We got up early, ate a quick breakfast of porridge, made a pack lunch to stave off any hunter pangs and hit the road. 

With our Shaka audio app primed and essentials bagged we slit across the bonnet of our fast and furious ride and embarked on our epic road trip. 

Our first stop was a Kona coffee shop where I had my first taste of 100% Kona coffee. It did not dissappoint. So ‘ono’ (delicious) a combination of factors go to it’s unique and incredibly smooth flavour. Altitude, volcanic soil and the fact that everything is hand picked due to the landscape being unsuitable for machinery. I’ll be drinking a lit more of this stuff.

We visited the spot where the natives disembowel Captain Cook on his last fateful expedition in 1778. 

A battlefield or rather a lavafield where warring families fought over preserving traditions vs modern influence men and women eating together being a vig deal. 

Puna Luau black sand beach was the next highlight of our tour. The black ‘sand’  beach was equal parts awesome and weird. The consistency of the sand was coarser than regular sand and was completely black but absolutely lovely to walk on. An extra bonus was the group of turtles frolicking in the surf. Gotta love those shell bound delights. 

We passed Mark Twains Tree.. Apparently he visited the island where he wrote a travel monologue and while he was here planted a monkey pod tree. Cool.

We also popped by the most southern bakery in the USA. Then it was onto the highlight of the day. The Volcano national park.

The park was incredible. We saw volcanoes(obviously) lava tubes, steam vents and lava of every type, not to mention the effects of the hot spot activity on the landscape over time. I hadn’t expect such lush foliage, which felt like stepping back in time to some prehistoric age. We even bumped into a family from Randaberg while hiking.

We ended the days roadtrip watching the sun set beyond a beautiful sea arch. Not too shabby.