Ten Days in Hawaii - Day 3: We Visit the Place of Refuge

When we got up this morning Doug and Cathy had already gone to their snorkeling spot and the rest of us had no plans for the day.  They got back around 9:30 AM and said they’d had a great time.  We all decided to have an early lunch and go to Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park.  All six of us climbed into the van and off we went. The park is a sacred site where if you had broken any laws (the penalty for breaking a law in ancient Hawaii was death) and if you could reach this place you were safe, which is why it is called The Place of Refuge.  The place where Doug and Cathy snorkeled is right next to the park and is not too far south or our house.

 

We drove down to the park and checked out the snorkeling location before exploring the park.  Val and I had visited here on a previous visit to the Island and really liked it, but I don’t think everyone else thought it was as interesting as we did.  After visiting the park, we drove back, stopping at the Painted Church.

The Painted Church.  The name is not obvious until you go inside.

 

Doug, Cathy and Heather are ready to go in.

You can see where it got its name.

We also visited the Paleaku Botanical Gardens which was also the home of Kona Lisa Coffee.

Ev and Doug.

Val had heard of a chocolate covered macadamia nut called Donkey Balls (which of course made for a lot of humorous comments and laughs), and wanted to get some so we went in search of them.  Someone told us they were located in Captain Cook, but we couldn’t find them, but we did find a small farmer’s market so we decided to stop there and look around.  There wasn’t much there, but I did buy some really good coconut macaroons and Val picked up a very tasty jar of chocolate syrup.   

Doug at the Farmer's Market.  Val bought some delicious chocolate sauce from this friendly vendor.

Deciding not to give up on the Donkey Ball search (by now the whole van was on a mission) we drove further north towards Kona and there it was in the town of Kealakelua.  We found a place to park and made our way to the Original Donkey Ball shop and sampled some of the different types they had and naturally we had to buy some.

The Donkey Balls are made here.  The nuts are tumbled and chocolate is added to make a thick coating.

Doug, Cathy, Heather and Val.

By the time we finished at the Original Donkey Factory and Shop. it was late afternoon so we headed back home.  We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing while Heather prepared a delicious lasagna for dinner.  The lasagna was great and for dessert we sampled the coconut macaroon cookies dipped in some of the chocolate sauce we bought, which also proved to be very tasty.  The rest of the evening was spent reading or playing games.  One thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned is that every afternoon or evening we have been having rain showers and today’s showers occurred during dinner and then again later.  They haven’t interfered with anything we’ve been doing, the temperature stays wonderfully perfect, and the sound of the rain beating on the roof is actually quite pleasant.

The rest of the night was spent reading for some and playing games for others.  The plan for tomorrow is to get up early and return to the snorkeling site Doug and Cathy were at this morning.  Hopefully the rain will have stopped and the sun will be out as usual.