Friday… another long and great day.
Inner yoga today. Then on the road heading for a black sand beach – Punalu’u Black Sand Beach park. This was quite an experience. The ocean was active, pounding away on the lava rocks. I walked out on the sharp lava, carefully. Said some prayers and intentions, made a little rock cairn. Then I made my way back toward the beach. I swore I saw a sea turtle in the surf – although the poor thing would have hit several rocks. Later I confirmed that I did in fact see a turtle out there, because I saw it coming in toward the beach as I was leaving.
There were eight turtles on the beach. I think they come in to sun themselves and warm up. Or maybe they were avoiding a predator, not sure. The lifeguards were very good about putting in stakes and roping off the turtles so the beach-goers didn’t bother them. Honestly, I wondered if the lifeguards were mainly there for the turtles. Which is great if that is the case! There were signs about a strong current, and that swimmers should not go out past the buoys. These were quite a ways out though – only one person swam close to them.
I met an interesting local man. He was very generous – after climbing a tall palm tree and spending about 15 minutes up there – he cut the top off a coconut and let me drink it. The meat was pretty good too. I chatted with him about life in Pahala and it was nice to connect. It sounds like life is not so easy in this remote part of the island.
The water was incredible though. At first, I sat watching it from the shade, in a nice meditative manner. I had only brought shorts, but once I got my legs in, I had to get the rest of me in as well. There were several tide pools where the water was either warmer or cooler (for whatever reason) and more shallow. I’m thinking about going back tomorrow – the ocean breeze was so crisp and clean. Another dip would be quite restorative.
Oh – and I felt much more grounded after getting in the water. My nervous system feels good, no more rushing, no more worrying (at least not in the past few hours) and I stopped using google maps. There is only one main road around this part of the island – I did fine!
I ate at the Punalu’u Sweet Bread place in Na’alenu, it was good. I got to have manapua again. This is a pork-filled (Char Siu) bun.
Then I stopped at a big farmer’s market. I got some gifts and got to talk to some interesting folk. Plus I bought some papayas! So looking forward to those starting tomorrow.
Then, I visited the Western section of the Volcanoes National Park (the park kind of wraps around Mauna Loa and there is a section on the Western slopes as well). They have a number of hiking trails, and I did a short hike around and up, over a large cinder cone. The sky was spitting on me while I was hiking. Then a few minutes after I started driving, it poured down.
Once back at the AirBnB, there were thunderstorms and downpours. Then the clouds moved in and we were in the midst of thick fog, followed by a gorgeous sunset. I made a curious dinner (basically breakfast food), but it was tasty and satisfying.
I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring. But I definitely want to visit the Green Sand Beach. It is near the southern most tip of the island (which is also the southern most point in the US). I guess they say that to try to get tourists to come down. But it should be fun!
Thanks for joining me.
Kirby Moore
konchog chakchen
Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 