Saturday 30-11 - Northern Circle Tour

Our touring today is heading north from Waimea through the inland and back via the coast. A Hawaiian cultural day!!

The scenery is so different from yesterday. No thick forest. Open plains with cattle and some horses. Areas are dry, others are green with short grass. The road is lined with trees to stop the wind. And it is very windy.

Our first stop is a look out over the coast. The second a lookout over a valley. This one is often used in promotional material for Hawaii. We stop at Kapaau for morning tea, an area renowned for the early years of King Kamehameha I so there is a statue for him, the third on our trip!

We can't quite get to the most northerly point on the island but we visit a beach near by which will have to be close enough.

Our next two stops (before and after lunch) are Hawaiian villages. The first is at Lapakahi State Historical Park, which is the remnants of a village which flourished 1500 to 600 years ago. The second is Puukohola Heiau with temples constructed by King Kamehameha I before and after he united the Hawaiian islands. Lots of stones and a lot of imagination on our part required at both sites.

It has been an interesting day weather wise, it has rained, it has been hot and it has been very windy.

Our last full day on the Big Island!

Looking South

So dry - rain shadow

Pololu Valley

King Kamehameha Statue

Lapakahi

Lapakahi

Puukohola Heiau

Puukohola Heiau

The pot of Gold !!!!



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