Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Friday 19th September    

Cruise Day 8 – Kona, Hawaii.

The sail into Kona, on the Big Island was lovely. I left Dad on board today – he doesn’t love tendering (and did need a quiet day after yesterday. The tender process was very smooth – although it is VERY enhanced by being D+ and having priority.  You go up to the concierge lounge and are escorted down to the front of the line.

I went and got my hire car.  Today’s car was from Enterprise and I was very happy with them. The shuttle bus was very prompt and took me up to the depot. The guy serving me told me “Good news – you get a free upgrade.  The Bad news it a van”.  Oh well.  Then he gave me my ‘van’.  A new Chrysler Town and Country.  Great to drive. They also do a great deal for cruise ship booking.  You can agree to pay for 3 gallons of fuel at the standard price – not the $6.80 that most places charge if they fill up for you. That is the average that cruisers use to see the main sites. So much better than running around to find a ‘gas station’.

I headed off to Turtle Beach aka Kahaluu to snorkel and had a lovely time.  “Will I see Turtles I wondered.”

Well - not until I touched the water, anyway. One was there in about 300mm of water. Didn’t even need to get in to see it.

I had a lovely time. Snorkelled around for about 60 minutes. The water temperature was sensational!

I drove further down the road using the old navigation trick of “water to the left, mountain to the right”. That way I got to see as much coast as I could.

I saw a road heading off with a booth and headed in. As I was driving up I though that the booth was a long way back.  “How would I reach to pay my entrance fee?”

“Which National Park am I at” I asked.

“Private Residence” says the guard.

“Oh, which resort is it?”

“Private Residence” says the guard.

“Oh, Wow, who loves here?”

“Private Residence” says the guard.

“You can turn around there”.

This place was so fancy. Two guards at the booth and many acres of manicured lawns.  I wonder who did live there????  Guess I shall never know.

I was cruising down the main road but it stopped as it had been destroyed by lava and there was a detour.  I saw a really cool Labrador enjoying a day out.

I didn’t really feel that I was climbing up hill for the next while, but suddenly I was at the top of a good sized mountain with a fantastic outlook over the ocean. The drive back down was very steep and winding. But fine. There were driveways running off to houses. Each one had a sign saying “Danger, steep decent” and the drive just dropped away. Totally.  Must have been a 45 degree drop off!!!

I then drove further down the coast which was very pretty for a stop at Kealakekua National Park. The site where the first westerner, Captain James Cook, landed on Hawaii’s Big Island. Cook was the first British explorer to establish contact with the Hawaiian Islands in 1778 on Kauai. Only a year later, he was killed in a skirmish with native Hawaiians here. Since good old James Cook is fairly important to us Aussie I thought I had better have a look.

Very pretty – but I don’t think the beach was worth dying for.  Silly Capt. Cook.

I found a stunning little road through a quiet suburban area by the ocean......

which soon changed – to a very narrow and straight track. Many people stopped and turned back. It went through the old lava fields running parallel to the coast – dead straight! 

It was bizarre. I could have been in a sci-fi movie. There is no way they could build anything on it so all the amenities were just lying on the ground in black pipes. 

Nature was doing its thing and SLOWLY beginning the reclamation process of regeneration. It will be millennium before this has broken down to the fantastic red volcanic soil that Hawaii is so famous for. Along the road were huge chunks of lava that had been broken up to build the road. It was great to stop and get a good look at it. But I didn’t feel the need to take a sample. No bad luck for me thanks!

Then I did get to the National Park I was looking for.

Pu'Uhonan O Honannan National Park. Pu'uhonua, is a place of refuge. The Pu'uhonua protected the kapu (law) breaker, defeated warriors, as well as civilians during the time of battle. No harm could come to those who reached the boundaries of the place of refuge.

Another stunningly beautiful place.

This is one of the places where the lava flowed into the ocean – and was quiet surreal to be walking on it and imagining the massive battle of these two titanic forces of lava and the ocean meeting.

 

I then climbed back up the mountain (in the car) and headed back, dropped the car and onto the ship.