The last few days: Hiking on the moon?

After the Big Island tour, the next day was one to relax.  There was nothing planned, and I didn't go out of my way to find things to do.

But before I get to that, apparently there was photographic evidence of my foray into Hawaiian dancing at the Luau.

Thank you Paul, who read my blog, and was more than happy to provide the evidence.

Monday - Labour Day - started with the big buffet breakfast, after which, I discovered a new "happy place".

It's a lovely terrace overlooking the grounds, with a shady breezy corner, comfy chairs and relaxing music piped in: excellent reading corner.

After spending the rest of the morning there, I went back to the room and prepared a little lunch on the balcony, which consisted of some of the foods I picked up yesterday on the tour: the poke and white pineapple were the highlights.

...and of course, the day-old Portuguese doughnuts.

The day continued on the quiet and relaxing theme.  I did stay awake long enough to get a good picture of the palm trees just before sunset though.

Next day - Tuesday - last full day in Hawaii before the long treck home.  Needed to go out and explore this lava rock terrain, so off we go on a hike.

You can see right away the difference between hikes in Kauai (the wettest place on earth) and hikes on this part of the Big Island.  The highlight here is the vast fields of lava rock.

It did have its charm though.  As you get closer to the ocean front, we came across lots of white rocks mixed in with the black rocks.  This is coral which was washed up from the sea.  With some of the formations, it's very obvious.

Then we came across a black sand beach, which is formed by the black lava rock.

...and under all those palm trees in the distance, a nice, refreshing fresh-water pond.

Sadly, it was surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, so we couldn't really take a dip.  Something about it being Private Property, and "kapu", which means "forbidden" in Hawaiian.  Oh well, who needs it, when you have this...

All in all, it was a very hot, but pleasant hike...  my pedometer claims we did about 8 km.  It was a great way to explore this terrain.

Tuesday evening we had a birthday dinner for Yuki - after all, her 50th is the reason that we are all here.

And then came time to say goodbye and embark on the long journey home.  Hawaii was more than I expected - very diverse in nature, and lots to do to keep you occupied.  Wonderful trip!

Mahalo Hawaii.