10 July 2006 Going south

We only returned to our hotel near midnight last night - pretty late by Hawaiian standards since everything else shuts down at 9pm.

HB has a massive headache and puked a couple of times. We eat our last cardiac-arresting breakfast at Uncle Billy's, keeping to the more continental selection from the spread. Then we go to the car rental depot near the airport to do our car swop. The car we had been driving came as a package with the hotel stay.

By the time we return, pack up and check out, it's almost noon. But first, a geocache on the way to Japanese bento place Teshima at Honaunau. We take a long time to find Teshima, thanks to Lonely Planet's condescending description. When we get there, they are all out of the cheaper set lunches and we settle for a slightly more expensive one.

We go on a hunt for another cache hidden in a place with historical significance. Lekeleke Burial Grounds in the Keahou Resort mark the spot where the Hawaiian religion died, along with a few faithful. The king committed kapu by eating with women, but nothing bad happened to him. So his subjects ditched the religion, and months later when Christian missionaries made a timely visit to the islands, they found many willing converts. That's my travel mascot Han Solo sitting on a'a lava by a bay with crashing waves and some sea caves. Han replaces Tess the Convent Bear, which was lost in Alhambra, Spain.

We stop by Greenwell Coffee Farm for a tour. We learn that medium roast yields the highest caffeine content. We get to sample various coffee roasts and decide that the peaberry (rare whole beans, not split ones) one is the best, not the espresso roast.


Kona coffee seems to have very low or no acidity. Alas the coffee samples are brewed American style - hot water with a touch of coffee. We spend about US$100 on coffee grinds (they are only good for two weeks, we are told) and chocolate-covered peaberries.

Along the way, we visit St Benedict's Painted Church - the interior was hand-painted by its Belgian priest, who wanted to teach natives about the Bible.

Then it is a long monotonous drive to South Point. We pass by macadamia nut plantations (BI produces the bulk of the world's supply), ohia forests and more coffee farms. Below the highway, roads turn off on the right to hidden beaches and bays.

The landscape changes when we enter the Kau district. Lava fields stretch to the left and right of the road. We are basically on the slopes of Mauna Loa. We stop by at the 75-mile marker (where there used to be a cache.) scenic lay-by. Across the lava, we can see South Point, the southernmost point of the USA. The sun seems to shine only there. Where we are, the sky is overcast. We see corals on the lava and hop over the wall of the lay-by to pick them up (for a virtual cache).

We reach Margo's Corner only at 6pm. Margo, who has been emailing us regularly since we booked with her, admits that her odometer is busted and can only guess distances.
We have the cutest little cottage by a Zen garden and 6 cats to keep HB amused. And there's Wi-Fi network so we can surf with HB's phone, although it's hard writing e-mail SMS style. Margo's Corner is a BB&D - and we get wholesome organic vegetarian dinners, so that saves us the hassle of looking for a place to eat in ulu South Point area.

There's a comfy living room and Comet the white cat manages to sneak into the main house to join us as we wait for our quiche and salad dinner. We are zonked out and go to sleep at 9pm. It's windy outside and I keep thinking it's raining because of the swishing sounds of the trees.

Geocache count: 2