MARCH 12 - TRIP TO THE NORTH

We began our trip on highway 11 (Hawaiian Belt road).  Our first stop was Waikoloa.  There was supposed to be a petroglyph site.  We really couldn't find it.  There was a huge golf course, a very upscale shopping mall (Tiffany's, Tommy Bahama's, and on).  There didn't seem to be any petroglyphs except the sign on the parking lot that announced that it was there.  Possibly paved over?

Our next stop was Puako.  This area came as advertised.  There were tide pools here.  The nicest thing about the tide pools was the beach.  It consisted of black lava rocks interspersed with white coral.  Really beautiful

Puako tide pools.

A close up of the beach.

We found a trail that was about 0.7 miles long that wandered through some woods and ended at a wonderful petroglyph site. 

Charlie and I in the woods on the way to more petroglyphs.

Most of the stones above were decorated with petroglyphs.

 After our walk, we tried to find Pu'ukohola heiau - a very sacred Hawaiian temple site.  Unfortunately, the road became a red cinder road, and ended at a closed, locked gate with a huge "no trespassing" sign.  Although we were told that the area is public property, the only way around this was to climb over the gate and hope we found the Heiau.    In the end we decided it wasn't worth it.

A bit further on we stopped for lunch at Keokea State park.  The building below was an old railroad station here.  Really a great place, but fenced in and we could only look from the outside.  We found a place to eat on the black lava rock/white coral beach and watched the waves for lunch.

Our view from lunch.

From our lunch spot we drove to Hawi.  "Havi".  Very old Hawaiian, quiet, small, and lovely.

One view of Hawi.

Our last stop today was Waimea.  The drive from Hawi to Waimea was beautiful.  The story about this area is that Captain George Vancouver gave King Kamehmeha some cattle.  Since they were the king's cattle they weren't bothered.  As a result they over produced.  Along came a seaman Samuel Parker who agreed to organise the herd.  King Kamehameha gave Parker one of his daughter's hand in marriage.  Parker's ranch became the largest one in the world.  Even now, after a lot of the ranch has been given away, it is still the 5th largest calf and cow ranch in the world.  

We found a Starbucks for an afternoon coffee, but even better, found a Parker Ranch store.  Back to the condo.  

We had dinner at Bubba Gumps.  Much better that we imagined.