Beloved Big Island

My first visit was in 1992; I had stumbled on the possibility to be a volunteer in national parks in the Olympic NP, Washington State, and had loved it. When I arrived on the Big Island I marched into the Visitors Center of Volcanoes NP and told the Volunteer Coordinator I was ready to work straight away (just as I had done in the Visitors Center of Olympic NP in Port Angeles). Alas, the same thing happened in both places: they needed volunteers urgently because they were desperately short of staff, and took me on immediately, ignoring all the rules and red tape for volunteer applications...
My second visit was in 1998 - I returned to visit one of my former colleagues, and to snorkel around the island (following "The Ultimate Guidebook: The Big Island Revealed").

Click on the photo to see the album Hawai'i 2012: Big Island, Kona side

This time, latest edition of the same guidebook in hand, I went to revisit favorite places from previous explorations, and to discover new secret coves, groves, and beaches.

As I have been asked by many people about the "Queen's Bath", I have created a separate album for those who do not want to wade through all the other pictures.
I have visited just  four of the many secret ponds in lava fields which are commonly called "Queen's Bath", really just denoting a special place for bathing, although some of them indeed may have been used by the Hawaiian aristocracy.

Click on the photo to see the album

Click on the photo to see the album Hawai'i 2012: Big Island, Hilo side