More Aloha

Yesterday we went to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, a national historic park. There are ruins of royal grounds there. It was once an important residence of the ali'i. Very cool, but even more interesting to me was the pu'uhonua, or Place of Refuge.


This cove was the royal canoe landing. No commoners allowed!

There's a massive stone wall that still stands, behind which was a sanctuary for noncombatants in times of war, defeated warriors, or people who broke the kapu (sacred laws). Noncombatants and defeated warriors were allowed to remain until the war was over, and then were allowed to live, showing alligiance to whichever side won the war.

If people who broke the law were able to make it to the sanctuary, they were absolved of their sins and allowed to return home without punishment. Wow!

In the afternoon we went to the beach a Kekaha Kai State Park. It was gorgeous, of course -- the water was that amazing crystal turquoise that I've only seen in Hawaii and the Caribbean -- but BOY was it a trek! I wouldn't recommend it unless you're driving an off-road vehicle. Plus, there was a daunting (for me, anyway) scramble across a lava bed in the heat of the sun.

It made the water feel especially nice, though.

We had a great dinner at a local place. I had a classic teriyaki beef plate lunch. I love a Hawaiian plate lunch!

We're leaving our super comfy condo today and moving to the other side of the island. First we'll spend a few hours a Hapuna, though. It's about as nice as beach can be.