Our first stop was at the Punalu`u black sand beach near Pahala. Yes, this picture is the one I used for that title on the top of each page. The area for swimming, which we stopped at first, is in the distance.

The black sand is from the lava rocks, which also cover much of the beach. Walking barefoot can be a little difficult. Those rocks are sharp. The stand of coconut trees add a real Hawaiian flavor to this place.

Not only people come to the beach. We saw three sea turtles. Guide books say they're "Green Sea Turtles" but they didn't look very green to me. But they were huge; a lot bigger than Jackie's pet turtles at home.

These are a few of the coconut trees near the beach parking lot. Another parking lot is near the picnic shelters about a half mile down the beach. And we needed the shelter to eat lunch. The wind was at least 30 miles per hour.

At one parking lot we saw a most unusual sight -- a car with Virginia license plates. It was the only out of state one we saw during our entire trip.

From Wai`ohinu a two lane and rather rough road heads south for about 11 miles to the coast. It's the southern most land in the United States and very popular with local fishermen.

One our way back we stopped at this Monkey Pod Tree in Wai`ohinu. It was planted in 1866 by Mark Twain. A storm in 1957 blew it down but the tree re-grew from shoots.

I'm really not sure if this theater in Wai`ohinu is still used. The population here is sparse and wouldn't seem to support it. But it looked interesting so I took a picture.

It was still early when we got back to the eastern side, so we went on to the Lava Tree State Park. In a 1790 lava flow the trees were surround by lava which cooled. As the hot lava drained away the lava that stuck to the trees solidified leaving the lava trees.

The park is small but has a easy paved trail through the many lava trees. These are just a few. It was a pleasant walk through the almost ghostly surroundings.

One unusual plant in the park was this Rattlesnake plant. The close up on the right shows why it got that name. But to us it looked like it should be the Corncob Plant.

After lunch we visited the Liliuokalani Gardens, a formal Japanese garden. It was only a few blocks from the restaurant. It covers 30 acres and the arrangement is spacious.

The park is named for Hawaii's last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani. Why a Japanese garden? The majority of the residents in Hilo are of Japanese descent.

Slowly walking the paths or sitting on the many benches in the gardens is a relaxing experience. And it wasn't very crowded. .

The Lyman House is part of Hilo's history. It was built by a missionary couple from New England in 1839. There's a museum adjacent to it, but, to our surprise, it was closed on Sunday's.

Banyan trees are everywhere and this is a fine, well pruned, example at a public square near downtown Hilo. Not as big as the one in Lahaina but very well groomed..

Before leaving Hilo we stopped at this statue of King Kamehameha in a park along the main bayfront street. Kamehameha was the king who united the Hawaiian Islands and led the first government. The most famous statues of him are in Honolulu and Kapaau, his birthplace.

Back at the cottage we began our serious packing for the long trip home. It's not so much a space problem as it is weight. American Airlines has a 50 pound limit per bag. But we did each have a carry-on and a "personal item", small duffel bag for Jackie and a computer for me. We put heavy stuff like books in the carry-ons.

One last check of the email before packing up the computer. It was very handy that the dining table was very large. No need to pack it up during supper.

Our scheduled flight left Hilo at 2:30 Monday, but everything from rental car return to check-in went so smoothly we got there just after noon. Go! Airlines is quite informal, and they offered us an earlier flight at 12:30. We took it. It was even luckier than we thought for conditions were just right as we flew along the northern end of the island for this picture of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the biggest volcanoes on the Big Island. Oh, that white stuff? Yes, it does snow in Hawaii.

We now had over three hours to kill at the Honolulu airport. Starbucks helped, plus we both had books to read. We also ate supper in the terminal, after we checked in and went inside the secure area. It was a Chinese fast food place which was very good.

A final picture from Hawaii -the Japanese garden nestled between concourses at the Honolulu airport. A good place to walk off the dinner while waiting for departure time.