Kona - Kailua
Summer Vacation 2018 - Hawaii
(created Sun. July 29, 2018; updated Sun. Aug. 19, 2018)
King Kamehameha’s Beach, Pier, Temple... right outside our window!
Kailua Bay / Niumalu Beach - where the Ironman Triathalon starts
Crashing Surf
St. Michael the Archangel Church
4,080 miles from home
Hawaii is the most remote island chain in the world, over 2,000 miles to the nearest land mass.
The first inhabitants came from the Marquesas, and then another group arrived from Tahiti.
source: https://www.hawaii.com/discover/a-brief-overview-of-hawaiis-history/
In the late 1700s and first decade of the 1800s, King Kamehameha the Great united all of the Islands. His home was the Big Island and he named the nation after his island - Hawaii.
source: https://www.gohawaii.com/culture/history/king-kamehameha
Our friends Jim and Shelia recommended that we stay in the Courtyard King Kamehameha hotel (formerly the Kona Beach hotel). That hotel is located on the King Kam / Kamakahonu Beach.
King Kamehameha apparently lived right here; his temple, “Ahu’ena Heiau” is located right here. We realized this only the week before we left, when we made the connection between the location of a photo of his temple and the hotel in the satellite photo.
source: https://www.lovebigisland.com/big-island-beaches/kamakahonu-king-kam-beach/
We were excited to see these views from our balcony that first morning, captured just after sunrise (after waking at 4am due to jet lag).
We decided to walk a little and see what we could find for breakfast.
We first saw up-close the waves crashing on the tide wall... the water mostly sprayed straight up, but some would get the sidewalk and even the street, and any passersby, a little wet. It is a pretty awesome sight.
We learned that this the beach where they start the Ironman Triathlon... yes, they are now held around the world, but the original Ironman Triathlon starts right on this beach, to the immediate left of our hotel.
We made it to where we had seen from our balcony the waves crashing off to the left of our view. It was a beautiful sight on a Friday morning.
This image is a four-second time-lapsed image created using the Slow Shutter Cam app (as noted on SmartPhone Cameras).
We discovered the San Francisco Bay coffee company, serving their local Kona coffee. We had some papaya and guava danishes and coffee. Nice!
Abby captured these flowers nearby.
As we walked back, we passed the museum in what was King Kamehameha’s first western-style house, across from the first Christian Church in Hawaii. Abby captured this photo of a gecko on the entrance gate.
One evening, after parking the car, we had to ask the hotel to understand why the parking lot lights glow a shade of “alien yellow-green.” It’s to keep the light pollution down for the Mauna Kea observatories. It’s an interesting color.
On Sunday, we celebrated Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church.
We were greeted with seashell leis with visitors - nice. These mosaics celebrate Saint Fr. Damian and Saint Marianne Cope. While Fr. Damian eventually succumbed to leprosy, neither Saint Marianne Cope nor any of her sisters who were guided to help those in need on Molokai have ever contracted leprosy / Hansen’s disease themselves, not even to this day (they arrived in 1883).
These mosaics are of Divine Mercy Jesus...
... and Our Lady of Guadeloupe, Patroness of the Americas.
Back at the Courtyard... this is one of many paintings in the hotel, this one showing how Princess Kapiolani helped her people come to understand the truth of Christianity by praying inside the Kilauea volcano, showing them that Pele was not “angered” by praying the Bible; this as one of many acts that helped her convert many Hawaiians to Christianity.
Kona is 4,079 miles from home, and the street is 16 feet above sea level.
And, on our last night in Kona, after the long day for the lava boat and the drive back... after an afternoon nap, we had a date night. Many thanks to Rick at the front desk who recommended this location right by the water’s edge... we could still see the room where we were, but we also got some mom-and-dad time... a little food from the restaurant up the street, and we just relaxed listening to the waves. niiiiice!
Both of these images were captured with ~ 30-second exposures, using the LUX+ setting in the Pro-Camera app. This is the best feature on the best app on the iPhone.
Some Big Island links:
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-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kailua,_Hawaii_County,_Hawaii
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-https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g60872-Kailua_Kona_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii-Vacations.html
Links to the rest of this travel journal:
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17)Oahu - Dole Plantation Maze and Polynesian Cultural Center
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26)SLUH in HI
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28)Postcards
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29)Reviews
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30)Hawaii 2000
