Puna District

On Friday, Ann and I went to Hapuna Beach just to go for a long walk.  We walked along the ocean from Hapuna beach to the beach at the Mauna Kea Resort and then part way to Mauumae Beach before we ran out of water and turned around.

Between Hapuna and Mauna Kea Beaches

North of the Mauna Kea Resort beach, a section of the beach trail is shared by hikers and golf carts used by golfers at the resort.

Tree house rentals

The Mauna Kea Resort has a bunch of tenis courts in a beautiful setting right next to the ocean

On Saturday morning I noticed that these red flowers had secreted some nectar on the deck railing and I watched a gecko licking it up.

On Saturday night, we treated ourselves to a wonderful meal at Merriman`s Restaurant in Waimea.

On Sunday we made our way to the Puna District, south of Hilo.  We stopped in the town of Pahoa for a few groceries and then made our way towards the ocean to a house we are renting on the Kapoho Beach Road.  We met a lady who let us into this gated community and got us oriented.  One interesting feature of this place is that we are only about 100 yards from the Champagne Ponds.  These are tide pools right next to the ocean which are heated by volcanic activity.  We arrived a little late in the day and so we`ll probably go swim in the pools tomorrow.  Besides, Allison was looking more forward to swimming in the private pool that we have at our house rental.

Late afternoon dip in the pool

The pool from the upper deck of the house

View of the ocean from the wrap around deck