We headed out to the National Park but along the way, we stopped at South Point. South Point is the southern most point in the US. Along the way, there were old windmill farms along with new windmill farms. Since there is a lot of wind velocity off the coast, these farms help to generate electricity for the island. It's also a clean form of energy. Too bad people in Mass. are dead set against have windmills put up in Nantucket Sound. They're too worried about maring the view however it would create a lot of power and could have us not rely on using the power plant or obtaining energy from out-of-state sources. South Point is a great place to view the power of waves eroding the coastline. The volcanic rock is rich in olivine crystals. The crystals form inside the magma chamber slowly. When the magma is brought to the surface, the rock is filled with green crystals.
We stopped at Punalu'u State Park to spot the Pacific Green Turtle. There were are few sunning themselves on the black sand while others were surfing the waves.
After photo ops at the area, we headed on to the National Park.
Once we were checked in, we took a walk along the Sulfur Banks Boardwalk. Spied the Lenua Ohea tree which is related to the Rata tree we saw in New Zealand. There were steam vents along the way and we saw sulfur crystals along a scarp. Other minerals like gypsum, opal, and hematite were also found along the scarps. Fummerals were also along the boardwalk. Unlike a steam vent, which is produced when rainwater enters the area, fummerals release not only steam but gases into the area.
From the Sulfur Banks, we headed to the visitor's center to gather more information about the area and to look over the caldera. Watching the sun set capped off another beautiful day on the Big Island.
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