Ka Lae (South Point)

Yesterday, we took the trip that had to be postponed one day because of the tsunami threat. We started out about 9:00 am and drove toward the southern part of the Big Island.

We were about 1,000 feet up and could see the beautiful blue ocean far below us as we drove along the highway. The views were really quite breathtaking. We also saw lots of green, lush growth including coffee trees (yes, that famous delicious Kona coffee which I am drinking right now as I write) and macadamia nut trees. But, as we got further south, the area became covered with black lava rock from lava flows of past periods. Each of them is referred to on the map by the year they occurred. We travelled over flows from 1950, 1919, 1926, 1907, 1887 and 1868. You can tell how long ago the flows were by the amount of vegetation that has come back. Some areas are clearly more barren than others. But, how ANYTHING could grow in rock is beyond me.

Here are some shots at a rest area that sits entirely on lava rock.

Here's a scenic pull-off point overlooking the ocean.

About 11:00 am we turned down a road called South Point Rd. It is about 12 miles long and took us to Ka Lae, the southern-most point in the United States.

Here are some shots along that road. It was mostly grass. We saw horses and cattle grazing and the occasional house. It was also extremely windy. There were active wind turbines and some that looked like they were no longer operating.

Check out the trees in the picture below -- the wind blows constantly so they are permanently growing in the direction of the wind.

Finally, we got to Ka Lae. The latitude is about the same as Mexico City. Here we are!

There are ladders and boat hoists that go down to the water. Apparently it's a great place to snorkel, but we did not see anyone in the water while we were there.

This trip will continue in the next post ...