The End of Kalani
Trip Start
Unknown
1
87
149
Trip End
Ongoing
Pahoa, Hawaii
Monday, December 20, 2010
First, we went to the black sand Coconut Beach, which we reached by walking across a huge field of hardened lava. People have thrown seed bombs onto the lava, so there were baby palm trees growing up through it.
Next, we went to the Star of the Sea church. It was tiny and adorable, decorated inside with colorful folk art. Venetia said it was the home parish for the priest who ministered to the lepers on Molokai.
Leaving the church, we drove to McKenzie State Park. It was an eerie landscape of funny white trees, with springy ground underfoot and furniture made of lava. It’s not hard to imagine why the Hawaiians say it’s haunted.
From McKenzie, we drove to Lava Tree State Park. It was beautiful and green, with paths leading past a few low, petrified trees covered in lava.
Our last stop of the day was the Pohiki surfer’s beach, which had a natural hot springs near the ocean.
Once it got dark, there was a big celebration for the solstice, which also fell on a full moon lunar eclipse. We ate a yummy traditional Hawaiian dinner of pork, purple potatoes and rice. The Puna men’s chorus performed both traditional and non-traditional Christmas carols with special Kalani lyrics. One chorus member dressed in drag as a Christmas tree, with lights, striped red and white stockings, and a full-sized angel tree topper pinned to his wig. Hilarious!
After the singing, there was supposed to be some sort of play involving me (because I was turning 25), a guy who was turning 50 and another turning 75. My role was never fully explained, but I had a flower crown to wear and a bouquet of roses to carry. At the end of the play, the three of us were going to light the huge, two or three story burning man structure, which was covered with handwritten paper intentions that people wanted to release. Unfortunately, heavy rains cancelled our plans, but I did get to see people dressed as Shakti and Shiva dancing around, and even caught a brief glimpse of the moon when the eclipse was almost over. The whole night was a fun and fitting way to end my eclectic stay at Kalani.
