Starting off the day, we got in the vans and went to the beach that was hidden behind the lava flows. The road was super bumpy and it was cool to see the natural flows of the lava. According to Mr. Hansen, it was called ropy lava because of the structure and shape of the lava. Anyways, we got to the beach and met up with a small non profit called Hawaiian Wildlife Fund to help them do a beach clean up and partake in a sand castle competition. To learn more about the not for profit visit their website at, http://www.wildhawaii.org/. We all got gloves and buckets and headed out to the beach to set out on the trash pickup. As I walked around the beach, my friends and I would climb along the natural rock and lava formations to look for pieces of plastic which would harm the environment. After around a thirty minute cleanup, we all grouped up to start the sand castle competition. To make it eco friendly and better for the environment, we were shoveling sand from the anchialine pools which are native pools for Hawaiian creatures. Basically the tsunami came in and filled these pools with sand and ruined the environment for the fish and other animals, so we had to get our sand from this pool. My group made a large island mimicking the island’s volcanoes and natural terrain. Sadly we lost and had to all get back on the bus for the next adventure, The Valley hike. At the hike, we walked down the trail together to find ourselves sitting at the mouth of a black sand beach. This was hands down one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever stepped foot on, and the sand was so smooth and surprisingly cool. We walked down the sand and worked our way through some of the unmarked paths, where we found a rope swing hidden in a jungle of sorts. As we dug deeper we actually got to find the bottom half of a WW II tank that was hidden under the dirt and bushes. Mr. Hansen said that the tank had been from preparation for Normandy and Iwo Jima, and one of the tanks crashed so they left what they couldn’t salvage. After finishing up on the unexplored trails, we walked down the beach to the end where there was a small cave that we crawled through. Although sketchy it was so much fun and so interesting to see how the water had wore away the rocks from years of waves. Once we finished exploring on our own, we grouped up and got ready to go up to the summit. Me being an idiot decided I wanted to run it and race my friends, however, that idea didn’t last long as I am now a golfer… Anyways we made it up the trail and got in the van and drove to a local pineapple farmer who had the best fruit I have ever tasted in my life. After enjoying some fruit we headed home for the day and relaxed in the pool and threw the football around to throw away some time at the house. As the sun set, we all ate dinner as a group and finished off the night playing cards.
