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Published: November 1st 2013
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We woke up early again...jet lag really works in your favor here! Pink skies, trade winds...
I decide to run this morning, and made the mistake of waiting til after coffee and toast (I brought my homemade breakfast bread with us...) to leave, and it got really hot by the end of my 50 minute jog...!
I ran up to the shopping center, across from which is a small park with a historical information plaque. In reading it, I realized I could run down to the next bay and visit the birth place of King Kamehameha III who was reputedly born a blue baby and was revived in the cooling waters of a nearby spring and warmed on a sun-heated rock. He was the last son of Kamehameha I to sit on the throne of Hawaii and the longest reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom (1825-1854). The road ended at a small bay with a public boat launch and kayak rentals. On the other side, there is a parking lot and a small park holding the birthplace and remnants of the spring in which the baby king was revived. It's a beautiful place with cliffs and hanging vines...
Elderly Standup Paddleboarder!
He was slow, and did fall off when he got to shore, but he was out there! I ran back up the hill to the main road and then back down to the edge of the county club golf course which borders our condo. Since the club is closed for renovations, I decided to cut across it to the water and our condo. By then it was very hot! I noticed a walled area right on the shore, and found a blowhole, with water shooting up into the air....a quick walk through an unmarked trail brought me home, very hot and sweaty....
After a glass of water, I decided to have more coffee, and grabbed a carton from the fridge while describing my run to Bill....My first gulp of coffee was so horrible that I didn't swallow it and quickly realized I'd added oj, not milk...whole cup down the drain...
After breakfast, we drove down to the snorkel beach, where there were fewer fish and much stronger currents than yesterday, so Bill was a bit disappointed after my rave review....
We drove into Kona for lunch, dodging around the cruise ship crowds, and then decided to drive to the north tip of the island, into the town of Hawi and over to the Pololu
Reconstructed site in Kona Harbor near cruise ship landing
Ahuena Heiau: This well-restored religious site was the personal heiau (temple) of King Kamehemeha the Great. Valley Lookout. It was a beautiful drive, first up along the coast to Hawi, with stop at Lapakahi State Park. This 265-acre park is the site of an ancient Hawaiian settlement located along the shoreline of the Lapakahi Marine Life Conservation District. The area was first settled around 600 years ago in the 1300's and occupied until quite recently. Some of the village has been partially restored but most of the rocky walls and remains are original. This area was rich in natural resources for the settlers - good fishing and fertile land. But life here was also difficult as the ground is rocky and the area is very windy. We had trouble opening the car doors!
We stopped for coffee in Hawi and then drove to the lookout, past beautiful traditional Hawaiian homes and store fronts from the days of the sugar plantation there. From Wikipedia: "A unique operation was the Kohala Sugar Company, known as "The Missionary Plantation" since it was founded by Reverend
Elias Bond in 1862 to support his church and schools. He protested the slave-like conditions, and the profits made him one of the largest benefactors to other missions. It operated for 110 years."
After viewing the beautiful Pololu Valley, I took the wheel and we drove the Kohala Mountain Road to Waimea, and then took the Hawaii Belt road back home.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Kona calls
We've got a couple of friends that want us to go to Kona with them. You make it look very appealing.