Hawaii Diiary: Kona Coast

After spending half of the day before on the road, we decided to stay in the Kona Coast for our second full day on the big island. We first hit Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, formerly known as the "City of Refuge", but renamed to the Hawaiian name in the 1970s. The park rests on a lovely peninsula about 30 minutes south of our hotel.

In early Hawaiian times, warriors who were defeated in battle, or others who broke kapu (ancient laws), could find refuge in the Pu'uhonua, which is an area surrounded by a Great Wall and protected by the spirit of Chief Keawe`ikekahiali`i o kamoku (his friends called him Keawe). Consider that battles were to the death in olden times, so if you were losing, you ran for your life. The kapu were a set of laws forbidding various activities involving the Chief, or having some other spritual bent, and violating the kapu also meant immediate death. In either case, if you were able to evade the angry mob coming after you long enough to get to the Pu'uhonua (either by scaling the 10-foot high and 17-foot wide wall, or by swimming across the bay to reach the beach), you would be safe, since the Pu'uhonua was considered to be sacred ground. You would then be absolved of your sins by a priest and allowed to leave freely. It's not clear how the angry mob was supposed to know that you were saved, but whatever.

Next to the Pu'uhonua are the Royal Grounds, used by a series of chiefs and kings several hundred years ago. The grounds originally housed a bunch of thatched buildings, freshwater fish ponds (for food), and the royal canoe landing. Many of the buildings are now gone, although the National Park Service has recreated several of them in full size or scale models. The royal boat ramp was popular with green sea turtles. Not sure if the turtles were prosecuted for breaking kapu in ancient times, but the canoe landing was traditionally reserved for the chief only. Everyone else had to use a different one up the coast.

The park was attractive and educational, but not very big. We finished the self-guided tour in about an hour or 90 minutes. We planned to have lunch at The Coffee Shack, on Route 11 just south of Captain Cook, but there was a traffic jam approaching the restaurant, and eventually we were forced to turn around by emergency workers. It looked like there was some kind of accident at or near the restaurant. We made our way around the problem using very twisty back roads, and eventually landed at the Nasturtium Cafe for lunch. This small roadside restaurant (and I do mean roadside -- the front outdoor dining area is right next to the road) specializes in "healthy gourmet", with lots of organic-type stuff, all made from scratch. Considering the roadside accommodations, we opted for the new indoor space in the back, which was much quieter, if perhaps not quite in its final design. Anyways, the owner (also our server) was very friendly and lunch was very good, even if I can't remember what we had. I think I had a buffalo burger. Edith decided that salads are always better in Hawaii than back home.

Kona is well-known for its coffee, and after lunch we visited the Kona Blue Sky Coffee Company in Holualoa. The Twigg-Smith family has been growing all their own coffee on 400 acres for several generations. We watched an informational video while guzzling lots of free samples (B only), and the shop manager gave us a tour of their garden near the visitor's center. Unfortunately, there was not much of a legitimate tour going on while we were there -- no visiting the actual orchards, or activity in the roasting room. The coffee is quite good, though. Holualoa is also home to a collection of art galleries, which we spent an hour or two strolling through. A few were closed for some reason, maybe because there weren't many shoppers around on his Friday afternoon, either.

That completed our planned agenda for the day. Good thing, too, because we were feeling a little wiped, either due to delayed jet lag, or a caffeine crash. We went back to the hotel to take a short nap, and when we woke up, there was a beautiful sunset setting up. We wandered up and down the shore (and onto the neighboring golf course) for a while. I think my new camera takes very good pictures in "sunset mode"!

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, we were quite pleased with the Sheraton Keauhou Bay hotel. The location, right on the water, can't be beat, except if they had a sand beach and reef for snorkeling on site. Our room was reasonably large and recently updated. The bar/lounge was a comfortable place for some cocktails, open to the outside, with several levels of seating so that everyone can see out to the ocean from their table or couch. There is a patio area attached (where weddings probably occur), and there is manta ray viewing from the patio after dark. The hotel shines spotlights into the water, which attracts extra algae blooms, which attract the rays. We weren't able to see any, but there were several boats full of divers exploring the area after dark, so I assume it's working.

The entire hotel seemed to be trying to be kid-friendly. There was a movie night in the courtyard, the awesome pool, and other activities available. Kids seemed to be welcome in the bar, since there were a number of families there along with us, with no issues. This kid-friendliness is good or bad, depending on your point of view, but considering our situation, we viewed it as a good thing and would be happy to go back if we could get another deal.

Sadly, we couldn't stay longer. We ended up just grabbing a bite in the bar for dinner and crashing again after doing some packing. We had to leave for Kauai on the next day!