Hawaii Vacation - Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Claude and I awake this day in Kona, Hawaii. Hawaii is called the Big Island. Our tour guide would tell us that it is big enough that if you placed all the islands that make up Hawaii (this includes all the little ones we really don't name or think about usually) they wouldn't take up all the land mass that is the island of Hawaii. Kauai is the oldest of the islands. It is believed to be an extinct volcano. It is never expected to erupt again. All the other islands are dormant volcanos meaning they could erupt again. Hawaii however is an active volcano. It is the newest of the islands. Kona is on its eastern shore and the word means 'leeward side' in Hawaiian. As we disembark the ship we are greated by a young man in native dress.

We were a little later leaving the ship today. There is a temple on Kona for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many in our tour group left the ship very early to enjoy a session in the Kona Hawaii Temple. Claude and I decided to stay on the ship and were asked to make sure those who chose not to go to the temple were able to disembark the ship and catch the bus to pick up those who attended the temple.

At the end of the temple parking lot was a great view of our ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Kona has a shallow harbor and the ship can't dock there. When this happens the ship anchors in the harbor or as close to the harbor as they can safely get. Then 'tenders' are lowered from their storage place in the ship and they are used to ferry passengers to and from the ship throughout the day. The ship had 3 'tenders' or little passenger ferry boats. We met those who were traveling with us in the Pink Champagne Lounge and got our tickets for the tender together. Then we made it to the dock and found our bus driver with my bright yellow sign that said 'LDS Travel'. Then we were off to pick up the remainder of our group at the temple. Below is a picture of the beautiful Kona Hawaii Temple.

We drove through the town of Kona and were taken to a little shopping area right on the water. Claude and I had lunch overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I had the best fruit salad with an interesting dipping sauce for the fruit. Then we boarded the bus again and headed to the Painted Church. Along the way we passed a lot of interesting things. One of them was this hill of poinsettias. When in Jamaica we also saw huge poinsettia trees. Most of us think of them as being the potted kind we get at Christmas. But on tropical islands they grow well and much larger. The other interesting thing in this picture is the rock wall beneath the poinsettias. This wall is made of lava rocks. Living in Kentucky we have miles and miles or rock walls made of the limestone that is found 6 inches below the clay dirt. These were built originally by the Irish settlers that came to the area and would have learned how to built them on their land in Ireland. These are designated as historic now in Kentucky and they must not be moved. Seeing the lava rock walls in Hawaii reminded me of the rock walls in Kentucky.

Our first stop was the Painted Church. This is St. Benedict's Catholic Church. It is in Honaunau, Kona. It is called the Painted Church because of the murals and frescos painted inside. It is a beautiful little white Church on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There is a beautiful little cemetary in front of the church.

When you enter the church the ceiling is painted so that you focus toward the front of the little chapel. Along each side wall are murals depicting scenes from the Bible. The one I'm including with this blog is of the Temptation of Christ.

The grounds of the Painted Church have beautiful flowers and some statuary. This picture is of the entry to the parking lot and buildings.

From the Painted Church we drove back down by the Pacific Ocean to the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau or Place of Refuge. Think back to when the children of Israel in the Old Testament were finally given the Promised Land. Each tribe was given a share of the land. Each of these areas was to set up a City of Refuge. These cities were for people who had broken the law and were seeking refuge to plead their case. Hawaiians had a system just like this where Pu'uhonua o Honaunau or Place of Refuge was set up. A pu'uhonua was a massive wall that separated the royal grounds from the place of refuge for defeated warriors, noncombatants in times of war, and those who violated the kapu or the sacred laws. The site we were visiting was home to the ali'i or royalty of the Kona district. Kapu means forbidden. There were many things that were kapu regarding the ali'i. A common person could not look at or get close to a chief, his shadow could not fall on the palace grounds. Women could not eat foods reserved for offering to the gods. Women did not eat with men. When a kapu was broken the penalty was always death. Otherwise the gods might react violently with volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, famine or earthquakes. The people would pursue the kapu breaker until caught and put to death or until he made his way to a pu'uhonua. If he made it to a pu'uhonua a ceremony of absolution was performed by the kahuna pule (priest). The offender could then return home safely, usually within a few hours or by the next day. The spirit of the pu'uhonua was respected by all. This was a beautiful, intriguing, and thought provoking place to visit. We were given a brochure with 16 sites described in it. As we walked through this National Park we looked for the little posts with a number that corresponded to our map and explanation of each spot. As is our custom, I walked and snapped pictures while Claude walked and read our brochure.

The picture above is royal ground. The lava rock wall protects the beach used by the ali'i from the Pacific Ocean. The picture below is a replica of a temple used by the ali'i. It wasn't particularly large.

This large rock has bowls or kanoa carved into it. It is thought these bowls may have been used to hold dye, or to evaporate sea water to make salt, or to pound the 'awa root to make a cermonial drink.

Now Claude and I are royalty standing at the keone'ele or cove where the royal canoe landed. This would have been a forbidden spot for commoners so we MUST be royalty.

There beautiful ponds called heleipalala were a mixture of springwater and saltwater and held food fish to be eaten by the ali'i. They are found all along the shores in Hawaii and the other islands. Many have been destroyed with building. But when we saw one, it was always beautiful.

Hale o Keawe is a reconstructed temple and mausoleum housing the bones of 23 ali'i. Ho'okupu (offerings) were placed on the lele (tower). Two ki'i (wooden images) stand watch over this reconstructed temple.

In front of this temple is the Pacific Ocean with an outcropping of land across this little bay area. This would have been where a person who committed a kapu would need to swim to get to the Place of Refuge. Claude is standing there looking and reflecting on this crossing to safety.

This picture is of the Ka'ahumanu Stone. According to legend, Queen Ka'ahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I, swam a great distance to the pu'uhonua after a quarrel with her husband. She supposedly hid under this stone, but the barking of her dog gave her away. Her husband found her and they soon made up. Now we both looked at where our friend is sitting on the stone. Queen Ka'ahumanu was one really BIG lady. We are thinking there is no way she could have gotten under this rock unless it laid a lot differently than it does today!!

This is papamu is an original stone used in the game of konane.

As we left the ali'i side of this interesting site, you can see on the left the stone wall made of lava rocks separating the people seeking refuge for kapu from the ali'i. Between where I'm taking this picture is the pond of water for holding fish for the ali'i that was shown above. There is another one of these ponds behind where I'm taking this picture. This view is also shows the place where the royal canoe would have landed.

This is the other pond for holding fish.

The final picture I'm posting of Pu'uhonua o Honaunau is the halau. This a work structure. Inside, hanging from a pole near the top are ti leaves. These would have been tied to a rope and used to drive fish into the shallows. This fishing method is called hukilau. Inside the halau is a Hawaiian teaching people who pass by about the work they did. There are two types of canoes housed in this building.

As we waited at the dock for our turn to take the tender back to our ship, I got this picture of Claude in his Cabelo's hat. Somewhere along the way, I think at lunch, he picked up this orchid. He put it in his hat and wore it for several days that way. Now the important thing to note is he is wearing the orchid on the side that the Hawaiians wore to say he was available. If he had wanted to say he was married or taken he should have worn it on the other side of his head. Remember this ladies when you put a flower behind your ear. Single and available go behind the right ear. Taken and not available go behind the left ear.