Today, I had a great excuse to drive to Na'alehu. With my reporter hat on, pen and pad in hand, I went to interview the founders of the Naohulelua Garden. It's a collection of endangered endemic and indigenous plants, along with what are called canoe plants. The garden is less than two years old, but already displays a respectable sampling of now rare flora and fauna on this tiny plot of land. For those of you non-biology majors like me, indigenous plants are those native to a specific location. They may also be found elsewhere in the world. Endemic plants are those exclusive to one location. They are found nowhere else in the world. Here in Hawai'i, we not only have endemic plants found only in the islands, but some that are endemic to a particular island and some endemic to a particular patch of ground on a particular island. Anyway, these folks are doing their part to preserve endangered plant species. Canoe plants are those brought here by the first wave of Polynesians to the Hawaiian Islands. They include coconuts, bananas, taro (kalo), breadfruit and noni. Another thing that's very cool about this parcel is that it is home to one of the oldest church ruins in the islands, built by the fathers and brothers of the Sacred Heart, which is Father Damien's order. In fact, it is believed that while Father Damien did not help build the church, he did perform services at Sacred Heart in 1868 before making his way to Moloka'i. It is also believed that there was once a Hawaiian village at this location prior to the building of the church. Logic would indicated, after all, that there would be no reason to build a church where there were no people nearby.The church and plants are actually in Waiohino, just a stones throw from Na'alehu in the Ka'u district of the Big Island. Ka'u is still very rural with a long, proud heritage of marching to the beat of it's own drum. It is said that King Kamehameha united all the islands. In fact, he conquered them. The only area he did not officially defeat was Ka'u. The people of that district are quite proud of that fact, even today. Ka'u is also home to many veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. These are the legendary Japanese-American Soldiers who fought gallantly in Europe during WWII.
I ate lunch at the Hana Hou Cafe in Na'alehu. It's claim to fame is that it's the southernmost restaurant in the United States. While there, I met a nice guy named Steve who moved here from Seattle within two weeks of when we did last winter. I also encountered a goofy looking but still cute dog outside the door of the place. She was a sweet, friendly one, jumping up to greet me. I gave her a pet, only to discover that she smelled pretty awful. Whew! What a stinky mutt! Her owners came looking for her right about then to distract her from me. Thank goodness. I went across the street to the Punalu'u Bakery. It's the southernmost bakery in the U.S. It's right next door to the Na'alehu Ace Hardware. Yep. You guessed it. Southernmost hardware store in the U.S. And the Na'alehu Theater across the road? Southernmost.... Anyway, before buying my loaf, I was compelled to pop into the restroom first to wash away as much of the doggy stink as possible. I could still smell it on my shirt when I got home.
I took a slight detour down to Punalu'u Black Sand Beach to take a few photos. Check out this honu, napping peacefully.
On the way, I stopped at a roadside stand to buy some Ka'u coffee. There, I again ran into my new friend, Steve. (He's the guy on the right.) It was a lovely day in Ka'u; cool and pleasant but still nice enough for shorts. In January, no less. Ya gotta love that.
A hui hou. Aloha.
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