Denise Goldberg's blog

An experience on two feet instead of two (bicycle) wheels
Denise's 2004 adventures in Hawaii

Saturday, October 30, 2004

A historical park, a botanical garden, petroglyphs, and the beach!

Today started with a fabulous breakfast buffet that was included with my room. A hint - if you plan to stay here, join the Prince Hotels guest program. They knocked extra money off the (still very expensive) room, plus they threw in the breakfast buffet with the room. My table was outside, so I could enjoy breakfast and bird-watching all at one time.

After breakfast I headed to the concierge desk to get some infornation. The woman working there was filling in at the front desk when I checked in yesterday. She impressed me by remembering my name this morning - that kind of memory for names must come in very handy when working in a customer service position at a hotel. It turns out that her father owns the last house on the road to Polulu Valley, so I walked right by his house yesterday. He also owns a cabin a couple of valleys over from there with access only by foot. That sounds beautiful.

My first stop for the day was the Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Park, which is just a couple of miles up the road. The rocks that were used to build the Heiau were ferried from the Polulu Valley - which was where King Kamehameha grew up - by hand. A line of people passed the rocks from one to another until they reached the site of Pu'ukohola Heiau. The distance? By road, following the shore line, it is about 24 and a half miles. A straight line would be shorter, but a straight route from there also crosses over the Kohala Mountain range. I wonder where that line of people stood. And it turns out that the statue of Kamehameha in Kapa'au is a duplicate - actually the original - of the statue in Hilo. This one was lost at sea and damaged, but was placed in the area of his home after it was recovered and repaired.

A bit further up the road was the Pua Mau Place Botanic and Sculpture Garden. I didn't even notice the sign for the place yesterday, but then again I was ready to stop for the day by the time that passed it. The garden included some beautiful plants, but I was a bit surprised that they had an extensive watering system there. It would have been more interesting to me if all of the plants were those that survived in desert conditions. The sculptures were fun - big sculptures mainly of bugs - dragonflies, spiders, bugs!




A big bug...



And flowers too!


My next (and last) wandering stop was at the Puako Petroglyph Archaeological Preserve. This was actually on the grounds surrounding the Mauna Lani Hotel, and as it turns out there was also a historical park on the other side of the hotel. One was enough for me today though. It was a seven tenths of a mile walk to see the petroglyphs, and it was marked as such. But just after I left the parking lot I passed an area with some reproductions of petroglyphs. I wonder how many people don't realize that these aren't the real thing and turn around to go back to their cars. It was definitely worth the walk. There was a large section of rock containing a large number of petroglyphs - probably a larger area than those I saw in Volcanoes National Park. It's likely that it was also easier to miss the petroglyphs in Volcanoes NP because the lava was darker in color. The petroglyphs here looked older and more weather-worn.

Before I headed back to the hotel, I stopped to fuel the car, and to pick up some food for lunch - it wasn't an energy bar day today! After lunch, it was time to hit the beach. Hmm, my second to last day in Hawaii is the first day I spent any time at all on the beach. That might surprise some people, but it’s totally in character for me.

I really got a kick out of the little sparrows hopping around at the beach - I assume that they were looking for food. Sorry birds, I don't have any food for you, but I'd love to take your picture. Unfortunately most of them moved to fast for me and my camera…

Saturday night is clambake night at this hotel. I was lucky enough to catch this wonderful meal here during last year's visit, and tonight is a repeat performance. Yes, it's outrageously expensive - then again so are the rooms here - but for a change I don't care! My two-day stay here is a perfect (and relaxing) end to my vacation. I was pretty careful not to overeat because I knew I wouldn't be happy later. I was still able to have freshly made Caesar salad, lobster, shrimp, clams, and assorted vegetables. After a quick view of the desert table which contained many interesting cakes and pastries in addition to ice cream, I opted for a make-your-own ice cream sundae. I have to say that it was really funny watching the kids at the dessert bar. One boy had two large plates full of sundae toppings - and I'm not sure that he even had any ice cream hiding under there.




Another attempt to capture a beautiful sunset


After dinner I headed out for a short walk, ending at the edge of the ocean to watch the manta rays. The hotel has a spotlight pointed into the water at a spot where they gather at night – I suspect the light attracts the fish that the manta rays like to eat, but I could be totally wrong about that. It was fascinating to watch, and to me they are ugly, beautiful, and graceful at the same time. I know that sounds like a strange description, ugly because of its gaping mouth, beautiful and graceful because of how it glides through the water. Amazing…

Photos for today can be found in my Kohala Coast and Bugs, birds, and just for fun! photo galleries.