Dora's Way: A Couple of Whales and a Couple of Trails

Yesterday morning we decided to get an early start on our walk down the hill. Early would be around 6:00 or so when the sky starts lighting up. The sun comes over the ridge of the mountain around 8:00. So, I guess we didn't get as early a start as possible, because it was around 7:30. We wanted to get a head start on our usual because we had plans for later in the afternoon, and because we wanted to do a little extra exploring along the coast and to the north. Someone had described an area there that we wanted to see.

On the way down the hill, I was looking out toward the lone house sitting over the shore, and I saw what looked like a whale - I got a really good look at its tail, which seemed to have white tips.

We continued on to the bottom of the road, then took a right at the beach. We wandered through the "People's Trail" that we had discovered a couple weeks ago, and passed through the "Secret Beach" - we were the first ones there today, for the first time. But we didn't stop there. We walked past the green house that is so close to the rocky shore. We were told that a dentist owns it and is hardly ever there. What a shame, because it is in such a wonderful location - no neighbors in the vicinity, and overlooking the ocean.

All the while, I was keeping an eye out for the whale (?) that I had seen earlier. As we reached a rocky outcropping overlooking the ocean, Ron was the next to see it...or, rather them. There appeared to be two of them.

Here is a video:
https://youtu.be/au5s0KiPzAA
Two whales

The coast there was gorgeous, and I took a short video of the area, including Mauna Kea, which you can see in the distance:

https://youtu.be/PM_-GnVALPI
Lava Cove on the Kona Coast

I called it Lava Cove because I haven't looked to see what the actual name of the place is. There are names for every bay and point along the coast, so I'm sure this place has a better name than Lava Cove, after all, there is lava all over this place, and it all runs right down to the ocean! On the other hand, why not!

After consulting a map, it appears we were near Kau Loa Point - but not exactly sure where, in relation.

TRAIL TWO:
The next trail we took was this morning's hike. We had been told about the cinder cone to the south along the coast from here. The trail we took was the King's Trail - turning left at the bottom of the hill.

Cinder cone - about a mile south of where we are staying - near Auau Point

The first feature we saw was the "hole" where water fills and empties each time a wave comes and goes. Here is a video of that:
https://youtu.be/3cgT3cm2JFY
"Hole"

The walk to the cinder cone was on a trail of loose lava rocks of varying sizes. This has to be one of the most difficult surfaces I've ever hiked on. Every step is a new chance to twist your ankle. The hiking poles were much appreciated!

Here are some photos of the hike and the cinder cone: