HAWAII



DAY 4 – Monday

We took Alii Drive and drove south from the resort with our final destination being Captain Cook’s monument. This monument is near the place where Captain Cook met his demise. But that is the destination; the actual journey is in getting there.

Alii Drive is the main beach front road going south from Kona; for the most part it is the only beach road. As such it is used by automobiles, motorcycles, jeeps, joggers, bicyclists, etc. and you have to be constantly alert to who, or what, is going to be jumping out into the road.

Following the guidebook we did come across a rather unique saltwater swimming pool. The pool has been carved into the lava rock just adjacent to the ocean so that the wave action will cleanse it and supply it with water. Although you can swim in it, it was full of green slime at the time and I much prefer the ocean, but it was fun to see it as a novelty.

The road south is heavily populated by condos, but there is the occasional public access beach that tries to squeeze its way in between buildings. Swimming, snorkeling, surfing and relaxation; that is the Hawaiian way.

St. Peters Catholic Church provided us with a good stopping place where we could visit the beach and also watch surfers trying to catch that elusive seventh wave. The Little Blue Church, the church’s more affectionate name, is located just thirty feet from the main road, and right near one of the prime surfing spots. It is reportedly the most photographed church on the island; a true testament to the lazy tourist. We found many more churches with better stained glass, more ornate paintings and in more picturesque locations, but having a downside of being at least one hundred feet or more from the road. Just next door to the church is the Ku’emanu Heiau. This is the only heiau (temple) in the state known to be associated solely with surfing. This surf spot was available only to the native chiefs; if commoners were caught surfing they were put to death. Fortunately that is no longer the case. We watched a seven year old boy take his first surfing lesson here. He did a pretty good job of it too.

Not wanting to miss any of the prime tourist attractions, we pulled off the road at the Kona Country Golf Club to snap a picture of the craziest cork screw-shaped palm tree you’ll ever see. Not Guinness Book worthy, but interesting none the less.

Heading south once again, near the dead-end of Alii Drive, we came upon some interesting terraces cut into the side of the mountain. These are the graves of many hundreds of Hawaiians who died in a battle to do away with the ancient Hawaiian religion which was based on the kapu system; a system of laws, with death being the usual punishment for violation. The result of this war was the abolishment of their ancient religion and the kapu system. And all this before the missionaries had even set foot on the islands.

Moving right along, we were still a good distant from Cooks monument, but we just had to stop at one of the famous Donkey Balls stores. These scrumptious little goodies are chocolate covered macadamia nuts with a thick chocolate coating which can come in a variety of different flavors. I think one bag of balls should sustain us till we get to the monument.

Ice cream is always a welcome addition with any kind of chocolate, so we stopped in at the Discovery Antiques – Ice Cream shop. With plenty of antiques and local art works, we were hard pressed to find the ice cream, but find it we did. With only six flavors to choose from it was easy to make a selection; Tahitian Vanilla and Macadamia Nut Chocolate, that was my choice. Sharon on the other hand went for the Tagua nut. Not ice cream, but a hand carved Tagua nut depicting two dolphins frolicking in the surf. Tagua is a very hard nut which resembles elephant ivory. We picked up this beautiful piece of jewelry for our daughter Dee. Please do not tell her.

While we were shopping for nuts, both chocolate and Tagua, Don was finding a great deal on AA batteries; two dollars for a pack of four. With this great find he was now able to use his GPS tracking system. “Seven hundred-thirty-eight feet elevation, traveling south west at thirty-two miles per hour”; Don had found purpose on this trip.

Finally we reached Kealakekua Bay. The rise and fall of Captain Cook. When Captain Cook first arrived on the islands, the natives quite innocently mistook him for their visiting god Lono. They treated him royally and became great friends with him. It was on Cooks return trip to the island that things did not go well. In a minor skirmish over a stolen rowboat Cook was killed and thus ended the career of one of our great navigators and short term god.

After firmly establishing the exact GPS location and elevation of Cooks Cove, we backtracked to a sign we had seen directing us to a Painted Church. Along the way we stopped at a roadside booth that sold fresh flower leis. No one was present, but a sign instructed us to place three dollars per lei in a small wooden box for payment.

Picking out two leis and following the payment instructions we were now ready to be guided by the expert guidance system of Don’s now working GPS to the Painted Church.

Aloha

FAMILY HOME EVENING

Monday night; Family Home Evening night throughout the world in the Mormon church. Yes, even here in paradise.

In preparation I had brought one of John Bytheway’s DVD’s along on the trip. This one is titled, aptly enough, Family Night. There are seventeen gospel topics on the CD; we covered Endure to the End, Holy Ghost and Modest Dress. John is a tremendous speaker. He is lively, informative and funny; and besides that, he’s my cousin.