Today Adien and I woke up at 5:30 to go and see the sunrise. It was not as cloudy as previous days so we could actually see it which was amazing. After this, I went back to my room relaxed, got ready for the day, and we left to head to the Farmers Market in Hilo. This was an incredible place and I tried a lot of different fruits I would not have been able to if I was not in Hawaii. I got this amazing drink that had some pineapple, mango, and some other fruits. I got some awesome, high-quality, handmade shirts. I got one for me and one for both of my brothers. After this, we kept looking around we and saw some cool paintings and jewelry. We got L&L for lunch and then went to the Japanese gardens to eat. We walked around the gardens and then got back in the car and headed off to Kipuka Pu’u Huluhulu.
Kipuka Pu’u Huluhulu is a 38-acre tree sanctuary located in the center of Hawaii. Kipuka means a hill that is surrounded by lava but is spared from flowing lava because of its elevation. Pu’u Huluhulu means “hairy hill” and when hiking up it was apparent as to why it is named this. When looking at the trees you can see Pele’s hair on the tree. The flows lasted from 1843 to 1935. From this spot, we can see three volcanoes: Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Hualalai. We then went to a park and played on the playground. We even got Katie to join us for a bit. Then we headed off to Mauna Loa and drove up the volcano. We got 9000 ft above sea level until the road stopped. From 2022 to 2023 the volcano erupted and cut off some of the roads (fact check). This was one of my favorite parts as the lava was a year old. When you think about this are some of the newest rocks in the world. We climbed up the rocks which were very sharp. We had to be very careful and Aidan took a little tumble but he was okay. He did get impressively scratched up considering he mostly caught himself. We got some great pictures and then drove back to the Airbnb. We finished Descendants and Mauna and then for dinner, we will be having leftovers and getting some nuggets from the store.
