Anyway, I got in on Monday and spent some time in Kona waiting for Manabu to arrive. After one of his flights was late, we ended up staying at the airport several hours longer than expected. We then drove home to introduce Manabu to everyone and served him a Hawaiian dinner. It was great, and I ate too much. I went to bed right after eating.
After a restless night of too much food digesting to actually sleep, I woke up with an intense desire to do exercise. Manabu and I walked to the gym, then walked through the Prince and the Mauna Kea before calling Kira and getting a ride. We returned home and went body boarding. However, we only had one set of fins, which I gave to Manabu since I thought that if he did not have them he was likely to hurt himself. It was, after all, his first time. He learned very quickly and caught several large waves, and always pulled out at just the right time. I, on the other hand, did my best to stay afloat and didn't catch a single wave. After an hour I suggested that we go in because I was beginning to get hammered and could not really body board without fins. He then insisted that I take the fins because his legs were tired. I reluctantly agreed, but told him to be careful without fins. I immediately caught a wave. Then Manabu caught one. However, this time he washed right into the rocks and began to be pounded against them. I went to get him out, and we successfully extracted him from the water. Here is the suprisingly bloody injury which Manabu sustained, post first aid of course.
We then went to pick up Takaya, but I budgeted too much time. We spent 3 hours in Kona looking for something to do. This is near Pine Trees.
So we got Takaya, returned home, ate, had a very embarrassing conversation at dinner, and went to bed.So, early Wednesday morning we set off on a round the island tour. Our first stop was K-Mart, then Kealakekua Bay.
Followed by Pu'u Honua o Honaunau.
As we drove south, I began to enter a part of the island where I have never been before. We started to head to South Point, but I decided that we did not have enough gas. Instead, we went to the sweetbread factory! I had no idea how cool this place was! Next time someone comes I'm going again!
Here is Takaya at the sweetbread factory. Such good food.
Here we are at Black Sand Beach.
So after almost 4 hours of driving, we finally reached Volcano National Park. This is Kiluea Iki, one of the many craters. Notice the smoking vent in the middle of the lava lake.
This is a giant sulfur deposit.
Here it is close up.
Halemaumau Crater, the home of Pele.
Steam vents.
Me in front of Kiluea Caldera. This shot was taken from the Jagger museum, where we spent a long time listening in on Japanese tour group.
Thurston Lava Tube.
Inside the tube.
Alright. So, I forgot to tell Takaya and Manabu to bring strong shoes. As a result they only had nice shoes. So we went into the garage and found some of dad's old shoes. Well, the shoes held up OK for most of the day, but about half way through our hike to see the flowing lava, Takaya's shoes started to fall apart. That made the rest of our 4 mile hike across black lava in the dark a little difficult. Needless to say, when we finished we were pooped, and dad's shoes were destroyed.
Here is the lava. This was about the closest we could get. Zannen da ne.
On the way back, we happened to encounter Amy, Jodie, Kira and Ryan. They tried to explain where their camp was, and we set off to find it...with no success. Instead we waited in the car near the camp and slept until they were done with their hike.
Here is the camp.
The next day we set off, traveled through Hilo and ended up at Akaka Falls.
The falls.
And here is a beautiful trash can. After Akaka falls we drove to Honoka'a, went to Tex's for lunch, and then went to Waimea. Stopped at HPA to talk to Auntie Joni and Mr. (I guess I should call him Andrew now, but it feels so weird) Kelsey.
We got home at about 1:40. Then we took a nap. I slept for one hour, and Takaya and Manabu slept much longer. Aren't they cute together.
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