Hawaii Trip 2014: Days 1 and 2

Lauren = red
Bill = blue

For spring break, Bill and I took a trip to Hawaii with some of his relatives and friends to celebrate their recent birthdays. We stayed on the Kona side of the big island in a pretty vacation house with a nice view of the ocean. We got settled in our rooms in time for a beautiful sunset:

Pardon me sir, did you know that you could save 15% in just 15 minutes...

These colorful little geckos were absolutely everwhere around the house.

On our first full day in Hawaii, we went snorkeling at a beach in Kona called Kahaluu Beach Park.

This guy's name is Rocky, he is a frequent visitor to this particular spot. He spends so much of his time sunning on this beach that they have a guard stationed here to keep people from bothering him.

The water was really calm and shallow at this beach, so I was able to get some close up pictures of the fish.

Bill in his snorkel gear. He even has his GoPro strapped to his head.

Bill taking video.

These little yellow fish were everywhere.

I was obsessed with these black fish. It's difficult to tell in this picture, but it has these beautiful turquoise stripes at the base of its top and bottom fins.

After snorkeling at the first beach, we went snorkeling again at a second beach and then went back to the house and got ready for the luau we were going to that night.

Bill and I watching the waves at the luau.

After stuffing ourselves on Kalua Pork we were entertained by dancers that showed us some of the traditional Polynesian dances.

The next day, we decided to go hiking and see Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park. On the way, we stopped to do some shopping.

This shop is a tourist attraction. They sell macadamia nuts dipped in various forms of chocolate. I of course bought the dark chocolate ones...

Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park is also called "The Place of Refuge." It is a place where Hawaiians who had broken one of the sacred laws fled to escape the punishment of death.

I can only get pictures of Bill when he is taking pictures...

I thought the roots on these plants were cool.

I was very into these statues.

I don't know what the story was behind this one, but I thought it was very cool.

Lauren doing her best tiki guardian scowl.

Carved tiki gods at Puuhonua O Honaunau (City of Refuge) National Park.

There were some pretty tide pools on the trail through the park.

The lava rock along the shore.

Bill, Sheri, and Sean.

The shore.

Me and the ladies

Bill and the guys

After walking around the park, we were too overheated to go hiking, so we went snorkeling again. This wasn't my favorite spot because the ocean was rough and I scraped my knee up on some lava rock as a result, but I did see a sea turtle and that was exciting!

They don't even move their arms really. They just float along in the current.

After snorkeling, we went on a hunt for some petroglyphs that we had read about. They were unfortunately closed off, but we got some nice views and found a pretty beach for sunset.

The pretty beach we found.

Brian and Jen on the beach

Brian found a rock with some interesting sea life remnants.

The shape of the clouds gave the illusion of a "funnel cloud" effect when the sun passed behind them.