I’ve been without internet for a couple of days so I’ll put up more than one post today.

On Thursday we went to Puna Lu’u, the black sand beach which is called that for obvious reasons…

We got there early enough to snag a great spot on the shade….

This is a great spot for snorkeling. That’s Steve,in the water. Snorkeling is not a sport that results in exciting above-water photos.

Puna Lu’u is a reliable place for spotting amazing fish and Green Sea Turtles.

After lunch we headed back to Volcanoes National Park to the end of Chain of Craters Road. This area didn’t use to be ‘the end’ of the road, it used to continue on to Hilo and beyond, around the island. In the 1980s the road was covered by an impressive expanse of lava.

If you have been here before, but not in the past couple of years, it has changed. What used to be “the end” now goes farther. The park service carved out a gravel road. After walking about a mile to find ‘the end’ we gave up.

There was walking involved to get see the lava, and it was hot. Even so, we did stop for photos, but not always of the same thing 🙂

On the way out we stopped at a pullout. What’s especially cool here is the fact that we are high up, and in the distance the water at the horizon is unexpectedly high. It’s just weird when you see it in person as you drive down the hill.

This may be on next year’s Christmas cards—many thanks to Amanda for this shot!