Big Island Hawaii - Day 2

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Well Day 2 draws to a close - a mix of rest and exploration.. We woke at a reasonable time considering jet-lag factor.. Had a breakfast of cereal and fruit and the boys hit the pool whilst Grant hit his laptop to catch up on work and I did some general RELAXING and tidied up the apartment - unpacked bags etc..

The Bridge boys lived up to their name and broke the lift on the way back to the room - I asked how (the hell) this happened.. Kai pointed at Taj, and Taj said..

What can I say? you know me, I like pushing buttons..

Yes Taj, exactly like your Mumma as a child - the one that couldn't walk through a supermarket without picking up / touching everything.. HAD TO go to every public bathroom (thank gawd this has stopped).. but yes, like Mother, like son..

Then we set off along the Kona coast..



We traveled from Kailua-Kona, up the Kohala Coast to Kapa'au.. The scenery was amazing.. in the start, it was barren land where you could see where the volcano had trailed down and just left molten rock in it's tracks.. It was a real wow moment, but the pictures tell the story, heading further up the coast we moved through green almost farm land and then into real rainforest.. it was quite bizarre.. We stopped for lunch (and moved on to Pololu Valley Lookout

We stopped here and hiked down to check out the view - think of it like the Hawaiian Great Ocean Road - without a road.. Stunning scenery..

After this we started heading back and stopped at Kapa'au - a small sleepy town & Keokea Beach Park which was home to one interesting character - a huge monk seal ..

The Hawaiian monk seal, Neomonachus schauinslandi (formerly Monachus schauinslandi), is a highly endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian monk seal is one of two remaining monk seal species; the other is the Mediterranean monk seal.

I've read some sad stuff along the way, this seal was either the Mum or Dad of a baby that was killed recently when the Mum rolled on it during feeding.. 😞 apparently a seal has been coming here and crying for it's baby who was taken away by researchers for an autopsy after it passed.. Sad stuff.. This one started sneezing at one stage - well I think it was sneezing.. and Kai was creeping closer to it.. poor little fella near dirtied his pants!

After this we traveled through to Waimea - a rural town inland and it was like stepping back in time.. Old country..

From here we made the 1 hour trip back, collecting sushi at a deli on the way back.. Showered and in our PJs, we're ready for bed - huge day tomorrow - 5.30 pick up for the adventure of a lifetime.. Helicopters / zip-lines and volcanoes..

PS. The lift was fixed when we returned..

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