I drove the southern half island circle today. I wanted to get my bearings for excursions I’ll be doing later.

Stopped first at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific — called the Punchbowl. it’s in a crater from an extinct volcano. A very tranquil place.

The Punchbowl’s Hawaiian name, “Puowaina,” is most commonly translated as “Hill of Sacrifice.”

According to the Cemetery’s website (https://www.cem.va.gov/CEMs/nchp/nmcp.asp): “The first known use was as an altar where Hawaiians offered human sacrifices to pagan gods and the killed violators of the many taboos. Later, during the reign of Kamehameha the Great, a battery of two cannons was mounted at the rim of the crater to salute distinguished arrivals and signify important occasions.“

From there, I went along the coast. Beautiful water and coastline…and chickens!

Continued along the coast to the Halona Blowhole. Although there are signs clearly stating not to go down past a certain point, there were of course “those” people who think warnings don’t apply to them. There was a fire truck there … I couldn’t tell if the firefighters were actually rescuing someone or were going through drills. Anyway, it was very rugged with lava-black rocks and crashing waves. I was lucky enough to get a photo.

Next, I went on to the Pali Lookout. Pali means cliff in Hawaiian, and I can see why. Sheer, tall cliffs that capture the trade winds and shoot them straight up to the overlook. The temperature was at least 20 degrees cooler and the wind was fierce.