Hawaiian Monk Seal

While at the Place of Refuge we saw a group of people watching something swim toward the cove. We figured it would be a sea turtle as we've seen them there many times. But this time it was a little different as it came closer to shore. This time it was a Hawaiaan Monk Seal Since these are on the "Extremely Endangered" list, it was all very exciting.

Day #6 - Friday First Stop, the Painted Church

I can't believe it's Friday already! Today we have a small hike planned and lunch agt the Place of Refuge. It's a warm day, and we are hoping to see some whales at the beach. But, our first stop is a little church called "The Painted Church".


I found the following information at this website: Painted Church
"In December of 1983 restoration work began on the deteriorating church, in collaboration with the Bishop museum in Honolulu. In February of 1985 the restoration was complete and the parish celebrated. On the hundredth anniversary of the dedication of the church in its present location, in 2002, more renovation was completed. A large plywood altar had been constructed after the changes initiated by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's, this enabled the priest to celebrate mass facing the congregation. This was replaced by a koa wood altar crafted by a parishioner, that was smaller and more in proportion to the size of the sanctuary. A matching pulpit was also crafted of this precious Hawaiian wood. The statues were refurbished and the carpet replaced. St. Benedicts sparkled once again. There are two mission churches in St. Benedict's parish, St. John the Baptist in Kelliakekua and St. Peter's Church in Milolii, 25 miles south of Honaunau. St. Peter's was built to replace a church of the same name, destroyed by a lava flow at Hoopuloa in 1926"

This tree as outside, I thought it was unusual.


Outside the church was a little souvenier stand that sold handmade christmas ornaments. I bought a wreath ornament made from the koa wood, with a nativity in the center.

Hawaii - Day#4

It's Wednesday now, and again I head to the beach after I dropped Erin off at work. She had shown me another beach earlier in the week called the "Energy Lab" beach. Nearby there are salt water desalination plants, where they take the water and remove the salt. The salt gets sold as Kona Sea Salt, and they bottle the water for drinking. The surf was high today, so I thought it would be fun to watch the waves crash up on the rocks. I had the zoom on, so I'm not sitting quite as close at it might look.