In search of turtles...ii

Having not found the elusive turtle the day prior at the two beaches where they are apparently frequent, we head to the other side of the island, Hilo (about 1.5hrs from Kona). 
We are surprised by the varied scenery on the island from palm tree lined beached to barren volcanic hillsides to jungle like forests (minus the monkeys, though some of the bugs aren't that much smaller).

Location 3: Carl Smith Beach
Google had advised us that if we parked just beyond Carl Smith Beach (our potential turtle destination) we would walk though a lush jungle to get to the beach. The first part was certainly accurate, the jungle was indeed lush. What it didn't say was to get to our intended beach it could be considered fairly untamed jungle with many obstacles to traverse including wading chest height with our camera bags held above our heads and sea fleas that have a fetish for biting the most sensitive parts within swimwear requiring indelicate itching for much of the rest of the day.
 We snorkeled at our intended beach for a while but again, no luck finding a turtle. Though the snorkeling was nice enough, being bitten in the arse (whose shall remain a mystery, there are no photos) by sea fleas didn't feel like much of a consolation prize.  Defeated again we take the long route home via Waimea and stop at Akaka falls on the way through. Well worth the stop, as was the Big Island Brewhaus for Sunday lunch at Waimea (separate post).

At 'Akaka Falls we paid our $1 each ($5 if you wanted to park within 100m, free further away with the puppies that were wandering around looking cute :) ).
Torrents of water, you can understand why they give drought warnings on the east side of the island when it hasn't rained for 2 or 3 days.

(Repeat, to be thorough) Location 4: Kiholo Bay part 2

We were driving by our previous day's (no) turtle locales and decided to stop back at Kiholo Bay, a local had advised we had lost our nerve too early and assured us turtles were just around the corner we had previously turned around at.  Rather than walk the difficult long pebble beach again (surprise it's 35oC again) we walked a back road that appeared to be a shortcut, though not as glamorous it was certainly easier. Let's be clear, it was a pitilessly hot, flat, grey gravel track through,,,,,,bleak, pitiless, nothingness. We round a corner we had previously not reached and low and behold OUR FIRST TURTLE frolicking at the edge of the water, feeding on the sea grasses.

We stayed and watched our shelled friend for a while before succumbing to good sense and heading home to cool down in the pool with a beverage or two.