Day 28: Hapuna Beach to Kona: Sleeping in the Rain

February 7, 2016

Our infatuation with the Hapuna cabin changed a lot when rain with wind cropped up in the night. This turned the airy design, with large screened triangle ends and no windows into a disaster, with wind and rain blowing most of the way through from the sea side. To cut weight and because we knew we would be camping only a little, we had not brought sleeping bags, and were sleeping in down sweaters. Yes, down - the stuff that hates to get wet. We could have set up our tent inside the cabin, but we had mailed home the fly a week ago. So we scrambled to get our gear back into the waterproof panniers, and slept in our raincoats.

In the morning we emptied the water out of dishes we had left out and used some of the park's toilet paper to dry and wipe down surfaces. Then, we just carried on. Only thing, Dodie had logged a second night in a row without much sleep. Me? Apparently I can sleep even at the bottom of a swimming pool!

Each end of the cabin was open like this.

As seems to be the case with Hawaii, it was all over by morning and the world once again was pleasant and benign. The only thing, we abandoned any plan we had had to go swimming at dawn. Hawaii may have forgotten the night, but we were still shivering.

The Kohala mountains from our cabin. They are now behind us. Hooray!

We set off south again on highway 19, the main road which parallels the water and heads for Kona. There are no real secondary roads closer to the water, but only roads that leave 19 and hop over to the major sea side resorts. The one that accesses the Mauna Lani resort gives access to a petroglyph site, some fish ponds, shops, and the chance to see how the well to do enjoy Hawaii. We passed this all up, though, since we were still feeling tired.

Highway 19 from Hapuna to Kona runs through an unrelenting lava desert. It is totally boring, being devoid of any trees or flowers and not really offering so much as a house. There were one or two diversions, though. One was a fleet of helicopters, parked not far from the road. It took a while for me to realize that these are positioned nearby the luxury resorts, and that people are ferried over in vans. Pedalling slowly along, this gave me cause to reflect on the different styles that visitors can have. I admit to some righteous scorn for those who stay at a luxury resort and get driven to an aircraft to be shown the place they are supposedly visiting.

The long boring road through the lava desert. Note, though, the extra wide shoulder. It was actually too wide, opening the possibility that drivers would try to use it, despite warning signs.

Just a couple of the choppers parked and waiting for affluent tourists.

On the other hand, as time has gone by our own definition of what is too luxurious has shifted. For example, in the old, old days we were super tickled with staying in our little yellow nylon pup tent. Now we would just laugh at this toy. Currently, we reall reall enjoy the immaculate German guesthouses, for example, with fluffy duvets and elaborate breakfast. How long before we cast off our Bike Friday's and trade them for a chopper?

(p.s. Even that yellow nylon tent was a luxury and looked on by us as a status symbol. Before that a tent was made from heavy canvas.)

Markedly different blues in the sea off highway 19

I rather doubt that a lot of wild donkeys pass by here. However we did see dozens of wild goats.

We just patiently cranked and cranked through the lava desert, with no further excitement until we passed the Kona airport and came to the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. This park is much like Lapakahi State Park, in that it preserves the sites of early Hawaiian villages. Kaloko has a little more excitement because it includes a lot of beach area, plus a fish trap (pond open to the ocean, where fish can be netted at the exit) and a fish pond. It's a minimum hike of 5-6 km over lava and sand to see the things, so we secured the bikes, put on sunscreen and floppy hats, and marched off. Secured the bikes was the correct term, because a really forceful wind had sprung up. We had to make sure the bikes would not go flying.

When we reached the beach, driven sand peppered our skin, and the sea was quite wild. It was enchanting though, specially because of the large number of honu in the water and pulled out on the beach. Signs warned not to harass them, by staying 20 feet away, but we noticed most tourists came to 10 feet. This seems to be the required distance to have the honu properly in your selfie!

Another feature in the park was a board walk that takes you past a supposed series of petroglyphs. A pamphlet supplied at the beginning of the boardwalk mentioned at least six spots where one could see a variety of glyphs. We spotted two designs, total. (And of course "we" means Dodie).

We did not spot any of the complicated glyphs the pamphlet referred to.

Once the stone wall is piled up, poles can be wedged into it to form the roof of a shelter

Cross poles and ridge poles are lashed on and the outside is covered with bundled thatch. Whoever built this replica cheated and used nylon cord for all lashings.

You have to watch where you walk or you could trip on a turtle

The broad sand beach here is inviting, but the waters looked treacherous

Dodie in silhouette as she waits for me to finish checking out the fish pond.

Not sure what species of wood this is, but tropical trees typically are very brown like this inside.

Dramatic scene of bursting waves in the distance

The village life (and land division system) ran from out in the water to up the mountain.

We straggled back to the park entrance at 4 p.m. just as they were wanting to lock the gates. The hour of the day we no problem for us, because we are mighty cyclists and airport to downtown is an easy cruise (especially with a howling tail wind!). We also by now knew exactly where we were going, and had our reservation queued up at the Kona Seaside.

We rode directly into the Seaside and up to the front desk. Unlike at the Wild Ginger, this did not perturb the staff, who instead greeted us warmly and asked how the weeks of riding had gone. Then when we rolled our bikes into the room, I could really appreciate some part of the luxury sought by the clients of resorts north of the airport. Our room has tv, air conditioning, coffee maker, fridge, bath tub, balcony, and lots of space. Even better, at this particular moment, was the hotel pool, since we were both very overheated from the long desert ride.

The other big luxury of the Seaside is the adjacent restaurant, Splashers. There can be found quality food at fairly believable prices. We went over to Splashers and had a very nice meal overlooking the surprisingly calm Honokohau Harbor. The we crossed the street to the ABC store to look at and this time buy some tourist junk. What a great way to end the day!

Tomorrow we will beat our way back north, and try to pick up all sort of thrilling things we rushed by today. This includes the Onizuka Space Center, a Seahorse Sanctuary, and two tide pools that might be snorkleable. We might not make it to all, but there is one blockbuster stop that we will hit first: Costco. Yeah, what fun!

The bay at Kailua-Kona from our table at Splashers

Today's ride: 53 km (33 miles)
Total: 951 km (591 miles)

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