Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Good morning,
We are just getting going on our third day on the Big Island of Hawaii. The sun is peeking out behind a bank of cloud and reflecting into the little AirBnB guest house we are renting just outside Hilo, located in our host’s back yard. The sun is very exciting, because yesterday afternoon and evening there was a downpour for hours. This is called the “rainy side” of the island, but we were hoping for 10 minute rains, not 10-hour monsoon weather.
Yesterday we woke up south of Kona and drove around the southern tip of the island, visiting several beaches along the way. (If you’re curious about following along, here is a link to our route.) We often tell people we are not “beach people,” but let me tell you, the word beach has been redefined in my mind.
The highlight of our journey yesterday was the green sands beach – we ran 2.5 miles along this coast, with aqua blue waves breaking against rocky cliffs and arrived at one of the only green sand beaches in the world. (If you’re interested in learning more, here is a link.) Besides the fact that the sand was green, the beach was extraordinary – a bowl shape with cliffs on both sides – rocks, water, sea and sky encircling us as we stood at the edge of the water (Ok, I waded in and got completely soaked in this wonderful landscape.) Incidentally, while enjoying all this, we were at the southernmost tip of the United States.
After running back to our car, we headed to Naahelu, the most southern town with a post office in the U.S. A delicious bakery and somewhat touristy shop offered the chance to try a bread baked with a fruit we had never tried – the yellow passion flower, lilikoi. Fascinating! Then we headed up the coast to a black sands beach where two sea turtles were basking in the by-now cloudy afternoon.
We are off to take advantage of this miraculous sunshine, but attached are a couple of pics.
Erin
