2015/03 Hawaii trip - Honaunau refuge |
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We were looking for a simple coffee stop, but as we approached Waikoloa the lava fields changed to manicured lava with ponds and cute little artificial waterfalls and gardens and flowers; we were now in the land of resorts and shops and hotels and restaurants. The paradise in the picture is completely artificial and surrounded by barren fields of lava.
Our coffee stop turned into lunch and it was pleasant enough, sitting in a shaded courtyard, munching on mahi-mahi and the like, but we could have been anywhere in California. Not really our thing, but a good lunch.
We drove down the coast road through lava fields with the ocean a mile or so off to the west. We passed gaggles of cars; we were told they belong to surfers who are willing to walk across the lava to beaches where they can get away from the tourist hordes.
We found our way to Honokohau marina and with a bit more difficulty found Captain Dan’s boat tucked away in a quiet corner, so we were set for our trip on Tuesday. In the meantime, we wanted to take advantage of being on the west coast to visit something Hawaiian. The Hulihe’e Palace was closed so we went to Kealakekua Bay, famous on a number of counts. It was where Captain Cook was killed in an argument over a stolen rowboat; his monument there is on United Kingdom land, deeded by a Hawaiian queen. It was also, thousands of years ago, the site of a catastrophic event. Lava flowing down to the sea forms coastline ledges at sea level and they steadily become heavier and more unstable. The geologists’ guess is that twenty miles of coastline broke off and crashed into the depths, creating the bay. The surroundings islands have coral deposited more than a thousand feet up their mountains, giving an 
idea of the size of the resultant tsunami.
We were there to see Honaunau, also known as the place of refuge. In the Hawaiians’ religion, many acts, like men and women daring to eat together, were “kapu” or forbidden. The belief was that transgressors must be punished or else the gods would punish everyone by sending earthquakes or eruptions. They didn’t seem to have a prison system so the usual punishment was death unless the person could swim or run past the avenging warriors to the place of refuge, when all would be forgiven.
The refuge is adjacent to what used to be the royal grounds, a very pleasant landscape of lagoons and palms.
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Honaunau Refuge (1.19) |
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Today the refuge is a park and it houses a heiau (temple) and statues of the gods, all reproductions of course as the originals rotted away a century ago.
Massive walls and platforms of stacked lava separate the grounds from the refuge. Equally massive is the “king’s seat”, complete with holes that used to support the king’s sunshade. Inside the nearby boat house was a very 
practical outrigger canoe, built using traditional techniques.
From there it was a long drive on slow roads around the southern coast and then up into the mountains again and Kilauea park. We stopped in the park to see the glow from the lava lake in the Halema’uma’u crater, a really spooky 
sight. Nobody could have any doubt that something terrible was lurking beyond the cliff edge.
It was still raining back in Keaau.
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Kilauea at night (1.52) |
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