The fourth day started REALLY early. We got up at 2:50 to be in the lobby by 4:00. We picked up some additional people and headed to the airport to fly over to the island of Hawaii. We traveled with two ladies from New Orleans and an instructor from Switzerland.
The airport in Kona was really different. We walked out on the tarmac and everything was open. The only things that had doors and walls were the bar and gift shop. After meeting up with our driver, we stopped at a coffee place to have some rolls. We ended up picking up 28 or so other people on our trip around Hawaii. This driver was totally different. He didn't discuss politics or put down any religion. He did talk from start to finish; but he was pretty good. He knew every Latin name of most plants that we saw that became a little too much information but much better than the day before.
We did a lot of driving in the morning seeing many lava flows that seemed unreal. You would travel along and see fields of coffee plants, macadamia nut trees and other plants and then there would be a strip of 30-100 feet wide that would be black lava that had cooled. It started high and flowed into the sea. Everything we saw was cooled. The hot flowing lava would have taken another 4 hours to get to (you have to walk) so we would have had to stay on the island overnight. The driver said you don't see the red lava unless you go at night. During the day, it looks the same; black.
The first stop was at a Kona Coffee farm and mill. They raised most of the coffee and then milled their crop and other farmers too. We found out they are not coffee beans, they are coffee berries. (Probably because they cost so much over regular coffee.)
We drove to one of the craters and had lunch. There was a ton of rain but we managed to get some clear pictures. Then we traveled around the crater and got out a couple of times and explored the ridge of crater and Sue found out that the steam rising from a crack in the ground was really hot. We also explored an old lava tube that was developed from an earlier eruption. It was about 6 feet high but since there was so much rain the floor of the tube it wasn't much fun walking through it. I was really surprised we got to explore a crater that long. I thought from the description of the trip it wouldn't last as long as it did.
We stopped at a black sand beach and were lucky enough to see three sea turtles. They like the black sand because it keeps their eggs warmer. We also stopped at an orchid farm. They were really delicate and I included a picture of one of them.
As we made way to the East side of the island (the windward side) the waves on the ocean got higher and the weather got worse. We found out why Hilo had the highest amount of rain of any US city. The rain barely stopped as we got out to see a waterfall so the timing was pretty good. We made our way towards the north end and saw the Parker Ranch and heard it's history. We saw where Barbara Streisand and Charles Swab had houses of 7 and 28 million respectively. They are built over old lava holes and use them for wine cellars or guest bedrooms. The only thing that would worry me about where they built is that they are in a direct line from a volcano that has erupted every 200 years (1401, 1601, and 1801) The volcano is overdue.
We got back to the airport around 6:30; just enough time for a snack at the airport and we got back to our motel by 8:00. I did make an error on where we ate supper the night before. On Friday, we ate at a great seafood restaurant downtown. It was Saturday when we ate at the hotel's bar/restaurant.
Sue wanted to go to the general session meeting on Sunday. So we knew we had to get to bed because it was a long day.
Sunday, Sue did make it to the general session and then we both to a session after that. We then met up with our cousin's Al and Sharon Seagren who are also at the conference. We tried to go snorkeling at one of the bays. We changed our clothes, bought an underwater camera, and headed out. The beach was closed because of high seas! This is the second time we have tried to go snorkeling and have weather cancel our plans. So the weather wasn't very cooperative so we made plans to eat at a great seafood restaurant. After a great meal and conversation we called it an evening. Sue had to fine-tune her presentation for Monday and I stayed out of her way. Tomorrow is the big day for her presentation and she is a little nervous presenting at an international convention.
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