the sand with my bare toes... ahhhhhh, utter relaxation.

And finally, just before sunset, we arrived at our condo in Kona.  It has a lovely view and there is nothing between us and the ocean.  We saw some whale spouts in the distance, and I look forward to the next set of adventures!