previous occasion!! He was fairly harmless though, and after a good feed and wine we all fell asleep to the sound of the Pacific Ocean's waves.

The next morning we woke up to the early morning sun glistening on the Ocean, it really was a gorgeous view. The eastern side of the big Island gets all the rain, and this makes it one of the greenest places we have been - just marvelous!! And if the day got off to a good start then the fresh fruit salad and pancakes we had for breakfast really did put a spring in our steps!! We had a look at the information board in the park. They told a very sad story about how a school used to be there until it was destroyed by a Tsunami, along with several of the pupils. It's mad to think that it's difficult to think of anything but the Asian Tsunami whenever the word is mentioned - but Hawaii has suffered devastatingly twice in the last century!

Once we got out of the county park we made it to Kalopa State recreation Area , where there was a nice nature walk and the beginnings of an Arboretum of native Hawaiian trees. Once again we found ourselves in a forest quite unlike any that we'd seen before on our travels! We like forests!! This was one of the places which we'd wanted to camp but was having the loos done up!! The next place on the adgenda was the town of Honoka'a, a quaint little place which was full of curious little antique shops, a very odd thing to find. Myself and Paddy also sampled the local diner, where I feasted on a mahi mahi burger - mahi mahi being the local fish, and particularly delicious it is too! The final stop was the Waipio Valley Lookout. This really is the king of all the lush green valleys in the Big Island - it is simply enormous, and the view just beautiful. The large flat area at the bottom was once the home to Taro farmers in pre European days. The road