honeymoon in hawaii: day five
nenes
Originally uploaded by embem30. Friday morning, we got up at about 6am so that we could visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park before driving across the island to Kona. After taking turns in the shower, we got our breakfast out of the fridge. This time, it was slightly worse. One of the glasses of juice was pretty much frozen, and there were two things that really needed to be toasted: Texas toast and bagels. I ate the pineapple, but I didn't get very far into my chewy bagel before deciding it wasn't worth it. We gave up on that breakfast, packed our luggage in the car (including the chips we bought yesterday), and checked out of the Inn at the Volcano. It was an okay place to stay, and it was in a good location, but we probably wouldn't stay there again.
Entering the national park with our pass from the night before, we retraced our steps, driving clockwise around Crater Rim Drive towards Chain of Craters Road. We stopped at the Kilauea Iki overlook again, but the sun wasn't in the best spot for pictures. More quick stops followed, as we saw turnoffs for overlooks and craters.
Soon, we were driving down Chain of Craters Road again. We saw the same stuff that we had seen just before dark the previous night, except that we could see them a lot better. Suddenly, Steve slowed down and stopped on the road. There were two Hawaiian geese (nenes, the endangered state birds) by the side of the road a few meters ahead of us. Since there was no one behind us, I got out of the car to take pictures of them. I was snapping photos as I crept closer, expecting them to run off at any moment. One of them looked slightly nervous and took a step closer to its friend, but they pretty much just chilled and looked around while I got close enough to get the shot I wanted.
Back on the road, we entered the 25-mile an hour nene zone. Of course, it was about three minutes of driving after we saw the nenes that we had to slow down. We had learned the night before on the radio station that several nenes get hit by cars each year, so we were careful anyway.
holy sea arch, batman!
Originally uploaded by embem30. We made a few more stops along Chain of Craters road so that we could see the views of the shoreline from the higher altitudes. Then, we continued down the road to the bottom. We didn't stop at the petroglyphs, though. There were warning signs about air quality, and we could see that it was "voggy."
The road was closed off when we got to the Holei Sea Arch area, so we parked and got out to look around. Steve went to the restroom while I walked across the lava toward the overlook. To the left was a nice view of the rugged coastline with the occasional crashing wave. To the right and down was the Holei Sea Arch. The little family that had been trailing just behind us was also there, but otherwise, Chain of Craters Road was very quiet.
Before we got back in the car, Steve showed me the information on the walls near the restrooms. He had been reading about all the hazards of volcanoes. There were pictures from the large chunk of land that had fallen into the ocean in 2005, as well as stories about people getting injured while standing at "safe distances" from volcanic activity. People had gotten blown up when there were explosions or scalded by a wave. They all sounded like good reasons to me not to go where the activity was.
Satisfied with our Chain of Craters Road experience, we drove back up the big hills to Crater Rim Drive. This time, we stopped at Thurston Lava Tube. It was another place that I wasn't sure we'd visit, but it was right there, so we went. A quick walk down the trail brought us to the lava tube. It was basically like a little round cave, complete with water dripping from the ceiling. The first portion had lights mounted on the wall, while the second required flashlights. We just walked through the part with lights and then made our way back to the car.
punalu'u black sand beach
Originally uploaded by embem30. Next was a quick stop at the visitor's center for a bathroom break. I had to pass a tour spiel to get to the bathroom, and I was very glad that we weren't part of it. We continued on, by ourselves, in our car to the Steam Vents or Steaming Bluff. It was another overlook with steam moving visibly from the bluff. The Kilauea overlook was our last stop. From there, we could see a cloud rising from the active Halema'uma'u Vent in the distance.
That was the end of our list of things to see around Volcano, so we fished out our bag of chips and set off across the island in our PT Cruiser. We did, however have a few stops to make during our drive.
The first stop was Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. We saw our first sea turtles there, eating in the shallow water of the tide pools. There was one huge one and one medium-sized one. The beach itself was interesting. The black sand was ground up lava, with sharp edges like glass. The pools of it that were forming in my sandals were not very comfortable, but it took on a nice sheen on the beach whenever a wave came over it and washed away.
Next, we came to the town of Na'alehu, which was our best chance of finding somewhere to eat lunch. The first place we tried looked a little redneck. There also appeared to be no one working there to seat us. We stood there for a minute or two, watching a couple tables of people who were eating food, and then we decided to try somewhere. The menu didn't look that great to me anyway.
coconut cream pie
Originally uploaded by embem30. We got out the GPS, searched for the next nearest restaurant, and found the nearby Hana Hou. It looked okay, and it also had the distinction of being the "southernmost restaurant and bakery in the USA." Steve decided to try their special, the beef enchilada, and I got a basic grilled cheese sandwich. (I also stole several bites of Steve's enchilada.) For dessert, we shared a slice of coconut cream pie.
While we were there, I forgot to take pictures of our food right away. I was a little distracted, because I realized that I had forgotten to put in my earrings that morning. Neither one was in, so the only possibility was that they were still on the counter in the Treehouse Suite. I must have gotten distracted, probably by breakfast, while I was putting on my rings and my watch. We tried calling from Kona Village the next day to see if they had turned up, but the woman there said she didn't see them. The cleaning people probably swiped them, because I knew exactly where I had put them on the bathroom counter. They weren't all that expensive, but I had had them for 2 1/2 years. They were the earrings that Steve had given me for Valentine's Day in 2006, and I had worn them almost every day since. I even wore them in our wedding. Steve promised to replace them, but we'll probably wait until Christmas or Valentine's Day.
Trying to put that out of my head, we continued our drive around the south side of the island. We stopped once at a turnout so I could brush my teeth and put my aligners back in. It was windy, so I had to be careful which direction I spit.
pu'uhonua o honaunau
Originally uploaded by embem30.
painted church
Originally uploaded by embem30. Our next place to visit was Painted Church (St. Benedict's), near Honaunau. It was a little chapel with paintings all over the interior. The sides were painted with various scenes from the Bible, which were used for teaching when most Hawaiians couldn't read. There was also a cemetery outside.
Not much farther down the road was the next thing on my list: Pu'uhonua O Honaunau or "Place of Refuge." (It took me a while, but the Hawaiian name was able to roll off my tongue by the end of the trip. The park ranger there just said "place of refuge." Cop-out.) The story behind the place is that this where the so-called criminals could come long ago to do certain rituals and avoid getting killed for their "crimes." There were lots of rules with rather harsh consequences then.
We walked around the park, looking at the various spots on our map. We saw some buildings, a traditional game board, some holes in rock that were used to grind food, lots of tikis, etc. There were also a few more turtles, sleeping on the sand.
We hurried through our sightseeing, because it was getting later. We still needed to get to Kona Village so that we could check in before the luau. The rest of our drive was interesting. We saw several coffee plantations, lots of traffic, some rain, alpacas, and a zebra. The last two were in people's yards. We didn't get pictures, but we probably should have tried.
bathroom sink
Originally uploaded by embem30.
ph-1
Originally uploaded by embem30. It took a while, but we finally made it to the Kona Village Resort. We were greeted with leis and went into the office for our little orientation. Afterwards, our luggage was loaded into a golf cart, and we got a quick tour on the way to our hale (PH-1). The rooms at Kona Village are actually more like huts. Ours was situated on the large pond. We went in through the sliding doors, and there was a sitting area with two twin beds/cots, a chair, and a table with chairs. Through there was a little hallway with the mini-fridge alcove to the right and the bathroom to the left. The bathroom was actually in three sections. The sink, with coffee maker, was first, across from the closet (robes and a safe). Next was the tub/shower in its own room, sans door. Through that was a separate little water closet with the toilet. Continuing through the hallway, we came to to the bedroom. It was a cozy little hut, but we didn't really spend a lot of time there.
Once I had taken my pictures of our hale, we had to change for the Friday night luau. I would have liked to shower first and put on some mascara, but there wasn't really time for that. We left our hale and walked around the pond to where the luau was held.
We got a seat on the lower level and settled in to the purple chips n the table and our complimentary first Mai Tais. A cheesy Hawaiian jazz trio started playing, before the "chief" of the village came out for a funny demo on how to open a coconut and make coconut milk. It turns out that coconut milk is actually made from grating the meat of the coconut and squeezing out the juice. It's not the water in the coconut.
luau steve
Originally uploaded by embem30. After that, we all took a field trip to see the ceremonial unwrapping of the pig. They explained Hawaiian Imu (underground oven where the pig was cooked) and the Polynesian Umu (above ground oven where they cooked a fish), and of course, the pig was unwrapped and the meat taken off the carcass.
Next, we all paraded back to our tables, and waited until it was time to go get our food. Steve got another Mai Tai, and I got a Pina Colada, which was much better than the ones that I had had from mixes. Ours was the last table to be dismissed for the buffet, so we spent a while listening to the jazz trio again.
There was a lot of food on the buffet. I started out trying to get some of everything, before I realized that I would run out of space long before I got to the good stuff. I managed to make some room for the pig and the fish, but my favorite thing was probably the sashimi that they had. I got full way to soon, so there was a lot I didn't get to try.
The show started soon after we finished eating. First, there was a performance by the "keiki," the kids at the resort, who had been taught a hula dance and song during the day. Then, the real show started. It was the Polynesian luau, so the show told the story of the various islands of origin. There was a lot of dancing, a little chanting, as well as a fire dance by our coconut-opening chief. I found the show okay, but maybe a little on the boring side. I prefer shows with a little more plot, and I'm pretty picky about quality. There were some performers who were obviously better than others. One guy looked like he didn't really know the chant they were doing, and not all the dancing was very together. It had also been a long day, so I was tired.
When the show was over, we walked back to our hale and went to bed.