Our plan for Hawai’i was the same as it is for our other travels – prior to arriving, we used Google Maps to save all the points of interest we had come across. Each day we decide what we want to do for the following day based on how far we feel like driving, the weather, and our overall energy level. Today, as you can imagine, we felt a little jet lagged so we decided to tour a national historical park – conveniently located en route to the airport, because we were still waiting on the arrival of our luggage!
DAY 2 | The Big Island, Hawai’i
We had a lazy first morning in Hawai’i before driving to Pu’uhonua o Hลnaunau National Historical Park. A pu’uhonua is a sacred site to ancient Hawaiians, where they would go to seek refuge from punishment or safety during times of conflict. Pu’uhonua o Hลnaunau’s estimated establishment is 450 years ago, and it is the best preserved known pu’uhonua.
Pu’uhonua o Hลnaunau National Historical Park
Of course, we quickly discovered that our annual national parks pass was in the missing luggage, which we still had no update on. But, how cool is it that our new pass is from our visit to Hawai’i? Instead of thinking about our first-world problems, we traveled back in time and immersed ourselves in the Polynesian culture circa late-1500’s.
We toured the park, taking in the weathered (but intact!) structures. The park was dissected by a massive wall that was over 950′ long, 18′ tall and 12′ wide, composed entirely of hand-stacked basalt rocks. This is known as the Great Wall, or Pฤ Puสปuhonua. It’s stood for approximately 3,942,000 hours longer than any sand castle I’ve ever constructed. I can only imagine that generations of knowledge, hard work, dedication and reverence went into the making of this incredibly strong wall.
We explored the reconstructed gathering places known as halau, and admired the engineering of their canoes.
Throughout the park, we saw a variety of different wacky-looking plants! We noticed that, like the Paperflower, many of the flowers in Hawai’i had their own flowers within the larger bloom. We’ve experienced so much beauty already!
We followed a short hiking trail to the coast and took cover under the shade of a large tree. We sat and admired the incredible blue of the ocean and the formations in the lava rock. Some of it is smooth, some wrinkled, some rough, some shiny, some flat, and all beautiful.
This park had a serene energy throughout, and is one of the most peaceful places we’ve been. As a sacred site, visitors were asked to speak at a respectful volume, and to visit only open sections of the park. All the visitors acknowledged this and it made for a wonderfully enjoyable visit.
The National Park Service offers a virtual tour of Pu’uhonua o Hลnaunau National Historical Park, be sure to check it out if you want to see more!
A Sweet Treat
After the park, we explored the island a little more and discovered a roadside bakery! Two Step Bakery is a small tent set up with racks and coolers, and paid via an honor system. Tom got a coconut pie and I had the most delicious, jiggly, gluten-free butter cake.
