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July 17, 2002 Day five we woke up and had breakfast on the Lanai (patio) as we have every beautiful morning in Hawaii. Once we had breakfast we headed south down the Kohala coast. We headed south inland through Kona Coffee Country where we stopped at one of the original coffee. Our first stop was in Kona coffee country. The area compares to Northern California's wine tasting tours. Here you can tour coffee plantations and can see how coffee is transformed from the coffee cherry on the tree to the ready to brew ground coffee packaged in the store. It was very interesting and informative to see the entire process. Plus we got to sample the end product. Once we had our morning caffeine fix we headed down to the beach, but not without first stopping at a few scenic spots. One scenic stop was at the St. Benedict's Painted Church. A very beautiful church with beautiful paintings on the inside of the sanctuary. We continued on from there to the coast to Honaunau bay where we snorkeled from the lava rock shore. It was really great snorkeling. Of course I've said that about every beach we've been too, but it was really great. We saw even more fish and even more sea turtles. At one point John was looking in one direction and I the other and both of us spotted sea turtles swimming straight toward us. For me it was actually a little close for comfort as the snorkeling was a little closterphobic at times. Spotting the green sea turtles was the end to our snorkeling in Hawaii. It was a great way to end it. We then headed to Pu'uhonua O' Honaunau (Place of Refuge) National Historic Park where we had lunch and explored some more. This area did not have a sand beach up to the ocean but instead had rough lava rock out to the ocean. John and Ruben explored the area for awhile and spotted a group of whales swimming. Yes! Whales! Whales can be seen year round in Hawaii. Just the more popular humpback whales are seasonal and would not be seen this time of year as they have migrated to Alaska. We then further explored the "Place of Refuge". The place of refuge is a restoration of an ancient Hawaiian religious santuary. It was a guranteed refuge for vanquished warriors that made it to the compound. This was our cultural fix for the trip here to Hawaii, but it was very interesting. After our many explorations along the Kona side of the Island, we headed back north. One stop was at a cute fruit stand where you could choose from a selection of native fruit and leave your money in a tin. Other stops on the way home included a stop at souvenir shop and a stop once again at a beach where we took a stroll along the water before sunset. Click below for previous days diary and pictures. July 12, 2002 - DAY 1 July 13, 2002 - DAY 2 July 14, 2002 - DAY 3 July 15, 2002 - DAY 4 July 16, 2002 - DAY 5 July 17, 2002 - DAY 6 Click here to view some of the other Lava Pics! Miscellaneous Hawaii Pics