January 2, 2001 - Tuesday

Sunrise at Apua Point - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

Everyone got up early today and I took some great shots of the sunrise. I know I don't often get up that early in the morning so these are rare views for me. We headed out by 8:15 and I marched on ahead again. The 6.6 mile hike was easier than I anticipated because I got to the pickup point by 11:50. The rest of the group showed up an hour later.

We made it back! - Volcanoes National Park (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

The rest of the way was pretty much like walking on top of a giant sheet of endless brownie. Lei Lana picked us up and we stopped by the Volcano welcome center and several old craters on the way to her house for a long overdue shower.

Mini orchids on the Big Island! (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

After a 40 minute drive, we finally got to Lei Lana's house. She lived right outside of Hilo on a large property, surrounded by lush plants and these cute little wild orchids. Lei Lana was beautifully thin and has a very friendly aura about her. She's studying Geology and hoping to work at the Volcano National Park one day.

My interpretation of the landscape of Volcanoes National Park in my hand. I was told that it's bad luck to take lava off the islands so I just took the picture and threw the stuff back. (Big Island), Hawaii, USA

We went to grab a quick lunch before heading to the airport. Our waiter was very talkative, was able to speak not only Mandarin Chinese and Indonesian (and several others), but was also able to sing the national anthems. I had the feeling that he was very bored there.

Our flight was uneventful and after sorting out our gear at Dave's place, we finally arrived home after 9 and went to sleep by 10.