Aloha - Day 6

This was the day to vindicate ourselves. Earlier in the week we had tried to hike to the green beach at South Point, but time and daylight won out. Today, it would be the first thing on our agenda. After the day of torture the day before, this somewhat flat, rock terrain would be a piece of cake. Again, I would like to remind you that the locals all said this was a 2 mile hike that took 30 minutes. Damien and I clocked it, and we did it in about 45 minutes. (when we got home, my Dad said that he read it was a 6 mile roundtrip hike). The green sand is formed by gemstone olivine which is brought to the surface through volcanic action. The sand is considered to be tears from the Goddess Pele by the Hawaiians and is used in healing ceremonies (Although I saw numerous signs that said not to remove. They better do their ceremonies on site.) Once we got to the green beach site, I was a little overwhelmed and terrified. It was nestled in between 2 huge cliffs, which meant we had to go down into it with Dylan on Damien's back. There were a few steps that were carved into the cliff. I was thankful when we made it. It was very secluded and not very big at all. A nice little gem ;) We rested up and played for a while and headed back. Dylan was not happy about this. He screamed and cried as I tried to put him in the backpack. Everyone was staring and I felt uneasy, but I had to force him in. He couldn't get out on his own. Before leaving, I asked a local if I could get a picture of his back. He gave me the strangest look and after I told him that the sand looked really green on his back, he gave in.

Dylan fell asleep in the pack on the hike back. We made it back and we felt dirty, sweaty and muddy. Not to mention, we had several new blisters, especially my mom. We stopped for lunch at the "most southern bar in the United States" and it was yummy.

After lunch, we headed to the black beach, which thankfully, we could just drive right up to it. There we saw a sea turtle basking on the shore. We didn't really get in the water and play as it was starting to get dark, but we did see, from the rocks, some sea turtles munching away on some dinner. Dylan had fun running around and picking up rocks, he's strong like that. We were hoping to get a good view of the sunset, but we were in the wrong place at the right time. After a short visit to the black beach, we headed back to the resort to take showers.