June 9, 2024

Aloha reader! You might wonder why the long time between entries so here goes. Not soon after arriving I started having a slight cough well that ended with a nasty head and chest cold turning into a sinus infection. After 3 weeks to clear that up I slowly got back on my feet and continued my long holiday. This being my second visit to Hawaii and the Big Island I didn’t need to rediscover the places I had visited before and also having a different intention have been staying close to the Kailua town and on the Kona side of the island. I’ll be moving from here later this month to the Hilo side for a short while. After my cold had cleared and I was feeling better it wasn’t long when the island was hit with what is now 2 weeks of heavy seas created by large swells coming out of the South Pacific. You’ll see in the photos I’m posting that the beautiful sandy beach I like to spend time on and the calm ocean that washes it’s shore with what I would describe as normal wave action turned to swells bringing in at somewhat expected intervals waves reaching to 10′ and strong currents that erased the beach and had the lifeguards constantly urging visitors and some inexperienced islanders to stay out of the water. Daily Coast Guard weather reports were advising the same thing. Supposed to calm down by the 12th. My time in the ocean was more a here and there moment. Traveling north last Monday the nearby beach wasn’t affected so I took advantage of the opportunity and enjoyed the ocean both in and out. Today and following days I’m posting photos I’ve taken since the last entry with captions to give you a sense of what I’ve been up to.

Magic Sands Beach, favorite beach photo taken May 6.

Same Magic Sands Beach from opposite end of beach after 2 weeks of heavy swells washing the sand off the rocks. Taken June 4.

Coral, lava rock, fish bone, stones worn down slowly over thousands of years turns into sand. Many beaches here on the Big Island are made up of the different stages of beach evolution.

Spencer’s Beach, fine sand and small waves, north of the airport along the Northwest coast where the SW swells didn’t reach. Waves south are 8-10′ here barely a foot. Hawaii Island, the Big Island, offers so much variety why I chose to come back here and spend most of my time.

Makae’o Walking Path at the Old Kona Airport Beach Park https://hawaiianislands.com/big-island/things-to-do/makaeo-walking-path

Pu’ukohola Heiau https://www.nps.gov/puhe/index.htm From the Visitor Center description this Temple was built under King Kamehameha the Great’s direction from 1790-91 as he was advised by his priests and counselors before he would have their blessings to conquer Maui and O’ahu thus unifying the islands (Kauai was last and brought under Kamehameha’s rule through a peace negotiation).

Arriving from the Marquesas Islands between 1000-1200 CE after a 30 day sailing journey the only “building” material early Hawaiian’s had to use were lava stones, grasses and what could be fashioned from trees and plants. A lot of this type of wall built for yards, gardens and animal enclosures as well as temple construction still stand and can be found mostly near the shore line.

King Kamehameha Day officially is today June 11th. The Kailua-Kona community celebrated last Saturday the 8th starting with a parade with different groups representing different islands, all on horseback to let you know. An all day celebration with food and craft vendors, entertainment and fun. In 2019 sister Sharon and I were in Hilo on the 11th and had a chance to watch their celebration.