Pu'uhonua o Honaunau

Normally we are allotted two consecutive days off for every five days of work, but B had to leave town for a few weeks and we had to work more than expected to get the farm ready for her absence. After ten straight days of work, we had today off.

On a typical weekend, we schedule one “adventure” and one day of rest. This weekend we visited Pu'uhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge at Honaunau). The rules governing ancient Hawai'ian social order, the kapu, were strictly enforced. Deserting, looking at a chief, preparing food for the opposite gender were just some of the many ways to break kapu, and if you were caught, the penalty was death. There was, however, one way out of your grim fate: get to a pu'uhonua, a place of refuge. There, a priest could grant absolution and the offender could reenter society. The pu'uhonua were generally in remote locations and this famous park is no different. The place of refuge is all lava rock jutting into the sea and surrounded by what was once royal land.

We hitched a ride down to Kealakekua Bay and started to walk what looked a short distance on the map. At first it was nice beach front houses but the landscape quickly turned to this

We walked this hot-ass road for nearly four miles, through a tortured landscape, and were passed by very few cars. We were less than a mile from the park when we finally got picked up. We had lunch and began walking around.

It's a barren, beautiful park. A patch of coconut trees and noni berry bushes (they are large and surprisingly stinky) surround the reconstructed historic sites but most of the park is lava rock stretching to the sea. We walked around the area, looking at outrigger canoes, a reconstructed fabricated temple (it's made from palms, so these things didn't last long) and ki'i, totem like deity sculptures.

But we were most interested in walking around the lava beach, listening and watching the ocean break against the rock, checking into the little tide pools. K thought it was the most naturally beautiful place he had been to in years.

We also took a walk down a trail that was supposed to be only 2 miles round trip, be we think we went way farther than that (we did pass through a boundary gate along our walk). It was so hot, it was almost unbearable, but the view was worth it. We walked along the edge of rock cliffs. Sorry our pictures don't do it justice, but here's at least an idea.

The path was a village road from 1871. There were no structures still standing, but it gave us a good idea of what a “road” may have been like then. Apparently, the people all pitched in to "pave" it with a'a lava instead of paying taxes.

We stopped off at Two-Step beach just north of the Place of Refuge. It's a rocky jump into a great snorkeling spot named "two-step" after the two flat lava rocks that help you as you claw your way out of the ocean. We just jumped in to cool off before heading home but hope to return for the snorkeling.

We hitched a ride up the mountain home from a guy with a DIY truck bed (amazingly sturdy, a total surprise from the look of it) then walked the last 4 miles home.