Near the Place of Refuge south of Kona is a popular diving and snorkling spot called Two-Step. And it is a beautiful place to go. The water is warm and crystal clear. The fish are being fish, munching on the coral or cleaning turtles. And the water is that blue blue color I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from.
It’s called Two Step because there are two ledges where you can sit and easily get your gear and yourself into the water. The surge can be strong and smack you around against the lava if you don’t use this mode of immersion and extraction of your person. We won’t go into details but Miss Anni and I are sporting large bruises upon our bums. Across from Two-Step is the Point of Refuge or, in Hawaiian, Puuhonua O Honaunau. During the time of Kings, there were rules upon rules to follow if you were not royalty. If you broke a rule, it was death. Unless…you could get yourself to a Place of Refuge, do some penance and all would be forgiven. Interesting and beautiful spot to visit.
After our snorkel, we had lunch close by…catch of the day was ahi which was seared and served on a salad. Great atmosphere.
While at Two Step, we struck up a conversation with a woman who recommended we go visit the peace gardens. It was the third time they were recommended. We took that as a sign and mozied on over there.
Had a little difficulty finding it. Saw this sign first:
Don’t know why we thought this would be the peace gardens, but we turned up here:
And prayed we’d find asphalt in the near future.
Silly us…of course they’d be well marked…
This place is amazing…it has shrines for all the world’s religions. Peace. Peaceful.
Harmonious.
An actual sand mandala…(and pictures of the monks making it)
I’m not going to write any more right now. I’ll leave you to wander the gardens of my images…Be at Peace, Peeps!
Gorgeous and compelling, powerful spots throughout the Peace Garden. Your pix managed to convey that.
Watching monks sand painting is a rare privilege, and these results breathtaking. Did you walk the labyrinth?
We did not actually watch the monks paint the mandala, but there was a book that chronicled their painting. And, yes, we all walked the labyrinth.