Day 4 - July 12th, 2009 - North Coast and home to Arizona.

Awoke early due to Harry's loud snoring. :)  Showered and packed bags, then sat to write the entry for day 3.

After Harry was ready, went down to Tante's for breakfast.  Had a shrimp omelette with steamed rice, and a Coke.

After breakfast walked over to the Atlantis Submarine office to ask about tickets.  They were $99 + tax.  Bought one for me and Harry.

We had an hour to wait, so went back to hotel, finished packing and then checked out of room.  Car parking permit was good till 3 p.m., so put bags in car and left it in lot.  Walked to pier and waited near tender boat till check in.

They took our photos in front of boat and then we boarded the craft.  While we listened to safety briefing we motored out to sub which was floating off reef about 1/2 mile out.

We offloaded tender onto deck of sub.  Then we climbed down ladder into sub.

Seating was tight.  We only filled one side of sub, and the windows were shared by every two seats.

The sub dove and we motored along the reef while they talked about the area and the fish.  We kept moving down the incline seeing different things.

Reef area we explored.

About 20 minutes into trip my camera battery died.  I had left bag on boat due to size and spare was in it.  Really made me mad! [2019 NOTE: Most of the photos I did take underwater did not turn out anyway, the really thick window panels blurred things a bit, and the water was just hazy enough to make focus really difficult, especially with moving fish.]

Of course then we came to the ship wrecks.  First an old Army troop carrier converted to salvage vessel, and next a private sail yacht.

We finished at a depth of 105 feet.  We then surfaced and got back on tender boat to return to shore.

After getting off boat, we walked to car and left to head to the north tip of island. (Kohala).  Took highway 19 along coast, then took 220 around tip.

Drove all the way to Polulu lookout and only had a short spell of rain.  Parked along road with other cars and walked to end of road.  Only then did I see there was plenty of parking.  Oh well.

From the Polulu Valley lookout.

Harry had stayed with car.  I found a trail down to the beach.  Was rugged but made good time down with many stops for photos.

Walked along black sand beach, took photos and then started back up.

Looking up the Polulu Valley from near beach.

Wow, what a workout.  The uphill took a lot out of me.  But made it to the top and walked up to the car.

Drove back along highway and turned to stop at Keokea Beach.  Watched waves for a bit and then went back to highway.

Once into town, stopped at small cafe across from the King Kamehameha statue.  Wanted to buy a snack.  They had cans of soda, but no other snacks.  After taking photos, decided I was hungry enough to eat and we had about an hour to burn.  Ordered a Greek pizza with salad.

Food was excellent.  Finished eating, then went back down highway toward Kona.

Turned off on road to Kapa'a Beach to wait for sunset.  Sat there for about 2 hours.  Climbed on lava rock beach and took many photos as the sun worked its way down.  Finally after sunset got back into car and headed back to Kona.

A bit of slow going due to idiot drivers, but made it to Kona by 8:30 p.m.  Went to Taco Bell and had a small dinner since I would not eat again till next day.

Drove back up to airport, returned rental car and took shuttle to terminal.

Waited for 30 minutes to get checked in, breezed through security, then waited again for a Department of Agriculture scan of bags.

Finally sat in terminal and wrote in this book until time to board plane.

Flight back was crowded and not easy.  Read most the night and tried to sleep.

Was beat by time landing in Phoenix.  Drove home and Harry and I both went back to sleep.

Was a great trip, but very tiring and I sunburned a lot!  Ready to go back though. :)