Journey to the Top: Both of Them

Top Number 1: If you look at the map of the Big Island, you just might see a rough outline of Hawaii's famous Green Sea Turtles. The northernmost part is shaped like a turtle's head, and the flippers can be seen near Hilo and Pahoa on the east side, and on the Kona (west) Coast --- with a little imagination. The "head" area is known as Kohala, and the oldest volcano on the island, Kohala Mountain, is located there.

We drove past Hawi (Pronounced hah -VEE) yesterday for lunch and a hike down the Pololu Valley to the rocky northern shore. According to only us and our imagination, we spent the afternoon at the Turtle's Head.

Hawi is a town that suffered big-time as the Sugar Cane industry pulled out. (If you have the time and interest, the story of Sugar Cane in Hawaii is well worth learning about. Its a sad and sordid story.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_plantations_in_Hawaii

Our stop for lunch was delightful, at the King's View Cafe in Kapa 'au. Mari had a delicious pulled pork sandwich, and I ordered this pizza:

It had a white sauce with a kick. It may have been the juice from the Artichoke hearts. On top of that was dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pesto and chicken. Really Yummy! The staff would not reveal the sauce recipe. Darn.

The King referred to in the name of the restaurant, is King Kamehameha, who was responsible for conquering all the people on the Hawaiian Islands and uniting them into one kingdom. There is a nice statue of him looking towards the ocean from across the street of this restaurant. This location is very near his birthplace.

To learn more about him, you can just google his name, or check here:
http://www.gohawaii.com/en/big-island/regions-neighborhoods/north-kohala/kamehameha-statue-kapaau/

King Kamehameha I in Kohala

After that it was on to our hike for the day, which literally started at the end of Highway 270.

View from top of the hike down Pololu Valley Trail at the end of the highway on Kohala's north shore.

It was a short, moderate hike down to a pretty black sand beach and the steady blast of the Trade Winds. We found the wind and waves to be mesmerizing. It was lightly raining while we ate lunch, and for a bit as we drove to the end of the road. As luck would have it, by the time we reached the bottom of the trail, this complete rainbow appeared over the ocean!

There were lots of black crabs hanging out on the rocks.

After an hour of soaking in the sound, sight and feel of the wind and waves, we hiked up and drove on to our other top for the day, Mauna Kea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea

Deemed the best place in world for land-based observatories, some native Hawaiians have protested proposed expansions, due to the historical sacred significance of Mauna Kea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/13/hawaii-telescope-protests-tmt-
mauna-kea_n_7044164.html

As for our visit, the clouds and crowds made it less than ideal. We left early.

View from our deck. No sunset photo yet. Haven't seen the whales yet, but we hear they are around.

Even though the clouds prevented us from seeing the Milky Way, Mari looked at the stars through her binoculars and was amazed at the numerous stars that were visible - the sky seemed to be thick with stars. She also saw at least one shooting star, this being the tail end of the Geminid Meteor showers.

But - it turned out that the first rainbow we saw since we have been in Hawaii, was only the first of FOUR for the day! Here is the final one, seen at the Observatory Visitor Center near the top of Mauna Kea as it started breaking up:

                                       

Here is a painted rock seen on the trail to Pololu Valley: