Black Sand Beach Punalu'u, Ka Lae South Point

Right after breakfast, we set off to visit one of the many black beaches. This one is also home to many sea turtles that come up to the beach during high tide. The black sand is impressive, and it's a few degrees warmer here too! However, it's low tide right now, so we can only see the turtles from the cliffs, catching glimpses of their heads, legs, or even their bellies! The surf here is also remarkable, and swimming is only recommended under very calm conditions. Instead, we hike along the lava fields by the sea and marvel at the incredible formations that the lava has taken. Fissures and holes, waves, bubbles, sometimes rough, sometimes smooth. Pioneer plants have settled in some areas. And beside them, the sea crashes and sprays in fountains, sometimes higher, sometimes lower. It's unpredictable, so it's not advisable to stand too close to the edge. Not to mention that the cooled lava can be brittle and porous.

On the way back to the parking lot, we pass by the dwelling of some hippies who have built a more or less comfortable tent on the beach.

For lunch, we stop at the Punaluu Bake Shop in Naalehu, which offers a wide variety of "Hüftgold" (typical American treats). The smoothies are amazing and refreshing!

We continue south to the southernmost point of the USA, or rather Hawaii, to Ka Lae (South Point). On the way there, we cross a huge lava field, and sometimes the road runs right along the coast, offering breathtaking views of the sea. Then, in the last 20 km, the landscape suddenly becomes prairie-like. Simple grassland, fenced with barbed wire, cattle, horses, farmland. The land abruptly ends at a cliff, plunging vertically down to the sea, which is crashing against the rocks fiercely on this day. It almost makes you dizzy when you look down... but what luck, on some days the sea is also very calm and smooth.

On the way back, the weather changes, it becomes cloudy and looks like rain. So we close the convertible top. It starts raining, but only 5 minutes before we reach the Lava Tree Park! But then it pours, shower on, water flowing.

We have plans to meet Pascal and go to Uncle Roberts Farmers Market in Kalapana. But with this rain, is anything happening there? Are people even coming? Irene recommended it to us, there's supposed to be live music and it's usually a big party every Wednesday evening.

We decide to just go. The rain is gradually subsiding, turning into regular rain. When we arrive, the parking lots are already quite full. We leave our pony on a lava field and dive headfirst into the hustle and bustle. It's madness here, the farmers are cooking up a storm, there's simply EVERYTHING!!! In between, there's some handicrafts from the hippies, and it smells like barbecue, jasmine rice, ice cream, crepes - and grass. There are actual clouds of it in the air. The crowd is huge, but everyone is super relaxed and in a good mood.

We eat delicious food from the Thai stand and then have a monster crepe. Somehow, everything here is extra large and special. Oh yeah, it's still raining from above, but this time it's a downpour. The stalls are more or less protected with simple tent roofs, and one of the guys is constantly busy clearing the roofs of the water. He's soaked to the bone himself. But still in a good mood. The visitors crowd onto the few dry areas. Still super friendly and cheerful, no one is going home because of a little rain!

The band that's playing is a big family, brother, cousin, brother-in-law, ... two ukuleles, electric guitar, bass, saxophone, drums, and a few good voices, that's all they need and the place is rocking! They play everything from rock to blues to South Pacific reggae, with remarkable endurance. Without a break from 5 pm until almost 9 pm, when we left, they were still going. Everyone celebrates a happy festival here, eating, dancing, the hippies with the farmers, the young people who come from Kona (2 hours driving time), the few tourists.

Tired and happy, we drive back. What a wonderful event!