Also, the presence of multiple wind-farms suggested the area was rather windy.
When we got to the southern tip, we saw several folks fishing. Supposedly the excellent fishing in this area attracted the early Polynesian adventurers to the island.
Since there isn't a lot of sand to make the water cloudy, it's very clear.
The view from the southern point is fantastic. However, you need to be careful - the next stop is Antarctica.
There was also a typical island "board" game on display (minor point - played on a stone slab; not a board).
Here's a replica of the temple which was separated from the rest of the area by a wall.
Rosie is able to make friends anywhere.
We also saw places where lava had flowed around trees; the trees eventually rotted out but left their imprint.
Looks like this guy had a bad day!
This was a neat area, but we didn't get to see much of it. Once the entire park is open I'm sure it will be a great area to visit. We were also told that turtles typically feed on the rocks near the park. No turtles while we were there.
The gardens around the church are very nice.
Rosie getting ready to enter the church.
The paintings are well done and add a lot to the interior of the church.
The painted church was nice, but it was one of those stops that didn't take very long. You can view the Church and paintings in 30 minutes or less.
The food at the Coffee Shack was outstanding. This is supported by the fact that we ate there four times during our stay in Kona. Here's Rosie in front of their sign.
I'm heading into the restaurant. FYI - it was typically hard to get a parking spot in front of the restaurant.
The view from the deck where we ate was great.
They grow their own coffee and also have a huge avocado tree with lots of fruit on it.
The deck came complete with geckos. Here's a gecko with a sweet tooth.
If you're ever in this part of Hawaii, we highly recommend breakfast or lunch at the Coffee Shack.
The coffee tree is related to the gardenia. You can tell this from a close-up of the white coffee blossom.
Here's a picture of the red cherries on a coffee tree.
Inside the cherry is the coffee bean. Typically each cherry has two coffee beans.
The coffee beans have a slimy mucilage coating that is removed by fermenting in water for 12-18 hours. After fermenting the beans are washed with a water spray and then placed on a concrete floor to dry. The beans typically take 3-7 days to dry to the target 11% moisture. During the drying process they are raked (or turned) regularly. The dried beans are now known as parchment.
The finished beans are then sorted by size and packed in 100 lb sacks. The sacks then head to the roasters to be roasted into coffee. They are then sold as whole bean or ground coffee.
Darcy also made some delicious Kona coffee in her vacuum coffee maker. Here she is getting it ready to go.
As the bottom part is heated, the water vapor is pushed into the top part of the coffee maker. Once all the water is gone, the heat is turned off. As the pot cools, the liquid is pulled back into the bottom part by the vacuum created during the boiling process.
The coffee was delicious (and strong - just the way we like it)!
Kona Tiki had received some damage from the tsunami that struck Hawaii. The carpet on the first floor got wet and was in the process of being replaced. Luckily we had a room on the second floor so there were no issues when we came to check in (I had called ahead of time). Also, the pool was damaged and repair was underway.
This little guy met us at the entrance to our room.
The view from our balcony was nice.
However, the sound of the waves was rather noisy and stayed that way 24/7. Since we had no air conditioner, we had to leave the windows open at night. Luckily we got used to the noise after about the second or third night (maybe it was just exhaustion).
As I said the Kona Tiki isn't a fancy hotel, but we didn't spend much time there either. They did offer a small continental breakfast in the morning which saved us time. Also, it's located on Ali'i Drive and a short walk from the middle of town (or at the least the tourist part of town). We were also able to jog/walk along Ali'i Dr. in the morning. We could recommend the Kona Tiki to anyone visiting the Big Island.
There were a lot of people boggie boarding by the time we left. This guy got an early start. We could really tell the difference in skill level between the locals and vacationers.
As we drove along this part of the island, we saw a lot of graffiti made by using white coral (from the beach) to make a design against the black lava rock. Many were simple initials but some were quite artistic.
