It was an early start for us this morning, as we would be driving from the west to the east coast, with many interesting sights to stop at along the way.
First stop was in the town that we had been staying in, an old theatre that we had passed on our many drives along this coast – the Aloha Theatre. Near it was also a great antiques shop.
We then started our journey south, detouring off the highway to visit St Benedict Church.
The famous ‘painted church’ has an interesting history; it was originally built in 1842 on the shores of Honaunau and known as St Francis Regis Chapel. By the mid 1880s most of the parishioners had moved up the slopes to take advantage of the cooler mountain climate. Father John Berchmans Velghe from Belgium arrived in 1899 and decided to follow the parishioners up the mountain slope. In the years that followed they dismantled the church and transported it by donkey up the slopes to it’s current location. It was consecrated in 1902 and named St Benedict Church. Father Velghe was a self taught artist and he painted the interior walls of the church. His depictions of scenes from the bible were important teaching tools as many people could not read or write at the time.
Next stop was Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park.
This place on the black lava flats of the southern Kona coast was an ideal place for the ali’i (Royal Chiefs) to establish one of their most important residences. There was no single large structure like a palace, instead the residence consisted of 10 or more thatched buildings.
Nicola played a game of Konane, a traditional Hawaiian game arranged on a papamu or stone playing surface.
Next to the royal grounds and separated by a stone wall was the pu’uhonua, a place of refuge for defeated warriors, non-combatants in time of war, and those who violated the kapu (scared laws).
After a thorough exploration of the ancient sacred site we continued heading south, eventually making our way across the south coast to the east coast. We stopped at the small town of Na’alehu, famous for being the southernmost town in the USA. We visited the well reputed Hana Hou Coffee Shop to pick up some healthy bits for lunch – all hand made fresh that morning!
With our lunch safely stowed for later we continued on along the coast, stopping next at Punalu’u, wh ere a black sand beach provides a refuge to hawksbill sea turtles and green sea turtles.
We watched as they ate the tasty seaweed in the shallow rock pools and then crawled up the beach to rest.
Please forgive Nicola for her silliness on this video…she had been waiting for ages to get a video of the turtles head above water…'”Argh yes”!
After an amazing morning spent with the turtles we started the short journey from here to Volcanoes National Park.
Home to 3 active volcanoes and growing at a rate of 600 acres in the past 15 years thanks to lava pouring from Kilauea Volcano, this park is one of a kind.
Kilauea started erupting in 1983, so after continuously flowing for 27 years, this makes it the longest eruption in history. The lava flow has consumed everything in its path, including the coastal road and the entire village of Kalapana.
We visited the Kilauea Visitors Centre first to get ourselves acquainted with the park, and then took the Chain of Craters Road, passing through fields of old lava flow for 20 miles, and descending 3700ft to the coast.
The road once continued along the coast, however in 1987 9 miles of this road were buried under lava flow. We stopped at the new ‘end point’ and explored the area.
The volcanic lava cliffs, now dried from exposure to the sea water were spectacular.
The true ‘wonder’ of this area though was the site of the lava advance on the road.
As time was getting on, the rest of the park would have to wait for our trip back with Arnott’s Lodge on Sunday night.
We arrived in Hilo at 5pm, and checked into our accommodation for the next 4 nights – Arnott’s Lodge.
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