Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Canada & Hawaii 2016
The threat of the terrible twins
It was one of those occasions when I knew within a second of opening my eyes that I'd just had the most wonderful night's sleep. Maybe those breaking waves down on the beach had worked their soothing magic all night long. On turning on early-morning TV, however, we became increasingly concerned to hear dire-sounding reports about twin hurricanes Madeline and Lester. The public sector in particular seemed to have declared a full-scale emergency: the Big Island's national parks and schools were closed, while public bus services had been suspended. It all sounded strangely unreal, because a casual glance out of the window showed that another beautiful day had just dawned here in Paradise.
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| Hurricanes? What hurricanes? | ||
In the manner of the previous day, we set off again without breakfast. A 15-minute car ride in the direction of Kona brought us to Waikoloa village, just off Hwy 19, and in particular the Kimo Bean coffee shop. Sadly the coffee itself was quite poor on this occasion: their one espresso machine was broken and the replacement coffee just tasted like hot milk. After breakfast, we continued south on Hwy 19 through Kailua-Kona, where the road had a change of identity to Hwy 11 before passing through Captain Cook - and before that conjures up any unfortunate images, I should point out that it's a community of around 3,500 souls. A little further on, we took a right turn at Keokea and followed Hwy 160 to our first stop of the day.
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| In current conditions? Seriously? | |
The Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park is run by the US National Park Service. Extending along the lava flats of the Kona Coast, it is home to some of the most significant traditional and sacred sites in the Hawaiian Islands. We knew that Volcanoes NP was closed, but were nevertheless dismayed to find that this one was as well, on this gorgeous, warm, sunny and utterly calm morning. Like many other people, we found somewhere to leave the car outside the park boundary, and simply walked in! It was a small park in an incredibly beautiful seashore setting - and one where, if necessary, people could be cleared out and on their way to safety in five minutes. As we walked around taking in the various exhibits, the only risk requiring immediate attention was the very real possibility of frying under the hot sun.
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From here, we took the more scenic coastal route 160 back to Captain Cook. Our intention had been to call in at Greenwell Farms Kona Coffee Farm, but for some reason we suffered a joint memory lapse and forgot all about it! In due course we arrived in Kailua-Kona. Described by Lonely Planet as a "love-it-or-leave-it kind of place", the town seemed attractive at first, but before long the main seafront area was attempting to equal the 'tackiness factor' of a typical, has-been British seaside resort. Furthermore, parking turned out to be a complete rip-off, as commented by many other visitors when their eyes widened in disbelief as they read the notice of applicable charges.
Having visited a couple of car parks in search of a better deal, we gave in and stumped up the necessary fee to allow us to have a look around town and then enjoy some lunch. Notable sights included the Hulihe'e Palace, built in 1838 as the summer vacation home of the Hawaiian monarchy. Today it operates as a museum. Also deserving of our attention was the Mokuaikaua Church. Formed with the permission of King Kamehameha II, the congregation of Mokuaikaua is today, at 195 years, the oldest Christian group in Hawaii. The church itself was built in 1837, and its 112-foot spire is the tallest structure in Kailua-Kona.
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LEFT: Strolling around in Kailua-Kona |
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| RIGHT: This proved to be a very popular lunch venue |
We
then drove back to the hotel, making two important stops along the
way that had nothing to do with sightseeing. The first of these was
at Kona Airport. Rumour had it that Bruce's wayward bag was going
to be on today's flight and this indeed turned out to be ... erm ...
the case.
The second involved another call at Waikoloa, where we visited a
very classy, upmarket foodstore to acquire some suitable components
for
another in-room (or on-balcony) picnic.
Once back at base, we chilled for a bit and then
headed for the beach. After a splash in the ocean - a very limited
splash in my case
- we each had a Mai Tai at the beach bar. This appeared to have become
an established daily tradition already.
Later on, we sat out on the balcony to feast on assorted delights to
the accompaniment of soothing sounds from the ocean. Overall, it had
been another wonderful day, and it was very hard to believe that
Madeline was due to strike at 2am. I fell asleep braced for the
possibility of middle-of-the-night disturbances, of unknown
severity.