18 September

After being stuck behind a slow military convoy, we started the day on Ali'i drive, the most touristy shopping district on the island. After digging though the Ukeleles, mugs, Hawaiian shirts, and 6 metric tons of macademia nut products at Hilo Hattie's we walked up and down and up and down the street looking for something more genuine. Monica found a few necklaces that seemed to be good quality in a small shop. That done, we walked up and down some more in search of lunch. The blue bible was not too helpful this time around, but we managed to find an Indonesian cafe. The food was good, though questionably Indonesian, and we enjoyed watching birds play in the courtyard fountain. Refreshed we set out to get the car and happened across an internet cafe. 15 minutes of blissful joy later we had checked and sent some e-mail. Tony had to install an SSH client to check his mail, but that just added to his fun.

Our next stop was the smallest Catholic Church we've seen. A stark contrast to those we saw in Italy, this church had eight small pews and probably seated about 16 people. Next door is the only altar in Hawai'i designated for offerings to the surf god (according to the blue bible). We saw two surfers pull up while we were there, though they left no offerings. The shore beyond the altar offers some of the best surfing on the island. We went a little further down the coast to find the place where Hawai'i lost its religion. In the early 1800s the king of Hawai'i came to the conclusion that their religion, which featured numerous death penalty offenses, was not good for Hawai'i and did away with it. Some Hawaiians didn't agree, so they settled their differences with rifles on a battlefield of lava rock. Three hundred or so died and are buried on the battlefield. Since the area is covered with lava rock, the burials were done above ground in terraces of lava rock piled on the bodies. There is a lovely golf course next door.

Driving on we arrived at our main destination for the day, City of Refuge. A person who broke a kapu (like a sacred law) would flee to the City of Refuge for absolution by a priest. The pond pictured is where they kept fish. Overwhelmed by the gloomy subject matter, Monica added some levity to the day in her joyous goofy way.

We walked on past the main area in search of another lava tube to walk through. Flashlights in hand we crawled our way out to the mouth of a lava tube that abruptly drops 15 feet above the ocean. We were not brave enought to stick our heads out, but we sat in the cave and enjoyed the wonderful view of the ocean. After 15 minutes of enjoying the view claustrophobia set in and we found a perch above the tunnel to watch the sun set.

We settled home back at the condo and were watching tv when we noticed a centipede making its way across the carpet. Tony killed it (carefully) and had just sat down when a gecko ran its way up the wall. Though they are beneficial (they eat cockroaches), we decided this particular gecko would benefit the outside more than the inside of the condo. Eventually Tony caught it and set it free. We noticed, at this point, that there is a gap between the screen door and the open glass door allowing all sorts of critters to walk right in. We closed the glass door in the living room and the bedroom, and eventually went to bed. We were both reading when we heard a chirp. Monica exclaimed "It's a gecko" and jumped out of bed. Together Tony and Monica captured the wiley critter after 15 minutes of prodding it from behind one set of curtains, only to have it run behind the opposite set. The glass doors remained closed for the rest of our stay, hot as it was.

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