Victoria & Graham

Rising long before the sun, we set out to the southern tip of the big island of Hawaii. The air was

frigid and cold, the sky was dark and compelling us to go back to sleep. Waking up at 3:30am

while hoping to make it to Green sands by the time the sun rose was an adventure all its own.

Victoria, Graham, and I listened to music and talked the whole drive, all the while hoping to beat

the sun before it

rose. 

As we got closer, the terrain transformed before our eyes. The once lush greenery shifted to an

arid desert of dry grass and a dusty road. The landscape was beautiful as the sky started to

lighten and turn beautiful faded shades of blue and pink.

The ride down to Green Sands beach is rough, if

you are visiting and going to attempt the trek down, I would suggest using 4wheel drive. To walk 

down and back in the blazing sun is a very courageous thing. 

There are many different routes to the beach, some twisting and connecting. Those closer to the 

cliffs and shoreline are more dangerous than the ones on higher ground. Some of the walls to the

pathways are almost taller than the height of a trucks door. 

As we reached the end of our journey the sun began to rise. Victoria, Graham, and I hurried up to

the top of the cliffs edge and watched as the sun began to rise. It is not every day we get

to witness the sun rising out of the ocean.

The cliffs are so amazingly beautiful, and the ocean was the bluest I have yet to see. The amazing

sand appears green because of the olivine that has eroded from the cinder cone cliffside.

It shimmers in the sun like little fragments of emeralds.