Andrea and I awoke to a beautiful day on day 2. We were staying in Hilo, and since we had come in from the Northern coast, our goal for Day 2 was to start exploring South. Primarily that was a tidal pool area and an old lava field.

We basically drove South along the coast to get our day started, and we soon found a small beach with some waves rolling in over a protected reef.

Looking North along the Coast past Hilo, you could see the Island rise towards the centre.

Just next to the beach was a nice little pond area, with great colours and trees.

It was awesome driving through the side roads, as the tree canopy was almost complete in some places.

We continued even farther south to a tide pool area. Now, according to the guidebooks, some of the best and warmest tide pools are on private land, and while the books almost encouraged trespassing, we decided to opt for a public park instead. It didn’t disappoint. There was some awesome black lava rock hugging the shore. Waves crashing against the rocks.

It was great seeing some of the mild surf too.

After six months of wedding planning, it was nice to relax again!

A fisherman worked the shore, and seemed to be catching stuff, although I had no idea how.

Of course, even the little ponds had fish in them, so it wasn’t a lack of abundance.

The tide pool was quite large, and fairly warm. Not very deep for most of the area, but in the centre, it was up to your neck if you were on your tip-toes.

We headed further down the coast to an area that had been devastated years before by a lava flow, and was starting to show signs of rebirth. Of course, right next to the lava field, the jungle was going gangbusters.

But the lava field was a display of nature’s awesome power: everything destroyed in the lava’s wake, yet starting to rebuild.

Smoke from where the current lava was still flowing into the ocean.

Evidence of the heat and cooling in the rock as the lava went by.

But even in the lava-filled sand, shrubs and trees can grow.

And that was the main part of the day.