Day 8 – Roaming Kona and Waimea
August 2nd, 2010We’d passed a recommended restaurant on the way to Kona, so we backtracked down Rte 11 and had a yummy breakfast at the Coffee Shack. Cute geckos roamed the outdoor patio – or “lanai” – and one of the gentlemen at the counter tried guessing where we were from. Seattle was the first guess based on Alethea and Josh’s knitting projects; Pittsburgh was an exciting answer since the guy grew up on the Mexican War streets on the North side! He even said “yinz!”
We wanted to see the Northern part of the island, so we wound our way up the island’s oldest (dead) volcano, Kohala, before turning toward the coast. I love me some geology, and got mocked as I ooh’ed and aw’ed over the two impressive cloud-shrouded mountains towering above us. I guess it was time to shut up about the mountains – even though we were enjoying the paradise product of these massive volcanoes erupting in the middle of a freakin’ ocean, which I think is pretty dang impressive.
Moving on, we visited an important heiau called “Pu’ukohola”. The construction of this heiau (sacred structure) was the third in a line of prophecies that secured King Kamehameha’s role in uniting the Islands, which was kind of a big deal.
We were tired of driving at this point, and found refuge in the form of the most perfect beach ever – yes, all the beaches in Hawaii are quite perfect, but this one was the perfect air and water temperature with the softest current and the cutest families… and we found it at the most wonderful part of a long lonely drive North. We regretted not having our suits with us, and I know each one of us seriously considered sitting in the surf fully clothed. Common sense won out – by mere centimeters, I tell you – and we regrettably got back in the car.
Maui accompanied us North. Only 30 miles of ocean lay between Hawaii and its smaller (older) brother. Between the hazy day making the island appear ghostly and the clouds around its base making it float over the water, the island was an ethereal site to behold as we continued up the coast.
Hawi, at Hawaii’s Northern tip was our ultimate destination, and totally worth it. Ice cream from Tropical Dreams came very highly recommended by our book (and our yurt owners), so we were obliged to try it. We pre-gamed the scoops with The Best Hot Dogs Ever, and the coffee and vanilla and mango ice creams did not disappoint.
Our next destination was another heiau, this one used for countless human sacrifices and described as “the loneliest place on the island” and “having no soul”. Yeeg. We chickened out when we saw the road that led to it– Alethea’s little Ford Focus was not built for that kind of terrain. We aborted that mission, but saw an impressive wind farm instead.
Our final stop before going back to the hotel was a field of Hawaiian petroglyphs. Exhausted tourists were we, and the hike to get to them was challenging; when the sign says “Wear appropriate shoes” you should listen.
The painful hike through lava rock and Thorns of Doom gave way to a lava field full of petroglyphs. Their origin, age and meaning are lost to time, and when you factor in that their creators made the same walk we just did barefoot: dang.
Many of the carvings are figures, and most orient toward the mountain. Mysterious and exciting.
Then we took a well-earned dip in the pool, Josh and I watched the sun set over the Pacific, and we had a final toast to Hawaii and our trip.








































































