With our ship scheduled to arrive by 8am this morning, our wake up call kicks off our day at 6:30am. I have my camera stuff ready to go and after breakfast, we meet with Ricky's Tours on the pier. The shipped passed out beautiful flower leis to everyone as we disembarked. They're fresh and smell nice. We have a group of 16 of us and ride in two bus like vans. On the agenda for today are nine points of interest and all but one are actual exit locations, not just drive by.

The town of Hilo is located on the lush, windward side of the Big Island. The Hilo region is blessed with dramatic waterfalls, fertile rainforests and blooming gardens. In 1946 and 1960 the town was nearly swallowed by tsunamis but Hilo’s waterfront was rebuilt and today Hilo is a vibrant town

Our first stop in Hilo is at Liliuokalani Garden where we check out the park right in town. From there we cruise along the coast and stop at the Painted Church. Next it's the Black Beach. We were there many years ago with Boomer in 1988 but that beach is now covered by a lava flow that occurred in 1990. Now the beach is a half mile further out in the ocean. 30 years later, new black sand is forming from the constant wave action on the black lava. Mom had to work at it but made it to the beach and back, traversing over the lava flow in the heat and humidity. She did complain. It's about 84F today and mostly sunny. 

Karen told me of some lady who asked her why she wasn't wearing support hose. Karen replied that it was hot and they were uncomfortable to which the lady went on and on about their importance. She told Mom, "See, I'm wearing mine." to which Mom countered with, "Well good for you." We saw that lady many times later on the ship and various excursions. She was always friendly but we never saw her with her support hose on again.

An interestIng fact we learn is that, while there have been about 10 deaths in the last ten years in Hawaiian waters from shark attacks, there have been 200 people killed in the same time period from falling coconuts. While it takes only 8lbs of force to crush a human skull, a coconut weighs about 14 pounds and, falling from a height up to 4 stories, you can see why it's dangerous to hang around under a coconut tree. The locals know of the danger. 

Returning along the coast, we stop at MacKenzie Park for a snack and pictures. The coast, with waves pounding the cliffs, makes for great photos. It's another selfie stick opportunity. We stop and hike through Lava Tree State Park. Well, I hike but Mom spends the time on the phone with Queenie. These lava trees were formed 80 years ago by a lava flow that covered the forest, flowing around trees and then cooling in place. The tree was burned out leaving a lava cast of the tree. We later stopped at the Ahalanui Hot Ponds and the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Farm. Who doesn't? I think that it's a state law that all tourists must visit the nut farm. Mom bought some nuts but I think she's going to eat all herself.

Lastly, we visit Rainbow Falls. It has two separate falls at one location. Our guide says that two weeks ago there was no water flow but recent storms have provided us with a great water show and we take pictures. It's now about 3pm and Ricky takes us back to the port. We board the Amsterdam with an hour to spare.

It's singers and dancers tonight in the theater but we head first to the dining room. Mom has trout and I have salmon. We meet six more new people. After the 8pm show, we return to our room where I attempt to write the day's blog but poop out and call it quits. I'll finish it tomorrow. Our day starts at 6:30am in Lahaina, Maui.