The dog doesn't want to go out

A strange splashing wakes us up. A glance through the uncovered slatted windows reveals that it is pouring from buckets.

Today is Apartment Change Day. Digging everything out - packing everything in the car by 11:00, so we can unpack everything again in a new apartment at 4:00.

The weather forecast says it will rain until 10:00, which would be perfect. Then we could go or walk to the Southpoint, the southernmost point of Hawaii, and the Green Sand Beach.

At 10:45 it is still pouring, not even a dog would voluntarily go out. But we have no choice - Shahaatz has to go out. But even if I'm not standing in the rain because I'm carrying everything up the stairs to the front door, the water is running down on me. It's so incredibly humid.

So now what? You don't need to go anywhere in such weather, the clouds hang so low that you can't see anything. Shahaatz asks just in case if we can check into our new accommodation earlier. And we're in luck, we can already check in at 1:00 pm. So we have to bridge almost 2 hours somehow.

The rain has subsided and - oh, there's a bit of blue sky to see. Let's go to Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.

That's the most famous lava beach on the Big Island and it's right around the corner.

Here we might also be lucky and see the Green Sea Turtle.

Facts

This species is common in Hawaii. They are called Honu by the Hawaiians and are the largest of the sea turtles. They live to be about 40 to 50 years old and can reach a shell size of up to 150 cm with a weight of up to 300 kg. They have been hunted for centuries for their meat, among other things as living ship's provisions or for turtle soup and are now considered an endangered species. Their diet consists mainly of seaweed and algae.

The predominantly vegetarian diet gives their fat and cartilage - but not their shell - a greenish color. Hence the name.

The first thing we see is a lot of vans with cruise ship passengers scurrying around on the beach like ants.

The beach has black sand made of basalt, which is created by lava flowing into the sea and exploding when it reaches and cools in the water.

And where most people are standing, they are.

Some smaller actors can be seen 2 bays further.

It starts raining again.

One more hour until 1:00 p.m. We decide to look for beer in the next town and visit the Kau Coffee Mill.

Unfortunately, we are 10 minutes late for the 20-minute guided tour and have to settle for coffee tasting in the sales room.

Really too bad. After the 2nd coffee, I can't taste a difference anymore. It's still raining.

We could go to our accommodation now. We could, but Shahaatz prefers to turn in the other direction, and we wander through some plantations on some paths.

Coffee

Macadamia nuts

Sugarcane

We have to cross a flooded road (I refused to drive through the first one and turned around), there was no other option at the next one. So close your eyes and go through it. I don't like that kind of thing, I admit, I'm a scaredy-cat.

But Shahaatz thinks that kind of thing is great and drives through it really slowly just to annoy me. We survived, the car wasn't washed away by the flood, and we found our way out of the plantation maze.

It's pouring rain again, for a change.

We move into our new home

and decide to spend the rest of the day doing laundry (because we finally have a washing machine in the accommodation) and relaxing.

It's still raining.

Sunshine is forecast for tomorrow 😀, then we have a tight schedule because we have to make up for today's rainy day.