We loved our time in Kona, but were ready to move on. So after a short walk to spot the Ironman finish line (of course!) we drove south to the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park.
I didn't know what to expect, really -- all I knew was that it was "the place of refuge" for people who had broken kapu -- sacred laws. The area contains monumental architecture like the great well as well as several ki'i statues -- symbolic representations of the akua, the Hawaiian gods, deities, and venerated ancestors.
These ki'i were carved in the 1960s and are periodically replaced -- I mean, it's wood. Of course it needs replacing. And they are beautiful. We went for a little walk to look at them:
We also walked around the Royal Grounds. There were some great hands-on demonstrations (wooden stamps, for example), but my favorite part was just these views of black lava and bright green plants:
We took a break in the picnic area and ate more amazing tofu poke (so good!), and then it was time to move on.
We made a little detour to see the Painted Church -- a surprisingly delightful little church that was, indeed, painted on the inside.
Another detour took us into the Ocean View Estate -- really a bunch of roads plotted with a handful of houses built on them. But perhaps we could move there and live on the corner of Tiki Lane and Aloha Boulevard?
Back on the main road we kept heading south... to the southernmost point of the US. Not much to see but... sea.
Turning north we stopped at Punalu'u Bake Shop. I had hoped to pick up malasadas... but they were SOLD OUT and the place was packed. In the recent Hurricane Lala and flooding the bake shop was severely damaged and is currently closed. Here's hoping they can recover soon!
Next stop: Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park.
It's verrrrry strange to see black sand ...
But the real highlight was the turtles:
Our next stop was our home for the night: Paradise Yurts.
The owners only rent to one party at a time, so we had the area to ourselves... apart from a friendly cat:
The owners were amazing, and even made us a fantastic breakfast the next morning. And may I highlight this astounding bathroom and shower that made me want to move to Hawaii?
We ate a picnic under the trees (accompanied by our feline friend) and just relaxed. A perfect place to stay -- if you're headed to the big island I cannot recommend them enough. We booked Paradise Yurts on Hipcamp and wished we had arranged to stay more nights.
Next up: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Travel Tuesday is a project I'm working on to get old photos and memories out of notebooks and onto this blog.
