Big Island (Waikoloa Coast), March 2, 2022

 I have had some great cups of coffee in my life, and I have always found that much of the greatness is situational.  I don’t think that you can have a better coffee situation than a cup of 100% Kona coffee on the Kona Coast.  By this standard this morning I had a great cup of coffee.

Kealakekua Bay is where Captain Cook first set foot on the Big Island.  It is also, where on a return visit, he was killed by the Hawai’ians. Sandy and I visited the shores of that bay.  At the same location stands an ancient Hawi’ian temple, Hikiau Heiau.

A little further down the road is the largest and best preserved ancient Hawai’ian site.  Pu’uhonua O Hōnaunau is a remarkable site.  Unlike other sites this one has some recreations of the wooden structures that were a part of these temples.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

 Today was a fun day of traveling south on the island, finding more new sites that we hadn’t seen on our trips down there before.

We found the Painted Church near the village of Captain Cook.  The church was built in 1899 and since most of the Hawaiians could not speak English, the pastor painted the Bible stories on the walls to teach Christianity to his Hawaiian parishioners.  The paintings are still quite vibrant and the church is still in use.

The outside 

Still vibrant paintings except for the one that depicts hell…

Coincidence???

Cemetery

  On our way back to the resort, we were determined to find the well hidden German man who sells 100% Kona coffee for a very reasonable price instead of the $40+ per pound  that it costs in the stores.  We learned about him from one of Sandy and David’s friends that we met on Monday.  His name is Emmerich Grosch and he provides the roasting process and machines to a group of local coffee farmers.  His operation is found among slabs of granite.  A remarkably happy man who loves coffee, Hawaii and a chill sort of life.

Can one really buy the world’s best coffee here?

Yes, Yes you can…from this nice man, that is if you are lucky to time your visit with his office hours posted below

…and his schizophrenic cat

Tonight after a sunset dinner at the Italian restaurant we walked around the resort enjoying the different visitas lit in post sunset splendor…

Artichokes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, onions, sausage

What a crust!

Gorgeous sunset

A very pretty resort 

Big Island (Waikoloa Coast), March 1, 2022

It was a reset day for us.  We started out by renting a cabana for the day.  Starting with coffee and crumpets the resort kept us supplied with ice, drinks, and popsicles!  We did nothing but read, eat, drink, and lay in the cabana.  As a bonus a group of whales put on show for us.  

In the evening we had a sunset dinner at a nice restaurant on the resort property.  All in all a good day, relaxing day.

Big Island (Waikoloa Coast), February 28, 2022

 Surprising for the Kona Coast it was cloudy practically all day. About mid morning we left our resort and drove to the town of Kailua.  This was a very earthy town for this side of the island.  Though surrounded by posh resorts and high cost condominiums and houses the town itself was more like a 1950s East Coast resort town.  A little dirty, small Mom and Pop restaurants and a number of small boarding houses mixed in with some newer hotels.  Kailua is also the start point and the end point to the most respected of all Ironman competitions.  The hotels restaurants and shops embraced the towns relationship with this endurance sport, adding to the youthful vibe of the beachfront.  Historically, this was also the summer residence of Princess Ruth and others governors of the Big Island.

We also visited the burial site of over three hundred warriors who died in the last major intra-Island battle to see who would control and unite the Big Island.  The winner of that battle was Kamehameha, and we know what happened after that.

Late in the afternoon we met Dave and Sandy Landefeld (friends from Lancaster) for drinks and hor’duvres at their hotel.  Good times had by all.