El Norte

We decided to drive up the Kohala coast to the end of the road one fine Tuesday morning. The road dead ends at Pololu Valley Lookout, a wonderful vista with fine views of the rugged aspects of our island home. Apparently some Japanese guy bought the whole thing and will someday convert it to a resort/restaurant or some other crappy thing. Luckily though, because of our crooked civic leaders and strange laws, the land while owned by the Japanese guy will probably never be developed because of Hawaii's crazy land zoning rules(I hope). After a fair bit of staring we drove back south, hung out with a huge statue of King Kamehameha. Later we had lunch and hiked around Lapakahi State Park. 600 years ago this was settled as a fishing village, now you can walk around on a self guided tour. One of us thought this was an amazing historical experience(minus the crabby old park ranger lady), the other thought it was ok. Finally we made it Pu'ukohola Heiau. This massive structure(224x100' w/16-20' walls) was created with water rounded stones from Pololu Valley and beach area. Thats about 25 miles away for all you barefoot slaves of the King. After it's completion, Kamehameha sacrificed his main competition and cousin to seal the deal. Soon all the islands would fall under his control thanks to Fate, Western cannons, guns and his cunning, yet savage, warfare techniques. We saw so much in 1 short day, we even did a little grocery shopping and perused some used books. All in all, it was just another great day in paradise.

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