We arrived at the small boat harbour just south of the airport at 6.30am to check in for our whale watching cruise. It was a full boatload and we left the harbour about 7am. We were on the water for 3hrs and didn’t see a whale. No spouts, no fins, no breaches, no sign of whales at all. But, we did see a couple of manta rays and some spinner dolphins. We saw them spinning out if the water horizontally and vertically. They are very cool. We also got a good view of Mauna Kea - the highest mountain on the island. She stands over 13000 feet tall and we could see patches of white snow in the craters. The last eruption was 4600 years ago. From the water, it was easy to see where the lava had flowed all the way down to the sea creating a black sand beach and rocky platform. The captain gave everyone on board a voucher for a free return trip. The voucher never expires but I don’t know if we will ever use them.
When we got off the boat, we continued our tour of the island with the GypsyGuide. This time we did the Kailua-Kona coast. This area is like a mini Waikiki with lots of tourist shops and eateries. It was a lot busier than the resort area we are staying in.
Our tour took us to Kealakekua Bay where Captain Cook was welcomed in 1778 and killed in 1779. All the flesh was removed from his body before it was returned to the members of his crew, in accordance with Hawaiian tradition at the time. There is a marble obelisk dedicated to Captain Cook on the other side of the bay but it is only accessible by kayak or 4 mile hike. You need a permit to step ashore at the monument if you go by kayak. The bay is quite sheltered and spinner dolphins are a common sight. We saw some spinning out near the monument.
Not far away was the Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. This was a very interesting place. There were 2 paths to follow - one was a tour through the Royal Grounds and the other through the Pu’uhonua, which means place of refuge. There were examples of shelters with thatched roofs, canoes and musical instruments. There was even a man carving a wooden statue with only 1 tool. The Pu’uhonua was a vast expanse of lava rock. The tide must come up over the lava as some of the rock pools had lots of brightly coloured tropical fish swimming in them. We even saw sea turtles in a couple of ponds. It was a very interesting place to visit but extremely hot out on the lava shelf.
We also visited the Painted Church. This is a Catholic Church built 1889-1902. The first Father was aware most of the local Hawaiian people couldn’t read or write so he painted murals on the walls inside the church to teach his congregation. The mural of hell got the most light Coming through the church windows and is the only mural to be faded and unrecognisable.
It started to rain this afternoon and there was even a thunderstorm, it was no surprise considering how humid it was earlier. As we drove along the coast road bs k to the resort, a Rainbow appeared. It was s double rainbow and is the first time I have ever seen both ends of a rainbow hitting the ground. It was really beautiful.