Cowboys and Fishermen

We drove to the north end of the island past vast fields of black lava from various eruptions of Mauna Loa, the biggest volcano in the world.  Most of these flows were from the 1800's and had not broken down into soil so there was no grass or trees except along the coast where big resorts have hauled in soil and planted palms.  As we headed further north past the most recent flows we began to see scrubby trees and grass.  We drove up the slope of an old volcano (The Big Island has five) to Waimea. 

This is a cowboy town.  Hawaiians call them Paniolos.  It is the site of the Parker Ranch which is one of the U.S.A's oldest ranches largest ranches.  The ranch was built in 1847 by John Parker, a New Englander who jumped ship on the Big Island and married the daughter of a member of the Hawaiian royalty.  We stopped at the Parker Ranch Store and saw fun stuff like pearl button cowboy shirts made of wild Hawaiian print fabric.

We left town and drove the Kohala Mountain Road which was narrow and winding.  It took us past lush green pastures with cattle, sheep, horses and goats.  We had wonderful views of the ocean.  The air was cool and misty.  By the time we got to the bottom of the hills we were in another climatic zone - very tropical with huge trees and flowers everywhere.  We stopped at the town hall of Kapaau and took a picture of the statue of King Kamehameha.  After a picnic lunch in the car because of the drizzle, we drove to the end of the road to Pololu Valley Lookout which is sort of the end of the world.  It looks down at a black sand beach and out over endless miles of ocean.  The was a muddy, slippery path down to the water but my adventurous husband decided that it wasn't for him.  Many other folks came back up the hill covered in mud.

We drove back along the coast to Lapakahi State Historical Park which is the archeological dig of a fishing and farming village from 600 years ago.  The cottages that were on this site were built of the black lava stone and thatched roofs.  It was built in a protected valley with a good beach for landing their fishing canoes.  We saw several pods of whales swimming off shore.

The surf was still pounding (like my fevered head) when we returned to the condo.  I love having the sea in my front yard.