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July 15, 2002 Today was a travel day. We travelled up the north coast of the island. Travelling up the coast we were able to witness the diversity of the island. Where we are staying the island's climate is dry and landscaped by black lava rock. Travelling up the coast the landscape changes quickly. Suddenly there appears a lush rainforrest. We stopped several times at different scenic points. One scenic stop was at King Kamehameha's birthplace. A landmark on the North coast stands a giant statue of King Kamehameha. It is the original statue created in 1879 there are four others replicas three others on the other islands and one in Washington D.C. After posing with King Kamehamaeha we headed further up the coast to Pololu Valley Lookout Point where we hiked down a very steep rocky trail. At the bottom of the trail was a black sand beach - Keokea Beach Park. It was beautiful hiking in the rainforest with lush greet plants and beautiful tall trees. Although we had to cut our hike short. We didn't make it to the bottom, as we could see the rain coming in from the ocean. We really didn't want to risk hiking the steap slippery rocks in the rain plus we had lots of expensive camera equipment with us. So Marie and I went very quickly back up the trail. While the guys were brave and decided to head further down the trail. Marie and I barely got back to the car before it began pouring rain. John and Ruben did not make it back before the rain. They were soaked once at the top. Then we were ready to head back south. For the trip back we travelled in-land which took us to higher elevation. We had beautiful views of green flowing hills and blue skies. Our next stop was Kauna'o Beach at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel recently rated the No 1 beach in America by Dr. Beach and Travel Age Magazine. It proved to be a great place for snorkeling. The water was smooth and there was lots of coral. We saw some really huge colorful fish. That evening John and I headed back to the Hilton Resort. We walked along the lighted paths of tiki torches next to the water where we rested in a hammock and listened to the crashing waves against the shoreline.