SOUTH KONA, HAWAII
Peace and Inspiration
By Chris Millikan

Day tripping around one south Kona neighbourhood often launches our winter activities on Hawaii, the Big Island. Typically, historic Saint Benedict's Catholic Church provides a restful start to our annual getaway.

Painted Church

Originally located on Honaunau Bay , Saint Benedict's was moved upslope about 1890 to be closer to its farming congregation. Commonly called the Painted Church , this little Gothic sanctuary displays the artwork of Father John Velge, a Belgian priest and self-taught painter.

Painted Church murals used to teach Bible stories

Inside, we admire murals he'd used to teach bible stories to Hawaiians, when few could read or write. Red-striped posts sprouting frilly palm fronds support a tropical sunset ceiling. Feathery protea flowers usually decorating the altar front include scarlet poinsettia pots at Christmastime.

Painted Church altar flowers at Christmastime

Stopping next at nearby Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary, we park under towering Poincianas covered in vivid red blossoms. Mynas chorus a raucous welcome. An arcaded walkway meanders toward a shop filled with locally crafted pottery, art and jewelry. Handing us a laminated garden guide, the manager explains that over 40 years and five generations, this seven-acre botanical garden evolved into a place for reflection and meditation

Paleaku Gardens: the entryway

Along an outdoor walkway, golden koi lazily circle a small pond. Small fountains tinkle musically amid lush plantings and marble sculptures. Sand paintings created by Tibetan monks rest atop sheltered tables. Through an archway draped in fragrant white flowers abuzz with honeybees, a green rescue parrot called Harry whistles boisterously to us in passing. Over in the yoga center, a morning class already stretches and poses.

Just beyond lies a one-of-a-kind Galaxy Garden. A storyboard tells us Jon Lomberg, a famous painter of interstellar space, created this botanical scale model of the whirling Milky Way.

Measuring an astonishing 30 meters in diameter, tall papyrus grass and flowering plants portray constellations of stars, meteors and nebula. Walking between huge hedges of yellow, red and orange hibiscus, we find the ‘galactic' center. Tiny yellow birds happily flit and fly through the fountain's silvery spray.

Stately royal palms flank a grassy slope leading to a white Buddhist monument. Structures representing other world religions are tucked around manicured lawns. Christian sites extol Our Lady of Guadalupe and Rosicrucian Order. Rising above white peace poles, a nine-point star of yellow, green and blue embellishes a Bahai platform. On a gentle knoll, a mosaic moon, star and loving heart symbolize the Islamic faith. Shiva, a supreme Hindu god, sits alongside a mahogany tree.

Soft sea breezes cool us as further discoveries unfold. We see the Native American Fire Circle and Medicine Wheel designed to promote meditations. One pathway leads us into a large labyrinth's center…and back out again! Such labyrinths pre-date Christian times, ‘tools' used for quieting minds. Hawaiian shrines feature stone aumakua sculptures of protective ancestors.

A banyan's thick, sturdy branches drop curtains of brown aerial roots. We note that when reaching the ground, they plant themselves and develop into new trunks. A six-meter pencil tree sprouts succulent cylindrical stems. Limbs on citrus trees strain with ripe grapefruit.

The sacred Bodhi tree casts welcome shade. Buddha found enlightenment while sitting under the heart-shaped leaves of one such exotic fig tree. Close by, the jade vine proves especially splendid. Its turquoise buds hang in clusters like alien grapes. Rows of claw-shaped blossoms fill long, thin stems. Some trail for several meters and screen a statue of the Hindu goddess of fertility, love and divine strength.

Paleaku Gardens: bedazzling green jade vine

We overlook Kealakekua Bay from a pretty border of red Ti plants. Hawaiians have long believed these attractive plants would protect against bad spirits. Our leisurely garden explorations foster serenity and reflection, a feeling of rare tranquility in a busy world. With distinctive ‘made in Hawaii' gift shop purchases, we head down the road to another idyllic spot.

Paleaku Gardens: red Ti plants protect from bad spirits

Inside Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Park, we stroll through its shaded coconut grove and into the former home to g enerations of powerful ali'i. This ancient enclave now encloses replicated canoe shelters thatched with palm leaves, several dwellings and a workhouse. Green turtles bask in a sandy cove, three centuries ago a royal outrigger landing. Moving pieces of white coral and lava, Chiefs played strategic konane games on basalt game boards.

Place of Refuge mausoleum sheltering 23 chiefs' bones

Place of Refuge basalt game board where chiefs played Konane

Fierce wooden tikis still guard the palm-thatched mausoleum protecting twenty-three noble chiefs' revered bones. Here, the Great Wall separates the royal compound from the refuge. We visualize defeated warriors and kapu breakers desperately swimming to this secluded safe haven. When Kahunas exonerated them, they returned to regular life.

Place of Refuge: fierce guard tikis

These destinations exuding spirituality, nature and history ease us into laidback island life.

Plan Your Own South Kona Daytrip:
www.paleaku.com Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary
www.lovebigisland.com St Benedict's Catholic Church/Painted Church www.gohawaii.com Place of Refuge

PHOTOS By Chris & Rick Millikan

Destination: USA, Hawaii, Big Island, Kona