Hawaii - Day 13

Today was our last full day in Hawaii, though we have lots of time to do things tomorrow, as our flight doesn't leave until 10pm.

We went a little bit north of the resort in the morning, to a historical site called Puukuhola Heiau.  The site contains a temple that King Kamehameha built - he was the king that united the Hawaiian islands.  There wasn't much to see - just a bunch of lava rocks piled up in a square, but it was a nice walk in the hot sun.  Apparently there is a reef just off shore where sharks are often spotted, but we could not see any during our walk.

After that we went to the attached beach, which is a very nice local beach area and probably the nicest beach we've been on in the Big Island.  The kids played in the sand and water while the adults rested on benches in the shade, as it was extremely hot today - somewhere around 30 degrees.  This part of the island is much more like a desert - the landscape is just black rocks with scrub and it is very hot.  Quite the difference from the rain forest we were in on the other side of the island.

Once the kids were done at the beach, we drove to a nearby village and found a little burger and taco shop to eat at that was actually extremely good (and extremely busy).  It only sat about 12 people and was pretty much empty when we arrived, but by the time we started eating, it had filled up, with people waiting in line almost out the door.

With lunch out of the way, we returned to the resort and after resting for part of the afternoon, took the kids on a short hike to see petroglyphs that were carved in the lava rock by ancient Hawaiians travelling through this area.  The resort preserved a bunch of them and made a walkway that you could take to see them.  We then went to the pool again before supper.

Grandma and Grandpa fed the kids, while Sandra and I went out for a nice meal by ourselves.  Before supper we went to an art gallery that Sandra had visited a couple of days ago and fell in love with a painting of the moon over a black sand beach.  I did not think that we could afford anything in the gallery, as it was all extremely amazing art, but it turns out that the reproductions of the paintings aren't too expensive, so after our fancy supper, we returned and purchased the art for our bedroom.  The reproduction is actually enhanced by the artist (he puts a bit of paint on it, which gives it some texture) and it will be shipped to our house in the next couple of months.

Tomorrow we're going to check out, tour some coffee plantations and then board our flight home, which I'm not certain anyone in my family is looking forward to.