Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ant is a well-loved favorite, serving eclectic, innovative cuisine you might call Mediter-
ranean with an Asian twang, or Italian with an island twist. Choose from curries and
Greek salads, seafood risotto and smoked salmon alfredo, piping hot calzones and thin-
crust gourmet pizza.
NORTH KOHALA
Rural North Kohala has a distinct flavor all its own - a charming, successful mix of rural
farmers and local artists, Native Hawaiians and mainland transplants, plantation-era
storefronts and green valleys. While still relatively untouristed, word of its charms has
leaked out, and the area is slowly moving onto the beaten track. In recent years several
wealthy individuals have purchased major tracts of land here, helping to limit future de-
velopment.
The North Kohala peninsula is the oldest part of the Big Island, and it shows: driving
up the coast from Kona, one sees a mountain range deeply cut with ravines, as opposed
to the smooth slopes found elsewhere. The area is also steeped in human history, being
the birthplace of King Kamehameha I. In modern times North Kohala was sugar country
until the Kohala Sugar Company closed in 1975. Today the small historic towns of Hawi
and Kapaʻau contain enough art galleries, boutiques and distinctive eateries to succeed as
tourist attractions, particularly when you add them together. The refreshing
Kohala Wel-
ern entrance to Hawi, offers an excellent map to the entire area, some local history, and
friendly advice from a tribe of doting mavens. Rounding the peninsula's thumb on Hwy
270, you leave the Kohala Mountains rain shadow. The land shifts steadily from a bone-
dry volcanic plain to lushly tropical gulches, culminating in the Pololu Valley, the jewel
of North Kohala.
