Painted Church and Place of Refuge

After lunch at Ke'ei, we realized we were running a bit late, and wouldn't have time for too many more stops. We had luau reservations for later, and had to be back at our condo before 5.

So we drove along, skipping the shops (too bad...I really wanted to stop at "coffee and epicuria" sounds like my kind of place!). We made the short detour to see the Painted Church, the companion of the one in Puna. It's equally charming, and perhaps in a more beautiful setting, high on the hillside.

The inside is gorgeous:




The next stop would be Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic park. It's a fascinating site, and gives us a taste of Hawaiian history. When a Hawaiian broke the kapu (a taboo, or law), his would be killed unless he could reach one of these places of refuge. Then the kahuna (the priest) would be required to grant him sanctuary and ultimately absolve him. This site has a short trail leading through some reconstructed buildings, and some small amounts of original ruins.

The long point of lava visible in this photo was the actual refuge