I woke up tired in Kona. Part of me wished we could sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, maybe go into port for lunch and spend the day at the pool. And that is what alot of people do.
But I wanted us to see more of Kona than just the port area so we booked a tour. Today we would have a shorter tour with Josh that would leave us time to walk around the port area and have lunch. So I thought this was a great use of our time without being rushed.
We all met at 7:30 am to take a tender to the port area. We didn't make the first one but we caught the second one and got there right at 8:00. Perfect timing!
Today stops were: the Lekeleke burial grounds, Greenwell Coffee Farm, Kealakekua State Park, Pu’uhonua O Honaunau State Park, and St. Benedict’s painted church. Then we would have time to walk around the port area and have lunch.
I was able to get a few pictures from the van as we drove.
The Lekeleke burial grounds is the site of a bloody battle in 1819 between the old ruler Kekuaokalani who wanted to preserve the religious and social traditions still honored by many of the common people, and the royal army who wanted to end the sacred system. Over 300 warriors died at this site, including Kekuaokalani and his wife, and their bones are buried here. The battle marked the end of centuries of ancient Hawaiian tradition. I felt in awe standing here, like it was a very sacred place.
Our next stop was Greewell Farms, home of the famous Kona coffee. The farm has been in the same family since 1850. Farm tours are always interesting and the grounds are always beautiful. On this tour, everyone also got to sample the coffee. It takes a year to make a single bag of Kona coffee. No wonder it's so expensive!
Who knew this is what a coffee bean looks like?
This tree is over 50 years old.
Next was Kealakekua State Park. This site marks where Captain Cook, who is the westerner credited with discovering Hawaii, was killed in 1779. There is also an ancient Hikiau heiau (sacred temple) dedicated to the Hawaiian god, Lono.
The memorial to Captain Cook is actually across the bay behind us in this picture.
Next was Pu’uhonua O Honaunau State Park also known as "place of refuge." In ancient Hawaii, if you had broken a law, the penalty was death. Your only option for survival was to elude your pursuers and reach the nearest pu'uhonua, or place of refuge. The park contains a reconstruction of the Hale o Keawe heiau, an ancient burial site for the ruling Hawaiian monarch, thought to date back to the 1600's.
Ki'i (carved wooden images) guard the temple.
Once a person reached this rocky shore, they were safe!
Our last stop was the Painted Church which I was really looking forward to seeing. It was built between 1899-1902 under the direction of the Belgian Catholic missionary Father John Velghe, who then painted frescoes along the interior ceiling and walls. It is an active Roman Catholic church and holds mass each week.
After lunch, Fran and Harvey went back to the ship while Ben, Jason, Alice and I walked around the pier area, got shave ice, and I got a new T-shirt.
This is Huliheʻe Palace, a vacation home for Hawaiian royalty built in 1838. You can tour the palace for $10, something I would like to do on our next visit (see what I did there?!)
This is a replica of the house of King Kamehameha the Great, the first ruler of the Hawaiian monarch until his death in 1819. This is where the actual house stood at one time.
The Kona Hotel that owns the property has some of the King's personal artifacts on display.
We continued our walk through Kona making our way back to the ship.
Back on the ship, Ben and I had a drink and then went back to our balcony for sailaway and sunset.
We watched to see how long the tenders kept running to see if anyone was late to the ship!
We had a cheese plate in our room when we returned and Fran and Harvey gave us their chocolate covered strawberries from the day before, so we had those with wine on the balcony.
Tomorrow we would be celebrating our anniversary on Kauai!
