What I loved about this trip most were my easy and unrushed mornings. I would wake up around 6:00 am when it got light, step out of the tent, stretch, wash up and then slowly prep and eat my breakfast. I typically sliced up from fruit to snack on throughout the day (oh the papaya, mango, star fruit, and dragon fruits were deelish!), slowly packed up and then by around 8:00 or 9:00 am was on the road to my next point of interest. So that was how this morning began ...
I was on the road to Black Sand Beach and got there nice and early around 8:30am. With the 2nd half of my breakfast in hand, I moseyed on over to the beach to find the turtles that my guidebook told me would be sunbathing there. On the way there, a family from Alabama caught my attention and told me there were 5 or 6 of them about halfway down the beach! Totally stoked, I soon spotted three on the beach and a couple of them floating in the shallow water seemingly enjoying each wave of water washing over them. I found a spot on the rocks, plopped down, then enjoyed the peacefulness of watching the turtles and feeling the sun rising higher in the sky.
As more tourists arrived over the next hour, I walked around to try to find a quieter spot. I found a tide pool where one turtle was cruising around on its own and watched it for awhile. I didn't leave soon enough though. As I once again set to find another quieter spot, an irresponsible tourist family took over my spot, saw the turtle, then approached it and touched it. For those of you who don't know, disturbing turtles in their natural habitat is illegal or "kapu", meaning forbidden, in Hawaiian. Not only that, as I'm sure we have all experienced with the numerous "don't feed the bears", "don't feed the birds" or "don't feed the raccoons" signs, it habituates them with human interaction which distracts them from their natural habits. So as the members of this family touched the turtle, I glared ... I even said something, but they ignored it while I died a little inside (like the time the man we went snorkelling with in the Maldives broke off a giant piece of coral by stepping on it, albeit accidentally). I was so angry that people could be so ignorant and inconsiderate. It took sometime for me again to recognize it was something I could not control, but I really was quite angry because turtles are such a precious and endangered species around the world.
After that, I decided I had to move on. I went on to Naahelu where I had a tent site booked at Margo's Corner. Margo herself was pleasant and such a trooper. She has Parkinsons and runs this little business plus a small shop on her own. She does have workers who visit to help her out and told me she was pretty independent as she's been meeting people from online dating the last few years. Go Margo! Anyhow, I set up my tent, tossed my stuff inside, then went off to find Green Sands beach!
I was SO glad I rented an all-wheel drive SUV as the road from Naahelu to Green Sands Beach and South Point eventually became pot-holed and single-lane where you had to pull over onto the little shoulder there was to let oncoming cars pass. It was a scenic drive going by horse stables, pastures, and even a wind farm! I got to the very dusty parking lot, thought about driving a part of the dirt road towards the beach, but decided to park the car and do the hike/walk as planned. It's a walk - but on very dusty sand covered tracks in full and direct sunlight. It was quite windy which was really helpful in keeping the body temperature down, but I almost got burned having forgotten my sunblock back in the car!
The coast is gorgeous, on your right hand side, as you go along the numerous dirt tracks created by 4x4s. However, you look left and all you can see is brown sand and dirt which makes it look like you're trudging through a desert. There were some moments where I thought "is this really worth it?" Just over an hour later, I finally reach the site where I was rewarded with a uniquely green sand beach (from the Olivine eroded from the giant rock that frames the bay) and beautiful turquoise blue waters. It wasn't very busy as only about 10 others were there, and a one point, it was just me and 3 others. I sat in the shade of the rock and enjoyed a little picnic with my peanut butter and banana sandwich washed down by some green Powerade. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? ;)
The walk back was more enjoyable, because I wasn't thinking so much "are we there yet?" I got back, super dusty, headed back to Margo's for a shower then went to a local bar for a well-deserved (well, at least I thought) meal of Laulau. I found Laulau to be very similar to a Chinese soup made with pork/pork bones and watercress, except, minus the soup. After the filling meal, I spent some time in the common area of Margo's (just me) reading, planning my next day, and helping her do some of her giant puzzle before calling it a night.
I was on the road to Black Sand Beach and got there nice and early around 8:30am. With the 2nd half of my breakfast in hand, I moseyed on over to the beach to find the turtles that my guidebook told me would be sunbathing there. On the way there, a family from Alabama caught my attention and told me there were 5 or 6 of them about halfway down the beach! Totally stoked, I soon spotted three on the beach and a couple of them floating in the shallow water seemingly enjoying each wave of water washing over them. I found a spot on the rocks, plopped down, then enjoyed the peacefulness of watching the turtles and feeling the sun rising higher in the sky.
As more tourists arrived over the next hour, I walked around to try to find a quieter spot. I found a tide pool where one turtle was cruising around on its own and watched it for awhile. I didn't leave soon enough though. As I once again set to find another quieter spot, an irresponsible tourist family took over my spot, saw the turtle, then approached it and touched it. For those of you who don't know, disturbing turtles in their natural habitat is illegal or "kapu", meaning forbidden, in Hawaiian. Not only that, as I'm sure we have all experienced with the numerous "don't feed the bears", "don't feed the birds" or "don't feed the raccoons" signs, it habituates them with human interaction which distracts them from their natural habits. So as the members of this family touched the turtle, I glared ... I even said something, but they ignored it while I died a little inside (like the time the man we went snorkelling with in the Maldives broke off a giant piece of coral by stepping on it, albeit accidentally). I was so angry that people could be so ignorant and inconsiderate. It took sometime for me again to recognize it was something I could not control, but I really was quite angry because turtles are such a precious and endangered species around the world.After that, I decided I had to move on. I went on to Naahelu where I had a tent site booked at Margo's Corner. Margo herself was pleasant and such a trooper. She has Parkinsons and runs this little business plus a small shop on her own. She does have workers who visit to help her out and told me she was pretty independent as she's been meeting people from online dating the last few years. Go Margo! Anyhow, I set up my tent, tossed my stuff inside, then went off to find Green Sands beach!
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| Long, dusty, seaside walk to Green Sands! |
The coast is gorgeous, on your right hand side, as you go along the numerous dirt tracks created by 4x4s. However, you look left and all you can see is brown sand and dirt which makes it look like you're trudging through a desert. There were some moments where I thought "is this really worth it?" Just over an hour later, I finally reach the site where I was rewarded with a uniquely green sand beach (from the Olivine eroded from the giant rock that frames the bay) and beautiful turquoise blue waters. It wasn't very busy as only about 10 others were there, and a one point, it was just me and 3 others. I sat in the shade of the rock and enjoyed a little picnic with my peanut butter and banana sandwich washed down by some green Powerade. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? ;)
The walk back was more enjoyable, because I wasn't thinking so much "are we there yet?" I got back, super dusty, headed back to Margo's for a shower then went to a local bar for a well-deserved (well, at least I thought) meal of Laulau. I found Laulau to be very similar to a Chinese soup made with pork/pork bones and watercress, except, minus the soup. After the filling meal, I spent some time in the common area of Margo's (just me) reading, planning my next day, and helping her do some of her giant puzzle before calling it a night.
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