Big Island Geology at its Finest

Hawaii doesn't do things by halves. It gives you the most barren, charred terrain in one hand and one of America's top ten beaches in the other. You get lost and kind locals give you directions to the home of the world's largest pancake. Taxi drivers wax lyrical about Brexit, shopkeepers wax lyrical about Brexit, they all spit venom on the topic of Donald Trump.

Punalu'u Beach

It would be impossible to chart every moment on our trip so to settle for some highlights, I start with the black sand beach located on the Big Island's South Shore. The satnav did most of the work in finding this place and one kind local did the rest. We drove to the end of the world where a small car park was conveniently located. A old man clad in skimpy shorts pointed us encouragingly down a cliff. Once we determined that this was, in fact, not an attempt at murder, we were greeted with a stunning, small, cliffwalled-in beach. 

In terms of geological processes, the one that creates the vivid black sand is simple. Lava flows into the ocean and upon contact with the much cooler water, it explodes and cools creating black sand. There's no lava here today, just fine black crystalline goodness:

We would have stayed forever had not a jaundiced nudist interrupted the peace with his naked yellow behind.

Kahalu'u Beach Park
At first glance, this little beach didn't seem altogether remarkable. I mean, it was just off the road and a short walk to the Kona trolley and there was a food truck selling the world's biggest shave ices (which we did, in fact, partake in). But as we sat, people with snorkel masks kept on jumping out of the water expounding on the presence of sea turtles. Since they donned the proper equipment, we didn't think much.

But Clare hopped into the rocky outcrops of the icy water and soon she too was exclaiming. And sure enough, a friendly group of sea turtles munched on the seaweed and other reefy delights tucked into the rocks. Every tourist, in a glaring difference to anything that would have happened in China, took a reverent step back and watched.

Hapuna Beach

On our final day in paradise, we managed to wangle a rental car and made our way across the island to one of Hawaii's state parks. International travel magazines cite Hapuna as one of the best beaches in the US, if not the world. With half a mile of white sand, crystal clear water and a delightful little snack bar, it was an excellent find.

From faraway: 

 And then close up:

It's been a year of truly stunning beaches in the world. How did I get so lucky? 

On the way home as perhaps a reminder of the geological processes that shaped such extreme beauty and barrenness, we drove on newly paved roads through fields of volcanic rock.

Kilaeua and Volcanoes National Park loomed in the distance reminding us that the earth isn't quite something humans can control. How cool.