Some Views From The Petroglyphs - Part II
Left Coast Crime 2009 Some Views From The Petroglyphs – Part II
There were exciting experiences coming our way after settling into our beautiful accommodations at the Marriott Waikola Hotel. In the late afternoon we met the van at our hotel door that was to take us up to the Kahua Ranch for an evening of “ranching experiences” Hawaiian style. During the 40 minute drive to the western slope of the Kohala Mountains, the van driver briefly told the story of Hawaii’s beginning and then launched into the fascinating history of the cattle introduction to the Big Island.
Five black longhorn cattle were brought to Hawaii in 1798 as a gift from Captain George Vancouver to King Kamehameha I. In 1816, John Palmer Parker with the help of Hawaiian workers, reduced to a workable number the thousands of maverick cows that had thrived and multiplied ranging the island unmolested and quickly established a booming beef, tallow and hide business. By 1832, desperate for help, Parker worked with King Kamehameha III to contract Mexican vaqueros, expert horseman with plenty of cattle experience. Called “paniolo” (in tune with the Mexican’s self described as “Espanol”) by Hawaiians, these skilled cowboys roped and rode a generation before their American counterparts in the “Wild West”. The Parker Ranch now is one of the world’s largest privately owned cattle ranches raising 30,00 head of prime Angus and Charolais beef cattle. Parker Ranch tours are available. For all the detailed Big Island ranching history go to http://www.bigisland.org/activities-cultural and check out History of Paniolo & Ranching on Hawaii’s Big Island.
We climbed up the Kohala Mountains located North of the Marriott Hotel and arrived at the ranch, 3,000 feet above sea level. We were greeted by an incredible view of the ocean thousands of feet below, and hundreds of feet below us thousands of head of cattle, including sheep. This ranch is second in herd size only to the Parker Ranch. Our binoculars came in handy for not only seeing the surrounding areas but also for viewing the stars that began to twinkle above us. Our introduction to the Ranch Operations was by the retired Ranch Manager who presented an interesting history and detailed information about the cattle business. The aroma of barbecue and country music wafted over us at this point carrying us to the dinning room! It was time to sample the ranch products and “shovel it in” activities were in progress. Well, we had the most delicious barbecue chicken (others had beef) and trimmings - leaving room for dessert was a challenge. And then, toes began to tap and line dancing was on. The vocalist and instrumentalists were really good and the atmosphere was all friendly “Country Western”. Some skits followed that were funny but we will let you find out for yourselves what could get a laugh.
After dinner, there were activities like riding a horse, roping (wooden cow), branding (real hot iron but wood instead of cow rump), preparing “some mores” or star gazing through the splendid telescope set up. We spent quite some time talking with our hosts about the Kohala area and other places of interest. These people offer tours of the Big Island and will be on our menu of tour possibilities see www.kahuaranch.com.
Arriving back to the hotel sated and sleepy, we thoroughly enjoyed our ranch experience and would highly recommend putting this activity on your “must do” list during your LCC 2009 stay on the Big Island. In the early months of 2008, our travel agent Kathy Cheetum will begin to provide tour/activities at the