KOHALA COAST
The Kohala Coast and Kona are on the leeward west side of the island, where the climate is just the opposite of Hilo and receives a scant 10 inches annually. The lack of rainfall is the reason for west Hawai`i’s desert-like environment. Over the last few years, this side of the island has become Hawai`i’s leading luxury resort destination with magnificent resorts of Kona Village and Four Seasons at Kaupulehu, Waikoloa, Mauna Lani and Mauna Kea found in this area.
From the Kohala Coast, one can see sunshine days, snow-capped mountains (like Mauna Kea), white sand beaches, a glimmering ocean, and dazzling resorts (see the contrast in the photos below).
Kohala Sunset
(taken from the best seat in the house at the Brown's
Grille, Orchid at the Mauna Lani Hotel)
Snow-capped Mauna Kea
(Photo of Mauna Kea courtesy of Peter
French)
MAUNA LANI
Mauna Lani formerly had a Hawaiian name Kalahuipua'a, meaning fish looking and grunting like pigs. It wasn't a very attractive name for tourism purposes, so it was changed to Mauna Lani, meaning heavenly mountain since it is appropriately flanked by several mountains around it, namely:
Hualalai Volcano is located on the west side of the big island. Its last eruption took place in 1800-1801. The lava flows covered most of what you see around the Kona International Airport.
Kilauea Volcano has been emitting lava for 10 years now, adding hundreds of acres of new land to the Big Island. It is the youngest and by far the most active. The summit crater is about 3 kilometers by 4 kilometers and unlike other volcanoes has a smaller crater inside of it. The most recent eruption from Kilauea happened at the summit crater in 1982, the eruption taking place now is happening on the east rift zone at the Pu`u O`o vent. Some volcanologists have suggested the current eruption of Kilauea may continue for decades to come.
Kohala Volcano is on the north end of the Big Island. It is believed to be the oldest, with the last eruption taking place over 17,000 years ago. Kohala has reached its final size but was buried beneath the lava flows from other volcanoes.
Mauna Kea (White Mountain) volcano has been inactive for about 2,000 years and has also reached its final size. It is 13,796 feet. If its height is measured from the ocean floor, Mauna Kea is 2,000 feet taller than Mt. Everest, making it the tallest mountain in the world. It is famous for an array of world-class astronomical observatories. At its summit may be found the Mauna Kea Observatory Complex which boasts several "largest" categories of telescopes in the world. On a clear sunny day, one can see the contrast of snow on the tips of Mauna Kea and the white sandy beaches from the Kohala Coast (again, please refer to the photos above).
Mauna Loa (Long Mountain) Volcano is approximately 42,000 cubic kilometers making it the largest volcano throughout the whole world. Its summit crater is 4 kilometers long and about 2.5 kilometers wide. Its summit houses the Keck Observatory, home to the world's most powerful telescope.
Mt. Haleakala (meaning House of the Sun) in the island of Maui is only about 40 miles away and can be seen from the Kohala region on a clear day.
The ancient Hawaiians established a series of fishing villages on the lava fields of the Kohala coast. To this day, these fishponds have been preserved to do what they are supposed to do - i.e., allow the small fish to swim in & the big ones to stay.
fishponds along the Mauna Lani, Kohala Coast
Ancient Hawaiians also discovered that rainfall in the mountains to the east percolated into lava tubes and flowed all the way down to the coast in a few places, providing drinking water in an otherwise desert-like environment. The beaches at Mauna Lani have some white sand from the coral reefs offshore, black sand from the lava, and, in one spot, a little patch of green sand from its olivine content. Olivine is present in all kinds of lava except that some have just more of it; hence, the olive-green color in the sand.
We toured the historical fish ponds at Mauna Lani and learned some of its agricultural history. Capt. George Vancouver had given king Kamehameha some cows as a gift but the King did not know what to do with them. He ordered his people not to kill the cattle, so they started to grow in numbers.
John Palmer Parker, a sailor from Massachusetts arrived on the islands. He offered to round up the cattle and take care of them since he had some knowledge of ranching. Kamehameha was pleased with him and liked him a lot. The cattle had become a nuisance to Kamehameha, so the idea of Parker taking care of them appealed to the king. In exchange, Parker was given some land to use for the cattle. He eventually married a Hawaiian princess who was a granddaughter of Kamehameha. Along with her, about 6000 acres of land came into the marriage. This vast amount of land eventually increased in size to about 500,000 acres. He sold part of it and was left with 225,000 acres which extensively ran from the Waimea hills as far as the eyes can see all the way down to the Kohala Coast.
Orchid at the Mauna Lani Hotel
We stayed here at the Orchid at Mauna Lani Hotel. This area was originally part of the Parker ranch. The property was sold to Francis H. Brown in the 1930's for $6,000. A single beachfront lot in this area costs $15,000,000 today. The Ritz Carlton Hotel chain bought a small portion of the land in the 1980's for the construction of the resort. Ritz Carlton sold the resort to the Sheraton Luxury Collection in the mid 1990's. The Brown's Grille restaurant at the Orchid at Mauna Lani Hotel was named after Francis Brown.
PETROGLYPHS
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A trail leads north of the hotel to the Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs, an impressive collection of images carved into the pahoehoe lava near the footpath that connected the ancient fishing villages. There are four styles of petroglyphs: sticks, triangles, columns, and pecking type (sort of "connect the dots" style). |
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Two or three circles above the head of a human petroglyph connotes a person with a high rank. Kamehameha had 3. The one hour walk out to Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs is delightful and highly educational. The trail, although it crosses solid lava, is discernible. The tread of feet over the centuries has discolored the rock. |
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Most of the lava field leading to the petroglyphs is wavy pa'hoehoe and looks like a petrified sea. You can climb mounds of lava, sometimes about 8 -10 feet high, to explore the immediate territory. |
| The petroglyphs are in an area about the size of a soccer field. A wooden walkway fences them in to ensure their protection. A common motif of the petroglyphs is a circle with a hole in the middle, like a donut. You'll also see designs of men with triangular-shaped heads. Some rocks are heavily covered with designs while others have only a symbolic etching or two. |  |
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This was taken at the patio of the Canoe House at the Mauna Lani Beach Hote. Itl is a wonderful restaurant by the beach that serves great food. Travel books rate them high. We had dinner during our last night here with the best seat in the house to watch & take photos of the sunset outdoors. |
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