One of the things we wanted to do on our trip was not to have a packed schedule. It was important for Sean to have a lot of relaxing time, lots of pool time, lots of do nothing time. Since Hawaii is definitely conducive to that, we found ourselves, with no agenda and taking on the day leisurely. Plus we had gained some time slash days back from dropping Volcano Village and Pahoa from our itinerary.
We headed out to to look for brunch spots, but not before our cute encounter with one of Hilton Waikoloa Village’s cockatoos, Butterscotch. The pink cockatoo was super friendly and attracting quite the crowd.
After some eats at Queen’s Marketplace, we thought we’d hit a petroglyph preserve. There are 3 on the big island: Puakō Petroglyph Preserve, Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve, and Pu’u Loa Petroglyph field. We chose the Waikoloa one because of its proximity to the hotel.
Oh, and did I mention that it was high noon?
We found out right quick that that was the dumbest idea ever. Not only was it blazing hot above us, but stepping onto the lava rocks in my flip flops (of all things) didn’t take long before it felt like my feet were burning. The underside of my feet literally tingling and turning pink in my flip flops. What a rookie mistake.
We abandoned the idea and headed back to the hotel to spend the day in the water instead. Sean took like a fish in the saltwater lagoon, looking for turtles that would come in with the ocean tide. I took to reading my book, poolside, sheltered from the sun in a flouncy lounge chair with sun canopy.
And since sunning, pooling, hammocking and exploring more of the resort is mucho exhausting, we found ourselves hungry again.
We then hit up another on-site restaurant, Dona + Toni’s Pizza. We shared the margherita pizza with secret pizza sauce, Roma tomatoes, 4-cheese blend, mozzarella, and basil. It was yummy and large enough for leftovers. Plus the view was killer. (Why can’t one be on vacation everyday?)
Satiated, we freshened up and attempted to hit the Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve again. This time, I wore my sneakers and this time, it was the golden hour.
Side note: the sun goes down in Hawaii by 7, whereas in Vancouver, the sun sets before 9. It’s a very weird feeling to see the sun set so early.
Centuries ago, native Hawaiians traveled through what is now the Waikoloa Petroglyph Preserve. They used the many small inland caves or constructed stone windbreaks for temporary encampments. They carved ki’i pōhaku or petroglyphs, into lava rock to record their trips and significant events, like records of birth.
It was cool walking through this piece of history. And walking in the fields, I was very cognizant of us being on sacred ground and watching that I don’t step where I shouldn’t.
But like all the many times where we can’t have nice things, there were modern day people who left their mark with etched graffiti onto the lava rocks. Pretty sure “KEO” and “KAANANNA” weren’t part of the pictorial lexicon belong to those Hawaiian ancestors.
It was suddenly becoming dark and we were the only ones out there looking for petroglyphs. The preserve takes on a whole different light at dusk. And with the numerous underground caves, it could be a little bit creepy, should any joker pop out from them and easily scare the bejesus out of tourists. Luckily the petroglyph preserve is situated right beside a golf course on one side, and condos on the other.
It only took one failed attempt and slightly scorched feet, but we finally got to see some petroglyphs. Tomorrow, we’re moving to the other side of the island!
View more photos of our trip on my Flickr album!
Address:
Waikoloa Village
HI 96738, USA
GPS coordinates: 19.9169918, -155.882329
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