It's quite an impressive structure. It measures 224' x 100' and was made from mortarless lava.
It was a very hot, sunny day and the best part of this short hike was the ocean view.
The next stop on our agenda was Hapuna Beach. We stopped for just a few minutes to check it out. Hapuna Beach is the nicest, most popular white sand beach and it was quite busy.
Since it was such a hot day we sat at a shady picnic table and enjoyed Shaved Ice.
We got back in the car and headed towards the Mauna Lani Resort. We had a very nice lunch at Tommy Bahama's. Yes, Tommy Bahama's is a clothing store, but this one had a nice restaurant upstairs. We sat outside and enjoyed our special lunch "guests".
After lunch we headed to see the Puaka Petroglyphs. Most of our days here, so far, have been partly cloudy, but today, as luck would have it, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature was a hot 91 degrees. Have you ever walked on asphalt on a very, very hot day? Do you remember feeling the heat radiating? If so, you can relate to how it feels to hiking on lava! This was a short, but tough hike. Not only did we have to deal with the rugged lava terrain, we also had to watch out for the low-hanging tree limbs that were covered with thorns. Thank goodness for the bits of shade and the occasional breeze!
We finally made it to the petroglyphs. There are several petroglyph fields in Hawaii with over 3,000 designs. There are about 1200 petroglyphs visible at this location. (No, I didn't count them - I read it in the brochure!) Petroglyphs offer a unique view of Hawaiian history, with some of them dating back to the 16th century. They are usually clustered near historic land boundaries, along foot "highways", or through lava fields, but the full reasons for their location and creation remain a mystery. They were an interesting form of art.
After our hike we headed back to the house and jumped in the pool. Then a strange thing happened. Wouldn't you know it? It started raining! That is a rare occurrence in Kona. We spent the rest of our afternoon resting and doing laundry. We watched a spectacular sunset.
Then we headed out for dinner. We chose a local gourmet/dive called Jackie Rey's Bar & Grill. It gets mixed reviews. Nobody liked their fish entrees but the pasta dish I had was the best meal I've had here so far!
We all enjoyed the desserts.
I had my photo taken in front of Jackie's wheels.
After dinner we headed back to the house to pack up because tomorrow we leave Kona. No, the vacation isn't over - we're just moving over to Hilo! Stay tuned!
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