Aug, 12th , 2012
Aloha !
Wow ! I had such a great weekend already and Sunday is not even over yet ! I am on my Morning Kitchen break so I will write as much as I can as I will be heading off to Mauna Kea this afternoon to watch the sunset and also watch the Perseid Meteor Shower . There really is no other better place to see this than way up on Mauna Kea !!!!! Shooting stars ! Wow ! Awesome ! I can hardly wait. Parkas have been reserved from Guest Services and camera battery getting charged as we speak . Got to find me some socks , throw a hoodie in a backpack with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some trail mix and water, and I good for the rest of the night up at Mauna Kea !
I slept well last night . Thank goodness for that as I didn't sleep at all the night before , but I will get to that.
Venetia , Beth, Karen, Michael and I left right after breakfast on Friday, Aug, 10th and it was our weekend on Kona side. We left Friday , spent the night in the A-frames ( aka huts . ) at Kapuna Beach and then spent the whole day at Pu'ukohola Heiau where there was a weekend long Cultural Festival happening .
We were all so happy heading out of Kalani Friday morning ! Our first stop was Punaluu Black Sand Beach . Oh, there were so many honu(s) on the beach !!!!!! They were all sun bathing either on the rocks or the beach . This was the first time I have ever been really close to one. I was mere inches away and took some great photos. These big beautiful turtles ( honu ) have such a gentle aura around them ,,,,beautiful old wise souls. Some were swimming out in the ocean , some were trying to get onto the black sand beach but getting swept back into the ocean from the strong returning tides. Palm trees swaying , jagged lava rock , black sand beach with white frothy ocean lapping the shoreline , soft grey and brown honu ( s) and the many colours of the blue ocean surf and waves .... Oh , it was simply beautiful . Picture perfect , freeze framed in my mind forever.
We spent about an hour at Black Sand Beach . Our next stop was Punaluu Bake Shop where we enjoyed their famous malasadas . It was so nice to sit outside in the gazebo, surrounded by beautiful gardens.
Then, off to check in at our hut and to Hapuna Beach ! Hapuna Beach is close to Mauna Kea Beach where I went a few weeks ago. Sorry, but you will see the word beautiful a lot in this blog post ( aka my open diary .) Hapuna Beach is so very beautiful !!!!! We spent the entire afternoon there . Our ' hut ' was lovely. Very simple but clean. We were expecting bunk beds but it was actually two very long wide benchs alongside of the A-frame . You can sleep two people on each bench , lengthwise . Michael slept on the floor as there was five of us. In the middle of the room was a picnic table. It was more than adequate for sleeping . Just outside our A-frame was a tap where we could get water for washing and there was also a washroom nearby that had a shower . A big garbage can was just outside the A-frame so that garbage could easily be disposed of. Hmmm....but, the word but , there were lots of ants inside. little tiny ants, crawling all over our sleeping area . Venetia was beside herself. " They love me ! They are going to bite me all night. I can't sleep ehre. I might be sleeping in the car ! " She sprayed the area with her own aromatherapy blend of lavender oil and peppermint oil . The room smelled great but alas , the ants were everywhere , even on the cement floor ! " She went to the check-in office and came back with a huge container with an attached spray hose . She had brought back a container of industrial strength ant terminator. She was so happy spraying the entire outside area of the A-frame. Karen was not too happy about it as that stuff is toxic and poisonous . Ants were not the only thing it kills. Oh well.
The gorgeous sunny day at Kapuna Beach help lift Venetia's mood. We went back to our A-frame to get cleaned up for dinner. " Don't go in the shower, Molly ! There are two huge cockroaches there. There was a bee in there too and it stung me. Look, I am swelling up really bad !" Venetia shows me her foot. Karen gave her some benadryl . " I swear, I hate bugs but they love me. Mosquitoes hide in the toilet bowl and they bite my bum ! " Venetia was going on and on. Everyone was laughing , envisioning mosquitoes hiding for the sole sake of biting someone's behind. Its like a cartoon. Funny !
Dinner was at the Blue Dragon Restaurant in Kawaihae . It was dark already . When we walked into the restaurant , there was a live band playing .I looked up and saw the dark sky and twinkling stars. Hey, every room you look up , you see the dark sky and twinkling stars ! The entire restaurant had walls but no ceilings , with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom area. What a cool concept . What if it rains ? Well, it seldom rains on Kona side. Seldom. It is almost always hot and sunny or overcast . As it was , it was still very warm , a perfect night to be dining outside . The whole restaurant is one big ' patio ' with different rooms and candle light for ambience .
Sleeping that night in the A-frame ( hut ) was challenging. The bed consisted of one long raised bench . I did not have an air mattress so I used a yoga mat . Well, that did not help at all. I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer sleep on a flat hard surface . The wind howled all night and whipped through the screen windows of the A'frame. As I lay on the hard bench , the wind was blowing my hair all around my face. I pulled my hair back but the wind was still blowing so hard that the small stray hairs were tickling my face. The powerful wind even raised my blanket off me. We may as well be sleeping outside. The wind howled loudly all night . As I laid there , the crescent moon came out and shone brightly on me, moonbeams on my restless body. I watched the moon playing hide and seek with night clouds , the huge stars glittering above. I did not sleep a wink .
I got up at 5:30 a.m. and we all left around 6:15 a.m. to go to Pu'ukohala Heiau for theCultural Festival happening there. The Festival started at 6:30 a.m. There was to be a reenactment of a battle scene , along with chanting and all the different tribes making offerings . We were there for an hour and a half , watching all the procession of the different tribes . After an hour and a half , it suddenly ended . All of us were waiting for the final battle. Nothing happened. We were then advised that due to some injuries from rehearsal the previous day , they have decided not to do the mock battle. By then , it was after 8:00 a.m. so we all headed out for breakfast . After breakfast , we went back to Pu'ukohola Heiau . I spent an hour and a half making my own ipu ( gourd ) . I took the ipu to the ocean and filled it with sand and water . I shook it all around to loosen the interior of the gourd . I would sit on the beach with my ipu filled with sand and water , and swirled it around on the beach sand. I also scrubbed and sanded it with the coconut husk . Then I would go into the ocean and empty the sand and any gourd interior that loosen and start the whole process again. This went on for an hour and a half . It was a form of meditation for me : going into the ocean , filling the ipu with ocean water , back to the beach , pouring and packing sand into the ipu , shaking and swirling the ipu to loosen the inside stuff up , sanding and polishing the exterior with coconut husks .
We spent all day there. I did a lot of crafts . I also made a wood block print .out of bamboo. Now, I can print my own design on fabrics !
It was a very full two days. For the first time ever since I arrived in Hawaii three months ago , I felt like I was on vacation. The A frame costed me $5.00 for my share and the gas money ( my share ) was $10.00 , totaling $15.00 . Pretty sweet for a weekend getaway full of sun , sand , beautiful beaches and culture !!!!!!!
With much Aloha,
Molly
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