Puna-The Wild, Wild West

We went holo holo to Puna (southeast of Hilo), for a few days. This is one of the wilder places on the island, with a notorious reputation as the place to disappear, either intentionally or unintentionally. The jungle hides everything. All sorts of characters are about: new agers, hippies, bikers, lost souls, straight, gay, nudists, retired geezers, itinerants, and just plain weird and scary folks. One can't be too shy here, showering outdoors and changing wherever. The rules are for other folks around here, as most of the rules are bent, if not broken. But folks get along it would seem (for the most part), as it is laid-back and a beautiful place to hang about.

We first stopped at the Puna Luu Black Sand Beach to check out the turtles.

 Snoozing.

This one was in the water, just off the sand, waiting for the tide to rise a bit so it could go back out.

Appropriately named, Black Sand Beach.

A trip to the market and we found this:

In case you were wondering, they do make many varieties of SPAM. We prefer Ahi to SPAM, so we left these for the Puna folks to enjoy.

Deeper into the jungle to Isaac Hale Beach:

 The flora here is amazing. It rains everyday, making for a very lush environment.

 Kept waiting for Big Foot to walk by.

 Looking for treasures.

 The vines cover just about everything.

 Noni. This fruit is used for everything from acne to cancer. Smells and tastes bad, but then so does penicillin.

 Love the colors here!

 Early morning surfing.

 The early morning light is gorgeous.

A cup o'joe, in the morning, on the beach.

Coconut husk and leaves.

 Which end has the pot of gold?

 Jungle floor colors!

Expecting Tarzan anytime.

In the early morning, we went just down the road to Ahaluni. This pool was made to allow for the water to flow in from the ocean to mix with the spring fed fresh water. In the 1950s, the magma flow shifted underneath this area, resulting in the heating of the pool to about 90 degrees.

View of the pool from the ocean.

 Kirsty enjoying a swim.

I had lots of tiny fish nibbling on me if I stayed still.

Ahhhhhh.

 Kirsty walking on the sea wall at Ahaluni.

 Green is the operative word here.

Just outside the pool.

A short stop in Hilo (where we are planning to move to) to see what was what.

 Standing on Coconut Island in Hilo Bay.

 Looking back towards downtown Hilo and the heavy clouds blowing in from the ocean.

Bridge in Liliuokalani Park. Much more on Hilo (and this beautiful park) in future blogs.

My moment of Zen.

Peace my friends, wherever you are finding it!