Black Sand Beaches, Carmen San Diego, and the Wind Farm at the End of the World

As I head down the coast I hit two National Historic Parks: Kaloka-Honokohau and Pu'uhonua o Honauna.  Both were important Hawaiian cultural sites.  I did a bit of a hike at Kaloka-Honokohau, but even at 10am it is so hot and the sun is so intense that I decide to take a shorter route.  Nice ocean views and some exhibits on traditional fishing practices.   Pu'uhonua o Honauna was known as a place of refuge and was somewhere that people could go to claim amnesty under Hawaiian traditions.  There were still original Lava rock walls and several wooden structures and statues present, as well as a expansive lava flats that were eroded by the sea.  I was enjoying the beautiful view and then it happened: I saw an unmistakeable scene from my childhood.  The carvings and structure that were in the background of Where in the World is Carmen San Diego when she was hiding out in Hawaii.  I later did some internet surfing and confirmed my suspicion.  Very cool!

As I headed south I passed through the Kona coffee producing region.  Kona is far from the only place you can grow coffee in Hawaii, but it is a 15 mile stretch of mountainside that has an optimal combination of altitude, temperature, rain, and super rich volcanic soil.  As such it was where the Royal Hawaiians got their coffee, and it is still prized for its flavor.  I had been looking forward to visiting a Coffee Plantation.  Unfortunately, I discovered they are all closed on Sundays.  Luckily I did find a roadside coffee shack, so I could at least have a little taste while I drove through.

In this area, I also by chance passed a sign that said "Painted Church" and pointed down winding mountain roads.  I took a quick turn and a few miles later discovered this tiny white church perched on a hill.  I went inside and discovered an amazing array of murals on the walls.  Apparently the priest who built the Church in 1899, who had no artistic training, just started using common house paints to start beautifying the church in his spare time.  For someone with no training the murals were very impressive.

Further south I started to see the influences of the more active Mauna Loa volcano.  This included more lava fields, impressive sea cliffs, and beaches with interesting colored sand.  I made a side trip to South Point.  Which is just that, the most southerly piece of land in the United States.   While there I watched people dive off 200 foot cliffs and discovered that our most southerly point is also the site of a large wind farm.  Nearby was supposed to be a green sand beach, one of four in the world, unfortunately there are no roads to the beach.  I started the walk and reached the ocean after a mile or so, but then found out that after reaching the ocean it was another two and a half miles to the actual green sand beach.  It was in the mid 90's, high humidity, and I had no water left.  I was torn, but ultimately abandoned the quest.  Later in the day I talked to some tourists from Austria (who ironically used to live in Charleston).  They had paid some locals to take them to the beach in 4 wheelers.  They reported the beach as being tiny and not really green.  So I'm feeling a little bit better about my decision.

Lava flows and the wind farm at the end of the world

I consoled myself by finding a nice black sand beach at Panaliuu.  It wasn't very sunny, so I don't know if the photos do it justice, but it was quite a beautiful place. 

Panaliuu black sand beach