Big Island (Waikoloa Coast), February 27, 2022

The oldest part of the Big Island is the Kohala Peninsula.  It is a bump on the northern shore of the island. It makes up less than 10% of the island's land mass.  Today Sandy and I drove around that peninsula.  At the Puakō Petroglyph Archaeological Preserve we saw a number of etched petroglyphs dating back as long ago as 1200AD.  At the same site was a dramatic lava rock shoreline.

A little further up the coast is the Pu'ukoholā National Historic Site.  This was a temple built by Kamehameha before he started consolidating his power.  He "sanctified" his temple with the obligatory human sacrifices.  The site is considered the birthplace of the Kingdom of Hawai'i.  While all that is left now are the stone platforms, when they were operational many wooden structures were atop and around these temples.

We stopped for lunch in the colorful little Hawai'ian town of Kapa'au.  

The tip of the peninsula.

 Across the middle of the peninsula are the famous cattle lands of the Big Island.  It is here that the Parker Ranch, still, through the Parker Ranch Foundation operates as the largest privately held ranch in the country (that includes Texas).  The Parker Ranch is a working ranch and right now not open to the public, but we did see other cattle ranches in the area.

Finally, back at the resort, Sandy and I enjoyed a couple of Mai Tais as celebration of our 51st wedding anniversary.