We left the resort early on our day of departure, since we wouldn’t really have time to swim or anything before our flight, and headed to Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. My oldest son decided he wanted to see the Statues.
We thought we left PLENTY of time to get there. However, thanks to traffic (on a Saturday morning?!?!) and all the construction on the Island, we didn’t have as much time as we thought. It would have been enough time, if kid #5, the toddler, didn’t have a meltdown when we got there. He threw up in the car and didn’t want to change his clothes. Sigh.
We did get to see all the cool Statues though – and that is what we really wanted to see. If we had those 10 minutes back from the meltdown, we would have had time to see the entire place, but that’s life! We saw what we really wanted to see, so we’ll call it good!
You do have to pay to see this site. Luckily, we have an annual pass to National Parks, so we didn’t have to pay (which is good since we weren’t there that long)
They also have Junior Ranger, but due to time constraints, we’ll try mailing them in!
This site is well worth the time to drive all the way there (it is kind of out of the way!) and really cool to see! I am glad we made the time to drive all the way there (even if we didn’t have lots of time to enjoy it…). Next Visit, we’ll try for a little more time – it’s a pretty cool site!
Here is some info on the site:
In old Hawai’i, if you had broken a law, the penalty was death. Perhaps you had entered into an area that was reserved for only the chiefs, or had eaten forbidden foods. Laws, or kapu, governed every aspect of Hawaiian society. The penalty for breaking these laws was certain death. Your only option for survival is to elude your pursuers and reach the nearest pu’uhonua, or place of refuge.
As you enter, the great wall rises up before you marking the boundaries between the royal grounds and the sanctuary. Many ki’i (carved wooden images) surround the Hale o Keawe temple, housing the bones of the chiefs that infuse the area with their power or mana. If you reached this sacred place, you would be saved.
Today, you may visit Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, and still feel the spirit of peace and forgiveness that continues to surround and bless this special place.
