January 1, 2001 - Monday

Me on an outdoor toilet in Halape (no, I'm not actually doing IT!) - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

We got started a little late today and didn't leave camp until after 10. I said good-bye to Halape and continued on to Keauhou, which was only 1.7 miles away at another water catch. We stayed around the hut first time through but I went down to the beach to soak another freshwater pool down there. It was a very nice little beach section and I'm surprised the two campgrounds (this one and Halape) are so close to each other.

Petraglyphs between Halape and Keauhou - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

After another lunch of chicken noodle soup, we headed to Apua and I hiked ahead. On the way there, we saw some petroglyphs and an ancient primitive underground temple. There were also some interesting rock arches along the shore. I got to Apua a little more than half hour before the group and got a chance to explore the huge tidal pool area right off the beach. Colorful corals grew in the pool along with some interesting fish and blue neon dotted nudibranchs.

Sea cliff along the southern shore - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

Eventually, the group showed up and we set up our camp and had a chicken stroganoff dinner. I must admit the dinner was much better than what I was expecting to be eating in the middle of the old lava flow, but I wondered if the super heavy pack was worth the price.

I was a little apprehensive at the beginning of the trip to be with Pakate and Hassan because of the violence against Chinese people in Indonesia, but as the trip went along, I became more relaxed. They were visiting Hawaii to put on a production of native dances from their lands of Sumatra and that's what they were practicing that night.

After dinner, the group (except for me) practiced their Indonesian dance in the pale moonlight. If anybody happened to walk by, they probably through we were some sort of cult or something. It was interesting to see the dance though, very expressive and artistic. We turned in after that because we had to be back to our pickup point by 12 noon the next day.