The Royal Hulihe'e Palace, Kona - worth a visit!

Took in a bit more of the fascinating history of Hawaii today and visited lovely Hulihe'e Palace which stands proudly in old Kona Town. Locals, visitors and tourist walk past the palace everyday as they churn up and down Ali'i Drive as it passes through the main section of town. It is certainly worth taking some time out from your shopping and sightseeing and step inside the Palace to see how the Hawaiian royalty lived. That's exactly what we did today! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and were lucky enough to have a very interesting, knowledgeable and informative guide take us through - always like the little anecdotes they slip in!  

The Palace is now an educational museum beautifully maintained and cared for by the Daughters of Hawaii and houses a collection of ancient Hawaiian artefacts and personal memorabilia of the 19th century Hawaiian royalty.

Daughters of Hawaii - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The palace was built and completed in 1838 by John Adams Kuakini who was the second governor of the island of Hawaii. The two floor, six room palace was built out of native lava rock, coral lime mortar, koa and ohi'a wood by foreign seamen. The walls are three feet thick!

Kuakini - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hulihe'e Palace was his main residence and on his death in 1844 the palace was inherited by his adopted son, William Pitt Leleiohoku, who willed it to Princess Ruth Ke'elikolani, half sister to King Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V. Ultimately the home was sold to King David Kalakaua, the last reigning king of The Kingdom of Hawaii.

Kalākaua - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The residence was always a favourite retreat for the royal families. We can understand why - sitting right on picturesque Kailua Bay, overlooking the comings and goings in the port, the cool breeze and the tropical scene would have been very appealing.

Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside the Palace, but we can relate a few of the interesting stories that were linked to the Palace, the beautiful furniture and the historic artefacts!

* During the Kalakaua reign extensive renovations were done which made the Palace into the building it is today. The exterior was stuccoed and the interior plastered. Decorative ceiling, crown and gold leaf picture mouldings and crystal chandeliers were also added.

* With plans to use the prime waterfront land that the Palace stood on for hotel development, the Territory of Hawaii purchased Halihe'e in 1925 at the request of the Daughters of Hawaii.

*  The Palace was extensively damaged by an earthquake in 2006 and was closed for 2.5 years while it was repaired.

This was the first year we visited Kona to cheer Luke on in the Ironman. We missed the earthquake by one day but witnessed the extensive damage that it did around town and on the island. Luke was doing a training swim session in the Bay at the time, so witnessed the chaos and panic from the water.

* Princess Kahanu, wife of the last royal owner and resident  Prince Kuhio, kept a detailed log of all the furniture and possessions that were sold from the palace and so the Daughters of Hawaii were able to retrieve 75% of those possessions when the Palace became a museum which they operate and maintain.

* The dining room table top is a single piece of Koa, 70 inches in diameter, cut with the grain rather than across it.

* Queen Kapi'olani had six huge wooden trunks made to carry her  belongings to England for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887. One of those huge trunks is displayed in the Kuhio Room in the Palace and was the one that carried the dress she was wearing to the celebration ceremony - it couldn't be folded or crushed! The dress filled the whole trunk!

* The genuine feathered staffs or kahili - symbols of royalty - are through out the house. These were carried by the members of the royal family so people recognised that they were royalty and had to be treated with  respect.

* The genuine spears and javelins of Kamehameha 1 are displayed in the Palace, the longest being 22 feet in length.

* A beautiful teak and rosewood music box given to Princess Ka'lulani by Robert Louis Stevenson is on display. Stevenson was a personal friend of King Kalakaua.

* Princess Ruth was 6' 10" tall and weighed 300lbs - a very imposing royal! Her huge koa chair is displayed in her bedroom. She loved children but they were all very frightened of her because of her stature.

*The beautifully carved armoire in one of the two bedrooms in the Palace was commissioned by King Kalakau and entered in the International Exhibition in Paris in 1889. It won a silver medal! Quite an achievement!

The Royal insignia adorns the entrance gate.

The front and main entrance to the Palace.
The building is 60 feet long and 30 feet wide.

The two oceanfront lanai's are 12 feet wide by 60 feet long

The surf pounds the stone seawall in front of the Palace

Oops! This couple relaxing on the seawall got soaked when a huge wave smashed into it.
They had a laugh about it!

After we toured the Palace, we had our daily swim, then we settled at the Kopa Lani cafe with a   Kona coffee and watched the world pass by on the main street of old Kona Town . Very pleasant!

Walking home...................

The huge waves of the last few days make quite a spectacular sight as they smash into
the rocks and wall along the sea front

The Magic Moment today!
Finding that the Kailani Surf Co make delicious 100% fresh frozen fruit pops

Look at those delicious fruit combinations! Yum!
Will have to savour a few I think!