Friday on the Big Island

The Place of Refuge. In ancient times, if you broke a kapu (rule or taboo) you were subject to severe penalties (i.e., death). Your one chance was to make it to this sacred spot where no blood could be spilt.
















Green sea turtle basking at the Place of Refuge. Not sure what it did to piss off the other sea turtles.













Jess says she's given up hope of having good hair in any of our pictures, particularly if we've just gone kayaking, as in this shot. The white obelisk behind us is the Captain Cook monument, which is actually British sovereign territory. Captain Cook "discovered" the Hawaiian Islands on his way to find the Northwest Passage. He also "discovered" that it's best not to let people think you're the god Lono, or they might just cave your skull in when they figure out what's going on (that's the abridged version).
We weren't able to land at the monument due to earthquake damage to the cliffs above (and there was a boat there watching us to make sure we didn't stray). After the kayak trip we went snorkeling near Place of Refuge, where we swam with frikking dolphins. Actually, that's not quite right; we swam near frikking dolphins. They surfaced near us before heading away from the crowds.
















The view from our hotel room. Tomorrow we're headed for Volcano Village (other side of the island) where we stay until Monday morning. Later!