"Welcome to the end of the road"

"Welcome to the end of the road", was how the chatty security guard greeted Jenn and I as we finally made it to the remote lava field viewing area. There have been multiple lava flows as recently as two years ago to this part of the island. We arrived in the evening hoping to see hot lava in the distance but the active lava was under ground an not visible. It was an eerie place that really felt like the end of the road. There were people living there still - their homes surrounded by lava and cut off from any services. This place was off the grid.

Tourism on the big island is surprisingly not over done. They have done a good job of keeping the unique small town Hawaiian feel to most of this island. There are visitors here but not too many that you feel overwhelmed. But, as you can see in the photos some of the tourists are not following the rules. We visited a black sand volcanic beach and saw several sea turtles (they are endangered and protected by federal law) eating sea weed/kelp right on shore. There was a "stay 15 feet back from the turtles sign" but of course several iphone snapping tourists felt they should get close and personal. Our photo was taken well back from the turtles, and as you can see we still got a great view. (click on photos to enlarge)