Hawaii, the Big Island, March 29 - April 4 2009

Mokuola (Coconut) Island, just offshore from our hotel.

Mokuola Island, seen from our hotel room.

Another view from our hotel. I think I saw a rainbow every day we were there.

Akaka Falls State Park. The first three photos show Akaka Falls,
420 feet. The photos really don't do the place justice; from the place where
they were taken, all you can see is lush tropical rainforest in every
direction. There is really nothing like this anywhere in North America.

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The next one is Kahuna Falls, 400 feet.

An apple banana plant (technically it's a grass) with leaves bigger than Ray.
The fruit is delicious; I was warned that eating one would spoil plain old
bananas for me forever. True enough.

Onomea Bay, just north of Hilo. We saw a pod of gray whales just offshore here.

These next two were taken at the beach in downtown Hilo.

A helicopter ride to check out the lava flow from Kilauea out to the ocean.

The hotel we stayed at, viewed from Mokuola Island.

Banyan trees. They are all over the island.

Some weird large plants in the rainforest just outside Hilo. The first one
looks like a variegated sedge, except it's about 12 feet tall.

Looking down into the Waipi'o Valley.
You need a 4WD vehicle, which we didn't have, to get to it.

Rainbow Falls, Hilo.

At the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo.