Day 22: Hapuna Beach to Kailua Kona

December 8, 2014

We suspected it could be a long and hot haul to get back to Kona, but that did not stop us from planning a massive detour to go see petroglyphs and fish ponds. This delights exist on the grounds of a string of resorts that line the coast about 6 km south of Hapuna Beach and 5 km off the main road. The thing is known as the Kohala Resort Area and it contains a mixture of hotels and lots of what are probably timeshares. The first fact about it is that there are only two access roads from the main highway. Once you go in to the area, you pretty much have to exit the same way. So if you go in, you're in.

Aside from the basic information that the access road is near mile marker 73, our guidebook said we would spot it from the incongrous tropical plantings in the middle of the lava fields. Lava fields is really the dominant landform, from here all the way into Kailua Kona. One of our maps shows the lava flows and gives the dates for each. But basically the whole area is smothered in A'a lava, except where it is covered by Pahoehoe. Not much grows on this lava, even though some is from the 1800's. So when you come to the Kohala Resort entrance, with its planted palms and etc., it is very noticeable.

In fact, this remarkable feature is repeated all through the resorts. On one side all is incredibly lush and beautiful, but on the other side, or intermixed, are huge piles or broad expanses of rough A'a. What it brought to mind for us was a Star Trek type episode, where the crew beams down to a barren planet on which the aliens have temporarily created a livable space for humans. When the central power source, or the holo generator begins to fail, the true environment begins to flash through the simulation.

Simulation or not, when you get deep enough into the resort area it really is lovely. Our first stop was a parking lot that serves as a trail head for a visit to some petroglyphs. The parking lot itself, though, was where the excitement began. Here was a lady with a trunk full of paraphenalia, who was feeding a colony of feral cats. She was doing an excellent job, apparently, since each of the many cats looked great. She said they all had been spayed or neutered. The cats themselves were circulating freely amid a colony of mongooses. The mongooses, the lady said, had been introduced to eat rats in the cane fields. But rats are nocturnal and mongooses are not. oops. Avi and Violet, does it remind you of the old lady who swallowed a spider?

Finally, in the trees above the cats and mongooses were flocks of mynah birds. Also introduced, but here we don't know why.

The lady advised us not to stop at the first petroglyphs, but to press on. We already knew that the trail ought to be 1 km each way. But when we got to the first petroglyphs, any further trail seemed to be rough and poorly defined. We were happy with the first ones, though. The designs seem bold, and strangely modern. Soon there will be photos of some of them just below.

When we first read about fish ponds to be found in the area, the image was of the Koi filled pond at the Hilo Seaside. Not so. Here, the fish ponds are a quite large and varied system just beside the ocean. The ponds had been used by the Hawaiians for centuries to raise fish for food, such as mullet and milkfish. The management of the ponds has been kept unchanged, though it is doubtful that anyone is currently using the fish for food. The ponds themselves were incredibly beautiful, as any water is when combined with plantings. The whole environment was certainly excellent for strolling.

We got antsy, though, as we realized how far we had to go on the bikes, and just how long we had been absorbing this beautiful environment. The paths back had other things to look at, too. There were lava tubes large enough to have been inhabited in an earlier time, and there was other evidence of the lives of those who were here without ever buying a timeshare.

One other interesting thing in this area was a Foodland grocery store. Suddenly in the middle of nowhere this was a standard American high end store. They had a deli section with non-spam type food. Most surprising, in the bakery section was a "bearclaw" and also guava filled pastries. The surprising bit was that these were the same high quality as you would find in a European bakery. Go figure.

An off note was that of the three staffers that we interacted with in some way, all three were crabby. "Sullen" would best describe it. It was so clear that it made us want to go grab management and offer to study and fix their problem for free.

As we were unlocking the bikes and puzzling over what the store's problem might be, things got more complicated as another worker, "Gary", came over and asked us the Usual Questions. What was unusual was his reaction. He was really wowed. He said we should be on TV, that a crew should be following us. He mused about how lucky he was to actually run in to us. Now I confess, I have also thought the same thing! That is, that people who meet us may not be fully appreciative of meeting the real Grampies! I expect half or more of you reading this feel like throwing up. But I bet all but the most truly modest of you have thought this about yourselves from time to time. Anyway, thanks Gary, and we feel lucky to have met you!

Oh by the way, fluffy bread in this Foodland was over $7 a loaf. And how about this: SPAM flavoured macadamia nuts!

Back on the highway, we mightily enjoyed the extra broad shoulder. This continued all the way into Kona. There were even little touches like Share the Road signs for when the road reached an intersection and might have people turning across the shoulder/cycling lane. Sometimes there was even a dotted bike lane in these situations. However, in the 50 or so km between Foodland and Kona, there was only one potential water or snack stop, at Waikoloa Road, which in any event was not far from Foodland. The road gently rose and fell, so no problem of hills, but it really was travelling through a lava desert, and with the unrelenting hot sun, it was good that we had brought enough water. This turned out to be 5 litres for Dodie and 3 litres for me.

We made surprisingly good progress, and before 4 p.m. pedalled right in to the lobby of the Kona Seaside, saying to the ladies behind the counter the equivalent of "Honies, we're back". We are not sure if they remember us pedalling out of the same spot about 20 days earlier, but they were very welcoming all the same.

Again we are finding our room really efficient and pleasing. We like the balcony especially, since it is the spot for storing and ultimately disassembling the bikes. We are not quite sure what our plan is for tomorrow. We could cycle more, or we could try to hop on a tour to the top of Mauna Kea. Or, most likely, we could hang out around here, trying desperately to absorb some last gentle heat and lovely flowers, while seeing if we can avoid getting ripped off on Kona coffee to take home.

Stay tuned to the blog for a little longer, eh. It's not over 'till it's over. But yeah, we made it!