The Place of Refuge

Friday, October 11, 2024. Waikoloa Beach and Volcano Village, HI

Today’s card is the Eight of Cups, which seams appropriate for our visit (by land, this time) to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, the Place of Refuge.

We woke up earlyish and went out again to the Hilton Coffee place… which took longer than expected, but did enable us to see another sea turtle and a native Hawaiian heron. We rushed through the museum path, got back and packed, then we said said goodbye to the Hilton Club House #4 . We headed south along the southwestern coast. We didn’t see any wild pigs, but we continued to see wild goats along the side of the road.

Pu'uhonua O Honaunau is a place where defeated warriors or Hawaiians who had broken social rules, or kapu (punishable by death) could flee to for sanctuary. It was also a place where the chiefs could hang out at, once they made it through a gauntlet of defending warriors. Mark had downloaded a walking tour from the US Park Service and we learned about a Go-like game, and lava tree castings, and the importance of stories of families’ relations with the local land.

There is an active shrine on the site that features several large, carved wooden ki’i (an image representing an akua, or Hawaiian god); the ones within the shrine’s sanctuary are different manifestations of the god Lono (responsible for rain and fertility). I tried to photograph the images, and the lighting was not cooperating, so the ki’i were washed out or underexposed. I’m always impressed by the texture of the carvings.

Under a kind of A-frame, we spoke with a woman as she wove palm fronds into baskets, roses, and fish. The fish gave me a Proust Moment, and I suddenly recalled a mobile made of small, black and golden woven fish, hanging in my sister’s upstairs bedroom in the house my parents rented in the late 1960’s.

Mark asked her how long her baskets lasted and she pointed to the first basket she ever made, thirty years ago. The fronds were trimmed to narrow strips. They started out green, and turned yellow-brown as they aged. The fronds were soft and not difficult to work with. She seemed pleased with how interactive we were and we had a nice conversation with her.

We ran into a park ranger and Mark asked about the carvings—they were too large to have come from the local palm trees. The ranger said that a wood carver would work with a priest, climb the volcanos where the rainforests were, and select a tree; the type of tree chosen would depend on which akua was being represented and also what relationship the carver had with the tree. These were guides more than rules, and the ranger indicated that tree selection could be pragmatic.

I can’t help but want to contrast and compare Hawaiian sculpture with ancient Egyptian sculpture. Hawaiian sculpture is wood, spans a shorter time period, and doesn’t have any words or written spells on it. My sense is that Hawaiian sculpture is more textured with bold geometric patterns, whereas (aside from linen clothing) Egyptian sculpture is more smooth. I am supposing that some of these differences come from the Hawaiians not having ready access to metal tools.

If I had to come to a conclusion after an hour and a half of touring Pu'uhonua O Honaunau, I would that Hawaiian religious sculpture is more about the stories between a place or natural phenomenon and a person or person’s family, and that Egyptian religious sculpture is more grounded in a magical tradition. Exploring the similarities and differences between kapu and ma’at is a whole other essay.

Next to the park was a place folks could enter the surf and snorkel, so we did. This was the second bay we had snorkeled in on our Tuesday snorkel tour. Yellow fish swam right at the stepped rocks where one entered the water. There were fish (and people) everywhere. While we were there, dolphins cavorted in the surf.

After snorkeling, we drove through the twisty highway to Shaka Tacoz (the more southern one), a fish taco place where geckos came out of the woodwork to lick up the guava sauce. The food and geckos were great, although the music was bad pop from 1980 (at least our cashier liked it, because she sang along with every tune).

More driving. We made it to a black sands beach where sea turtles basked in the sun. The beach is very black and like Yachatts, Oregon, only with much more lava and less basalt. The sand is more course lava pebbles than actual sand. There were folks in the surf, but it looked much more rough than the other sites we’d visited. I took photos of sleeping turtles. Mark got some excellent mahi-mahi from a food truck; I got an ice-cream bar.

Still more driving. We did not see wild pigs or goats. In the town of Volcano Village, 4000 feet above sea level, we made a food run during the last ten minutes of operation of a quirky market. The market reminded me of Capella Market in Eugene, which is a bad sign: the aisles were even more narrow, and the layout more haphazard. I had low blood sugar or something, so I apparently walked past food I would have purchased and could only find things like nails, hinges, laundry detergent, and third-tier-Hostess-knock-off pastry pucks. There was some sort of episode at the cash register with cheese sticks of insanity that I don’t recall very well.

We had fine dining in Volcano, which included newly discovered Mai Tais. The restaurant was filled with very large portriats of birds. Which looked varying degrees of angry or judgey.

After dinner, we fall asleep to the sound of about a thousand cheeping invasive tree frogs from Puerto Rico. The tourist book warned us about the frogs and the insanity their song could bring, but we thought they were charming background noise.

Underwater Videography

Tuesday, October 8, 2024. Waikoloa Beach, HI

Today’s card is the Wheel of Fortune, reversed. Generally, this is a good card, but it’s not a fabulous card, the meaning of which can be summed up as, “Pay attention to what you can learn from when things don’t go perfectly.”

I must not ask, even as a joke, “Did they film Magnum PI here?”


Today we got up early—mostly because we’re still on Oregon time—and tried to see the comet (again) and generally get oriented to the skies. Then it was off to Dolphin Discoveries in Kona to snorkel.

Originally we were to go on a dolphin tour where we would observe dolphins from a boat, but that package was cancelled and we were rebooked on a double-snorkel trip. All of the passengers on the boat were pleasant and the Dolphin Discoveries crew (Erica and Captain Raj) were laid back and knowledgeable.

Our first snorkel was in Kealakekua Bay State Historical Park, a bay against a cliff where there is a white obelisk to Captain James Cook (British explorer and jerk). The water by the boat was a deep blue, then green, then a washed out turquoise, then white as it became more shallow.

Clutching a rental GoPro Camera, I plunged into the water and promptly had my snorkel come out of my mouth. The water was warm (again!) which was a nice change from the cold water off of the Oregon Coast. Undaunted, I began to video fish. What I hadn’t taken into account was that when I wear my contact lenses, I’m very far-sighted, and the GoPro has a fairly small screen: so there was no way I’d be able to look through the camera’s finder to see what I was imaging. I more or less held the camera at arm’s length and pointed it in the same direction that I was looking. But I really didn’t have an idea of what kinds of video I was getting, other than that I probably had a good shot of Mark snorkeling.

There were tons and tons of fish, and they seemed to be used to people. We saw a purple and gold striped boxfish (probably) and a blue and gold spotted tang and lots of trigger fish. Slate-pencil Sea Urchin lurked among the (mostly) cauliflower coral and (some) finger coral. It was difficult to get close to them, though, because they were about eight to ten feet below the surface and swimming down—even with fins—clutching a GoPro in one hand and holding breath was hard; I kept bobbing up (I guess I should be thankful that I’m much more buoyant than I used to be forty years ago). Mark felt the water pressure in his ears when he tried to swim to deeper depths.



After an hour of floating and diving and pointing the GoPro camera hopefully, it was off to the waters around Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, the Place of Refuge. We snacked on delicious pineapple en route. The ocean continued to be calm and the sky slightly cloudy.

On the second dive, I think my and Mark’s gear got swapped—my mask was leakier and the bite on the snorkel felt off. Despite this difficulty, we sited a spotted ray. I was so intent on videoing it that Mark had to pull me back from swimming out of bounds and into a dolphin sanctuary! Afterward, we saw an eel and more of the other fish. Mark liked the majesty of the second dive site, but I had a better experience at the first. Mark says I should have switched masks with him—but I was trying to make thing work.

The GoPro seemed to be turning itself off, so I got fewer videos of this spot. After forty-five minutes in the water, it was time to leave. On the trip back to Kona, we stopped by a rock formation that looked like Pelé lying on her side (the old chiefs used to have their priest light fires in the formation’s “eyes”). At a second stop we visited a former hill that had collapsed into a caldera (sort of like The Devil’s Punchbowl in Oregon, only navigable by boat.)

Afterward, we changed into dryer clothes and went to downtown Kona. The captain (Captain Raj) had recommended a place to eat (Mark asked) which turned out to be right on the ocean in Ōneo Bay. Mark had really good fish tacos, and I had a “Luau Pizza.” Our waitress was a hoot, and had strong opinions of how disruptive the Ironman competition (or “Underwear Run,” as she called it) was. We did a little bit of shopping, looked at Hulihee Palace (closed for a private event), and then drove back to the resort.

We both noticed that time seemed to be stretching out. Mark’s fairly active anyway, so we weren’t just sitting around on a beach day drinking, but it felt like we’d been on The Big Island forever. Possibly not paying close attention to what day it was or listening to the news and limiting social media time helped. We also never really got off of the Oregon time zone; so we frequently found ourselves up around 5:30 A.M. and being actively engaged with the environment—and being tired and ready for sleep by 8:30 P.M.

Orienting to Hawaii

Monday, October 7, 2024. Waikoloa Beach, HI

7:00 A.M. which means it’s 10:00 A.M. at home. This morning’s tarot card is the Three of Pentacles reversed, which I’m thinking is me worrying about work and writing craft and vacation.

Today is a recovery and orientation day. Despite wanting a bit more sleep mentally, my body was ready to be up at 5 A.M. After a brief attempt at more sleep, I got up again for the day.

Mark was already awake, and I stumbled about our condo trying to see if I could see Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, but I think it’s too close to the sun. Also, it took me some doing to locate Polaris, and there’s a shield volcano in front of everything, and the ocean is to the southwest (not the westwest). I think what’s confusing me the most is that I’m not in a valley oriented north/south.

We’re staying in a Hilton resort village made up of three or four properties and shopping centers. Our unit is nice. It’s on the third floor of a blocky mansion-style building with a red tile roof. We’re on the northwest corner, with a spacious balcony that gets a lot of late afternoon sun (and late-night geckos). The resort is on the southern coast, just below the most western tip of the Big Island. The saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa is east of us. I really should have looked more closely at a map, because my directional sense, never my strong suit, is especially scrambled the entire trip.

The grounds are well maintained and manicured—sort of like Disney World, only without all of the branding. We’re in a part of the resort that isn’t zooey. I’d say most of the folks in this section are white, middle-class retirees and their families. There’s a smattering of folks from Asia and India.

I’d say it’s a toss-up which is the loudest: the birds, the local water features (I jokingly referred to the artificial creek running around our unit as our moat), or the air-conditioning unit across the street at pool. I suppose that staying at the resort must be similar to being on a cruise ship, only without the ocean travel.

If we wanted to drop a lot (more) money, I could have a day spa treatment and massage and we could swim with enslaved dolphins.


Mark has disparaged (rightly) my humming of “Mele Kalikimaka”, and so of course my brain has switched to the song, “Puka Shells.”

In the morning, we went to a local access beach about fifteen minutes east and tested out the snorkel-masks Dad loaned us. I would say the most surprising thing about the beach was the sign warning folks about unspent military ordinances and to not touch anything that might look like a grenade.

The water was surprisingly warm; throughout the trip I had to keep reminding myself that we were in the tropics and that the water would be much warmer that the 50F it is off of the Oregon coast. A turtle buzzed Mark while he was swimming underwater. There were lots of triggerfish. Mark found a semi-secret cave that one had to swim to above the rocky cliff on the east side of the bay; it was a little too public for making out in, and we had to settle for a quick kiss around snorkels.  I absorbed too much salt water my third time out and suddenly felt sick while still out in the surf—luckily, I wasn't too far out and it was easy enough to float back to the beach.

I also wasn’t expecting to be out in the sun so much and got a particularly awkward and ugly sunburn: the tops of my pecs were bright red and I had white streaks underneath, which made me look especially saggy; I’d unevenly applied sunscreen around my neck, so I had red “straps” running down the sides of my chest and a white bib-shape over my sternum. I looked like I was wearing a Holly Hobbie or Marie Osmond dress made out of sunburn.

I'm thinking that today's tarot card should have been The Sun, reversed.