Place of Refuge

Pu'uhonua O Honaunau is a very interesting and unusual park. It was another highly recommended place to visit in my guide. The story behind it is that in ancient Hawaiian times people were convicted of crimes such as stepping on the chief's shadow or fishing in the wrong season they could escape to this place. If they were able to make it here, which usually involved crossing a body of water (rumor was there were sharks in it) then you were to be forgiven of all crimes. It became a religious sanctuary and is now considered scared grounds. You can walk through and see ancient huts and a beautiful pond area.



It is a very neat place to walk thorough and the kids really liked it even though they could not climb any rocks. There is a sign posted at the beginning to stay on paths and not to remove anything. Once we explained that it was like a church the kids not only were fine with not getting on everything, they really had an appreciation for the site.

It was so beautiful. We were there about an hour before sunset and it was a very peaceful time to explore.

There were sea turtles swimming in the little bay area. They come right up to the edge of the sand area and eat.

This was the main point of refuge of the site. Everything was built jutting out into the ocean on lava rock.

This was the view of the ocean while we walked around. That's a rock out there, kind of looked like something else!

Resting on our walk. Lindy was very fascinated with this place. It is so funny to see what each child has an interest in. She wandered off by herself with the map of the site and her camera. Something about this site was very intriguing to her.

Erin playing an ancient game that I can't find the name for!

This is the sandy bay area where the sea turtles were right there to look at. We spent a long time here. Check out Lindy with her camera.

Paige and the palm. Love this picture. See the kayak out in the water? There are lots of caves in the bay area where you can kayak and places to snorkel. Obviously we couldn't quite do that but it sounds neat.

I really think by being there close to the end of daylight, we had a different feel to the area. This was just beautiful to watch the sun start setting.

These are not the original tikis but still give the feeling of what it looked like.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love the grove of palm trees.

Paige found this really large nut. Not sure what it was and we couldn't take it with us. We are going to try and figure out what it is.

The huts show how they were used in ancient times.