kahanu garden
saving the best visit for the last blog post! right before we went to the hana lava tubes , we went to the kahanu gardens . they were lovely! i was very impressed. much to my chagrin, we arrived at the kahanu gardens about 15 minutes before they closed. i was nervous that we would not be allowed in. much to my surprise, they said we could stay an extra hour after they closed and just let ourselves out the gate. it was just beautiful. it is right on the ocean and was so grand. we got this 40-page pamphlet (actually much more than a pamphlet) that described all of the local polynesian plants in the gardens. the pamphlet had great description of the uses of all the plants, when they grow, and what to look for. on the grounds, they also have pi'ilanihale heiau , which is the largest hawaiian temple on the islands. it is over three acres around. it is made of a variety of volcanic stones and seems like it w...