Going North — Puukohola Heiau and the Waipio Valley

 We have been over most of the South, West, and East parts of the Big Island, but that still leaves the North.  So we went North.  We drove up Highway 19 from Hilo, along the East Coast and then over to Waimea in the middle of the island and then over to the West Coast.


The North part of the island is older and so the lava is more weathered and there is more dirt than in the South. It is much better for agriculture.  In fact we saw several fields with cows roaming around in them.

This even plays into some of the history of the island.  Back in the 1700s the islands all had their own chiefs; the Big Island had several.  Including two, Kamehameha in the North, and Keoua in the South.  They were cousins, and rival chiefs.

The Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site is the site of a temple (Heiau) that Kamehameha built to fulfill part of a prophecy that he would rule over all of Hawaii if he built a temple there and dedicated it to the war god Ku.  He did and then invited his cousin, Keoua, to the dedication.  To properly dedicate the temple required a human sacrifice, and Kamehameha made his cousin that sacrifice.  In so doing, he unified the Big Island under his rule.

The heiau itself does not seem that impressive.  It is built of loose rounded rock piled up to create a platform, so yes, it’s a lot of rock, and it is piled so that it is stable, but that’s about it.


In the above photo there are actually two heiau — Kamehameha’s heiau is at the top, and an older heiau is in the middle of the photo.  Apparently there used to be more — the beach near by was a royal residence for the new king (Kamehameha), but all that was just wood and thatch, so none of that lasted.

After walking around the historic site, we drove back thru Waimea and took a short side trip up Highway 240 to the Waipio Valley lookout.  

The Waipio Valley is a fertile flat area between two ridges that run out to the ocean.  The road down to the Valley is 4 Wheel Drive (4WD) only, even then it is so difficult to use only the locals are allowed down.  But it’s a nice scenic spot.


 Then we reversed our path and came back home.

 

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