Hana Hou! (One More Time)

After a short hop to Maui with Hawaiian Airlines, we landed in Kahalui, the largest town on the Island, a little after 6 p.m. We picked up our luggage and our vehicle, a 4 wheel drive Nissan. People who go to Hawaii tend to rent either 4 wheel drive vehicles or Mustang convertibles. If you go, I suggest you get the 4 wheel drive vehicle. It will allow you to go to some of the more remote areas and you won't be putting the top up and down every few minutes for the frequent rain showers on the windward side of the Islands. And you won't be like the glowing red sunburned couple we saw on the Hana Highway. 

Next stop, about 5 minutes away, was the Costco to get breakfast groceries and evening snacks as we were going to be staying in a condo for the next four nights. The Costco was packed with shoppers - Kahalui is a hub for many of the 150,000 inhabitants of Maui. Traffic here is a miniturized version of Honolulu traffic; you need to pass through Kahalui to get just about anywhere, but it does not take too long and if you need to pick anything up, invariably you will find it in this town.

From the store, we set out for our condo in Kihei, a twenty minute drive away. I guess this is a good time to talk about driving in Hawaii. First, highway numbers are basically meaningless in Hawaii, as the same road tends to change numbers (and names) several times and for no apparent reason to us mainlanders. Most locals know the highways by name (e.g. Nimitz Highway, Hana Highway) if you need to ask directions. You can use a GPS (my Garmin worked fine) and ignore highway numbers and names. Second, speed limits tend to be much lower than on the mainland. It is rare to ever see 55 or more mph zones. Most of the time, the speed limit on main roads is 40 mph. Most roads do not lend themselves to faster speeds in any event and the pace of life in Hawaii (at least outside Honolulu) is much slower than the mainland. So people expect and accept the slower speeds. We only saw one crazy driver trying to pass everything on the road and that was on the Big Island. This pace of living is something to remember because service in restaurants is also slower than North Americans are used to. Hey, you are in Hawaii, so slow down and enjoy!

Kihei Condo

We found our condo - or at least the building complex - and the boys went in to find the office to determine which of the buildings our unit was in. The office was closed, but an Indian restaurant beside it was open. I went inside the restaurant to see if they could shed any light on our unit, but to no avail. A passing person in the parking lot suggested a probably location, so we went up and found the unit which was the last one on the 5th floor in the right hand building. A few minutes later, we had loaded up our luggage and groceries into a couple of shopping carts we found on the ground floor and were settled in to our base for our Maui adventures. Although dark, we could tell we were looking out toward the ocean and a large mountain because either there was a cloud city a la Star Wars up there, or there was a large mountain with a town on it to the south of us.

Sunrise over Puu Kukui

The next morning, we awoke to a lovely sunrise and a beautiful breeze on our balcony. Because the night before we were not sure what kind of coffee making facilities we would have, we had not purchased any coffee. So the boys jumped into the SUV and drove to the nearest supermarket where we got some Kona coffee (more on it later in Chapter 3). A few minutes later, back at the ranch, we had the coffee on and breakfast on the table. We wanted to get out early to go exploring because today the weather forecast for the windward side was clear and we were going to drive the Hana Highway.

Start of Hana Highway

The Hana Highway is a famous drive and a very popular tourist attraction. If I can give you any advice about the Hana Highway it is to GO EARLY. Despite beijng only 109 kilometres long, It takes several hours to drive to Hana from Kahalui and back; a whole day if you stop at only a few of the wayside attractions (It would take several days to see all the waterfalls, beaches, small villages and historical sites along this road). We left at 8:30 a.m., arrived in Hana at 1:30 p.m. and got back at 5 p.m. As we were returning, we encountered people coming towards us near the beginning of the Hana Highway (usually driving Mustang convertibles) late in the afternoon. These people were not going to make it there and back before dark. So now that you have been warned, let's go for the drive.

Hana Coastline

Why does it take so long to drive 109 kilometres? Well, there is the gorgeous scenery as almost the entire drive takes place along the ocean in a tropical rain forest on the side of a volcano. As well, there are 620 sharp curves on the highway in that distance, 59 bridges of which 46 are one lane, and in many places, the highway is only one lane wide. The speed limit tops out at 25 mph and in many places, the limit drops to 10 mph. And it is busy; so busy that apparently in peak tourist months, it is bumper to bumper as more than 1000 cars a day drive to Hana. We did not have that problem in November, but there were quite a few tourist cars and SUVs, tourist buses (small ones) and the odd local person all heading out to Hana in the morning with most heading back in the latter part of the afternoon. 

Looking down

There are accommodations in Hana, but reservations are a must. There are also places to eat in Hana; we thought of getting a picnic lunch and in hindsight this would have probably been preferable to eating in a Hana restaurant (cost and limit of choices). We did pass by a few roadside stands on our drive, some were open, many were not in November. There were also lots of signs for people selling banana bread and other home baking (if you could find their houses in the jungle). It was rare to see houses on most of the drive. At one time, thousands of people lived along the coast that the Highway traverses, but as certain industries died out (e.g. rubber plantations), and the Hawaiian people themselves moved to urban areas, the population diminished to the point that there are only a few thousand left. 

Far Out Windsurfers

Shortly after starting on the actual Hana Highway (just past where the Haleakala Highway turns off), we came to the small village of Paia. A former sugar plantation town (most people have moved to Kahalui), many of the buldings along the highway are now boutiques and small stores. This is the last town before Hana and the last place for gas (and breakfast if you are leaving on time). Not much further down the road, which here is fairly straight, is Ho'opika Beach Park and Lookout. It was packed with cars, with 90% of those arriving or leaving sporting surfboards and wind surfboards on their tops. It is rated one of the best windsurfing beaches in the world. We sailed on by but made a commitment to stop here on the way back if time permitted. 

High on the Hana Highway

Now we started on the real Hana Highway, the one that everyone comes to see. Built by convicts in the 1920s, the road at mile 16 (the first mile 16 - remember what I said about road number changes?) really starts to wind and climb up and down the fjiord like gulleys and steep valleys of the east side of Haleakala, the large volcano that comprises most of Maui. When you are up high, the vistas out over the ocean are simply amazing - if of course you can stop to admire them. There are not a lot of places to pull off the road, so take advantage of those that do exist. But do everyone a favour and don't stop like some people we saw where there is not a safe place to pass. You are inviting an accident to happen - even at the 10mph speed limit posted at many of the narrower places.

Butterfly flowers?

Just after mile 16, for no apparent reason, the highway number changed from 36 to 360. And the mile markers started at 0 again. There are many good online guides to driving the Hana Highway; we had printed one before our trip and it sure came in handy as many of the waterfalls, small settlements, and other attractions cannot be seen from the main road. We passed by a couple of Botanical Gardens that if we had the time would probably have been worth a visit. If you know what you are looking at, however, the tropical vegetation along the road is fascinating enough. Banana trees, guava trees, avacados, bamboo and a multitude of colourful flowers are everywhere. Or so they told me in the guide. I recognized the banana trees (the bananas growing on them were the giveaway) and the bamboo. I did not recognize the flowers, other than that they were red, white, blue, purple, yellow, pink and a variety of other colour variations.

Water, water everywhere

We stopped at a couple of waterfalls along the way. Some people were swimming in the small pools below the falls. It was a sunny day when we travelled the road but there are warnings that if it rains, stay out of the pools as flash floods are common. Many of these waterfalls are actually on private property and trespassing is illegal in Hawaii like everywhere else. I suspect that owners of the property are pretty tolerant of the tourists but if you do go on their properties, be respectful. One or two of the falls are on State land. And these State operated stops do have washrooms if you need them. Be prepared to wait in line as these are the stops frequented by the many small buses hauling fellow tourists down the road. In some of these State stops, walking trails head off into the bush. Most require good footware and a half decent physical condition to climb up hills and walk on rugged paths. Of course we had sandals on our feet and two bum knees amongst us so our hiking was limited.

Honolulunui Bay

Further out towards Hana, and with a four wheel drive vehicle, we turned off the highway and headed down a very narrow road (definitely one lane) to the only site of a commercial rubber plantation in the US. The Nahiku Rubber Plantation was opened in 1907 for the raw rubber to make tires for the burgeoning automobile industry and closed just 8 years later. The reason? Too much rain which made the latex too thin (like really cheap paint I suppose). Over 7.6 metres (yes metres) of rain a year is the average here. The road down to the former village (less than 100 people live in the area now) is still lined with rubber trees, vestiges of the plantation of 100 years ago. There are, however, several expensive homes for the rich and famous who come to this area from the US mainland and elsewhere to get away from it all. George Harrison was a part time resident before he died. Although the rubber plantation and the town are gone, the drive down to the ocean at the end of the Nahiku road is worth it for the view of Honolulunui Bay. The surf here is amazing.

Surf's Up

As we got close to Hana, we started to encounter more signs of human habitation. On the left, we passed by the Nahiku Marketplace, a collection of small buildings that house 'restaurants', craft shops and fruit vendors. Then a few more houses appeared until finally, we were in Hana Town. We drove a bit further down the Hana Highway to the other edge of town. The highway, which again changes number, continues around to the far side of Maui. Rental vehicles are not supposed to go much further than this although you can go as far as the Haleakala National Park spur that reaches down to the ocean and to the Palapalo Ho'omau church (where Charles Lindbergh is buried). Beyond that the road is not paved, thus the ban on rental vehicles.

Black Beach

We decided that we did not have time to go any further than Hana as there were at least two places we wanted to stop on the way back to the condo, so we turned around and headed back to the Hana Ranch Restaurant perched above the highway with views of the town and ocean below. We sat at the picnic tables outside and ordered fish tacos and hamburgers from the 'takeout' window. After eating, we drove back a couple of kilometres to Waianapanapa State Park to see a black beach. Formed from the black lava that is all around, the black sand is coarse yet at the same time easy to walk on in bare feet. It is a good hike down to the beach, but there are steps carved in the lava to make it easier.

Black Beach Bug

The beach is not very big, but it is somewhat sheltered from the heavy surf that crashes into the coastline here. Several people were in the water, bobbing up and down in the waves that rolled in all the way from California and Mexico. This park is definitely worth a stop for the beach, the surf, walking trails, small caves, an ancient Hawaiian cemetery (be respectful), picnic areas and washrooms, a camping area, a blowhole in the rocks that jut out into the ocean and even some smaller creatures to check out. This was a great stop to see the ocean once more before we got back into the car and twisted and snaked our way back to our condo.

Ho'opika Surfer

We stopped just before Paia as we had promised ourselves, at Ho'opika Lookout to watch the windsurfers and regular surfers at Ho'opika Beach below as the day wound down. Ho'opika means 'hospitality' in the Hawaiian language, and sure enough as we pulled into the Lookout, a large sign welcomed us to the Kingdom of Hawai'i.  A sovreignist movement exists in Hawaii and several groups lobby for either a return of the Hawaiian Monarchy or full status for native Hawaiians akin to the First Nation status Aboriginals hold in the Continental United States. We were to see similar signs elsewhere on Maui and on the Big Island declaring that we were in the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Sunset from Condo Roof

We decided to take advantage of the fact we had a condo, so on the way through Kahalui, we stopped at the Costco to get gas and to pick up stuff to make dinner. Of course we also needed some more liquid refreshments for the evening and the next day for lunch so we filled up on these as well. When we got back to the condo, we watched the sun go down from the roof, then had a 'home cooked' dinner later that evening. After dinner, we sat out on the balcony, enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine and spent a pleasant evening as another beautiful day came to an end. 

Gramma's House on Haleakala

Our second full day on Maui dawned with clear skies again. After breakfast, we decided it was time to go up in the world, to the top of Haleakala. Haleakala means 'House of the Sun' in Hawaiian. According to legend, Maui (a demigod who was worshipped throughout Polynesia) captured the sun god (La) for his mother (some say grandmother who lived in the crater on the top of the mountain) and made a deal with La to slow his progress across the sky, thus lengthening the day so Maui's mother's tapa cloth would dry. The connection with the sun is still strong as many people do drive up to the summit to watch the sunrise. Which means if they were staying in Kihei like us, they would have to leave at least two hours before sunrise. And dress warmly as the temperature at dawn is often below freezing We preferred to see sunrises, dressed in shorts, from our balcony while sipping coffee. Much warmer and easier to do.

Haleakala is a massive shield volcano (as are all volcanoes in Hawaii) which means it was built from successive and multiple lava flows that flowed out in all directions from a central area, forming what looks like a warrior's shield when viewed from afar. It is so massive that fully 75% of Maui is made up of the volcano. It has, according to geologists, only erupted three times in the last 300 years, the last time in the 1700s so its days as an active volcano may be coming to an end.

Kihei, Plain, Sugar Mill, West Volcano

To get to Haleakala (at least the summit) from Kihei, you have to go to Kahului which is north west in order to go south east on the Haleakala Highway. As you cross the plain between Haleakala and the West Volcano mountains formed when lava from two shield volcanos merged, you drive through fields of sugar cane. Sugar cane used to be Hawaii's main export, but now only one mill is still operational on Maui and the road goes right by it. The white smoke coming from the mill's stacks as the sugar syrup is boiled to evaporate the water can be seen from a long distance away, and if the wind is right, the sweet smell of boiling sugar is detectable on the breeze.

We stopped briefly in Kahalui at a grocery store to pick up a picnic lunch, having learned from the day before. Then, we pointed the SUV southeast towards the volcano in the distance. The first couple of kilometres of the Haleakala Highway (also called the Old Haleakala Highway and the Kula Highway) is actually a divided highway until the town of Pukalani. It is just on the edge of this town that you keep left on the Haleakala Highway which starts to climb slowly through trees. Just before the Highway becomes Kekaulike Avenue, we came to Crater Road which is also the Haleakala Highway. Confused yet?

Above the clouds on Haleakala

As we were following the actual signs to the Haleakala National Park and my GPS and not road names or numbers, we were not confused by all the changes and turned left for our final climb up the mountain. As we began the climb, the road started to make switchback turns and the lava flows become visible as the road often cut through them. We were now in cattle country as evidenced by the cattle crossing grates on the road although we saw no cattle. Small copses of Koa and other trees soon gave way to open country. We passed a 'bicyle van' parked on the side of the road, several bikes parked in front of it.  Lots of people (those who are very fit) ride up to the summit on bikes, but even more ride down and the van takes you up for the long coasting descent. As we climbed higher, the vistas down to Kihei and Kahului become more grand until eventually, we were driving through the clouds before evenutally rising above them.

Chukar

Just after clearing a last copse of pine trees we came to the National Park entrance and paid our $10 entrance fee. We stopped at the visitor centre for a few minutes where we learned about the State bird, the Nene (pronounced nay nay) Goose. Found only on Maui, Kuai and Hawaii (Big Island) today, scientists believe it evolved from the Canada Goose which arrived in Hawaii around 500,000 years ago. One of the first Canadian tourists I suppose.  The Nene is a very rare bird and although we saw lots of signs warning us to watch for Nene crossing the road, we did not see any. We had to settle for a Chukar, which is not even native to Hawaii, having been introduced from Asia in the 1920s.

Cinder Cone from Leleiwi

The road snaked upward past the vistor centre for another 1000 metres, with eight more switchbacks to negotiate. We stopped at the Leleiwi Overlook about half way between the visitor centre and the summit, but I was the only one who hiked the short distance on the rough path to the viewpoint. And am I ever glad I did. As I turned a corner, suddenly there before me was the entire crater of Haleakala below. The crater, which is partly formed from erosion, is large enough (11.5 km long by 4 km wide) to fit all of Manhattan Island within it. Cinder cones stud the floor of the crater, giving it a moonlike appearance. Indeed, Apollo astronauts trained here before their lunar missions. 

The clouds roll in

From where I was standing, you could make out trails far below. There are several that crisscross the floor of the crater, some are day hikes while others require overnight stays in rough campsites in the crater. A couple soon joined me at the overlook, and as she had a Canon camera with just a kit lens on it, I offered up my telephoto lens for her to use. But just as she got it mounted and I had showed her how it works, the clouds rolled in and she never did get a shot of the crater with it. I had managed to get a few photos with my telephoto lens a couple of minutes before the couple arrived and the clouds swept in from below and blocked the view. The weather changes rapidly on the mountain, with much more cloud in the afternoon as we were to find out later.

View from the summit

Our next stop was at the second visitor centre close to the summit. Here rangers were explaining about the volcanoes and how they formed the Hawaiian Islands, as well as answering questions about hiking and camping in the park. We spent about twenty minutes taking in the views as we looked down and out into the vast crater below. The view from here, while quite interesting, is not as stupendous as from Leleiwi Overlook (and presumably nearby Kalahaku Overlook which was completly obscured by clouds when we visited on the way down - you cannot turn into the latter's parking area on the way up). It is also difficult to see the cinder cones from the summit visitor centre as you are looking at their back sides and they are tilted away from you.

Chip Balloon

Our last upward stop was another 50 metres up the road at the Summit Observatory. At an elevation of 3,055 metres, the top of Haleakala is called Pu'u'ula'ula (Red Hill). At one time, scientists believe the actual summit was another 2000 or more metres higher, but erosion, caldera collapse and the actual sinking of Maui into the sea have reduced its height. As we got our cameras out of the back of the SUV, a bag of chips we had bought that morning fell out. Because of the low air pressure at our current elevation (about 25% that of sea level), the bag had 'inflated' to a much large size and felt like a helium balloon. It, and the fact that our breathing was laboured as we walked up the path to the small observatory on the top of the mountain, reminded us that the amount of oxygen was a lot less than the location of our condominum at sea level.

Science City

From the observatory, we could easily see the two volcanoes on the Island of Hawaii (Big Island) more than 150 km away to the south. Much closer at hand is Science City, the group of white observatories that is off limits to the public. Operated by the University of Hawaii, the Smithsonian Institute and the US Air Force, this is one of the most coveted places on earth for observing the night skies as there is very little light pollution and much of the thicker atmosphere lies below. While the Air Force tracks satellites for national defence purposes, the other partners observe the stars, planets and other astronomical phenomena. 

As it was now noon, we decided to begin our trek back down the mountain to Hosmer Grove, a picnic area we had noticed near the park entrance on the way up, to have a picnic lunch. As we descended, we stopped at Kalahaku Overlook. While the parking lot was clear, just a few metres up the trail, clouds completed covered the view to the crater below and even covered the observation area in a light fog. So we continued down until we thought we were below the clouds and pulled into the road leading to Hosmer Grove. But we soon found out why the Grove exists as a pocket of rain forest, because as we pulled into this depression it started to rain. Thankfully, there was a covered table here which is where we sat and had our picnic lunch.

Hawaiian Cowgirl

It was now time to go see the Hawaiian cowboys, or as they are callled in the Hawaiian language, paniolo. We retraced our steps all the way back down to Pukalani where we turned right on Makawao Avenue to the small town of the same name. Located in what is called Upcountry Maui, Makawao is the centre of cattle ranching in Maui. It even has a rodeo in July. I looked for actual cowboys in the town, but could only find a painting of one riding a very strange mount indeed. I was glad to see that like Alberta, both sexes are well represented in the cowboy trade.

Shopping Directions

Makawao may now be even more famous (at least to tourists) as a town of artists. Its main street is home to many boutiques and eclectic artist galleries (one we entered featured paintings, photographs, western tack and the odd tourist kitsch, like Spam coin banks). We wandered in and out of most of the galleries and stores along the street. My brother-in-law and I had fun in one store reading the collection of very unique greeting cards that had us laughing out loud. We even helped a couple of people pick out suitable cards for a birthday and wedding as we perused the collection. Luckily we were in Makawao with our wives. If we were not, they may have followed the directions I saw in the window of a jewellery boutique. 

As it was now getting on in the afternoon, we headed back to our condominium for refreshments. While having a dip in the pool, my sister-in-law and I got talking to a resident from the condo. She was studying to be a chef, so we asked her for a recommendation for dinner at a seafood restaurant. She recommended Longhi's in Wailea, a town about 10 kilometres south of Kihei. As a bonus feature, it was Wailea Restaurant week when restaurants, including Longhi's, were offering a fix price three or four course menu. So how could we say no. Three of us went for the $39 inclusive deal featuring Scallops, Beef Carpaccio, Caesar Salad and Mango Cheesecake, paired with a great wine from a wine list so extensive you browse it on an iPad. And while the restaurant was located in an upscale shopping mall, its dining area is mostly outside which made for a very pleasant evening. 

Beach Walk

The next day, our last full day in Maui, we decided to drive up to the north west part of the island since we had made reservations for the Old Lahaina Luau (more later) in Lahaina for the evening. First though, right after breakfast, we took a walk on the beach near the condo. It was a beautiful morning complete with a rainbow off to the north where we were planning on going later on in the morning. You could certainly see the spot where the gold lay at the bottom of the rainbow as it glowed brightly. Little did we know that the North East is also an area of extreme rain fall.

We had read that the drive along the Honoapiilani Highway past Kapalua was similar to the Hana Highway for scenery. So instead of turning towards Kahalui, we veered left along the coast, past Maalea Harbor. We hugged the coastline passing several beach and state parks where lots of people were parked to go surfing and fishing. About six kilometres off the coast, we could see the Island of Lanai, a former Dole pineapple plantation and now 98% owned by Larry Ellison of Oracle. (I wonder if we had gone over if my wife would have received any discounts at the two exclusive resorts there as she works for Oracle? On second thought, the answer is not a chance).

A Dark and Stormy Day

We zoomed by Lahaina (we would be back for the Luau and to tour it later) and as we had our minds set on another picnic, we stopped in Napili, the last large town as we headed north, to get some supplies. We could see clouds up ahead, but the people at the grocery store seemed to think that if there was rain, it would not last long. Well, they were wrong. Not more than ten minutes further up the road, it started to rain. Actually it started to pour and the further we went, the heavier it got. Soon, the road was littered with rocks being washed down from the cliff alongside the landward side of the road. With visions of worsening rock slides and nothing to see but a curtain of water, we turned back before reaching our intended destination, the Nakalele Blowhole and headed back.

It was still sprinkling by the time we got to Lahaina, so we headed south out of town. We tried to get into a State Park for our picnic, but because it was Saturday, it was full of local families. So we finally ended up parked on the beach side of the road beside the vehicles of surfers. We ate our picnic under the tailgate (a good thing because the rain finally arrived while we were eating). A large Hawaiian family was setting up beside us to enjoy the beach (they brought tents and canopies), so we gave them our leftover food when it was time to head up to Lahaina.

Coral Bricks

Lahaina was once the capital of The Kingdom of Hawaii and Kamehameha I built a palace here in 1802. In the mid nineteenth century, it was the whaling capital of the world, with hundreds of whaling ships (736 in 1846 alone) in harbour from New England and other places. It was a pretty rough and boisterous place with the bawdy whalers often having armed conflicts with the Christian missionaries of the town. Indeed, the Old Fort, which is now a reconstructed ruin, was built soon after whaling ships fired cannon at the Reverend Richard's house after he convinced the Hawaiian Chiefs to enact a kapu to ban women from visiting the whaling ships. It is still a whaling centre of sorts with around 6,000 to 7,000 humpback whales wintering and calving here every year (humpbacks are a recent visitor; the whales hunted previously were other species). The new whale season starts in December each year.

Lanai View

Lahaina means 'relentless sun' in the Hawaiian language and as we arrived in town after lunch, the sun came out. We found a parking spot on Front Street which runs along the water and decided to do a little touring. With the recent rain, it was extremely humid and hot, so after checking out a couple of stores, the Banyan Market Square (marked by an extremely large Banyan Tree that was planted in 1873) and the former palace area, we decided that a cold drink was in order. And we found a couple in a bar right on the waterfront. From the bar, we had a great view out the window as the late afternoon sun began its descent across the Lahaina Roads between us and the Island of Lanai. We stayed for an hour or so, talking to the bar keep  and other guests before it was time to head up the road to The Old Lahaina Luau for our evening entertainment.

Read the Sign

There are many, many luaus throughout the Hawaiian Islands. When researching our trip to Hawaii, we learned from many reviews, guide books and other sources that The Old Lahaina Luau was consistently rated the best. Reservations are always required for this venue and since the seating is based on the date reservations are made, this was one of the first things we did when we booked our trip - eight months before we attended it. As a result we had excellent seats fairly close to the stage. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Making Poi

We had changed into our Hawaiian shirts that we bought in Honolulu and the girls had put on appropriate wear before we arrived at the parking area. We decided not to bring our SLR cameras in with us and in an act of inspiration, we put them in a compartment under the back area of the SUV. We instead took our point and shoot cameras in with us. Greeted at the door of the Luau grounds by a Hawaiian bearing Mai Tais, and another who placed leis around our necks, the mood was instantly set for a fun and entertaining time. After we were shown to our table and told the bar was open and would be for the duration of the evening (our reservation fees covered the cost of drinks), we were invited to stroll around the grounds before dinner. Various demonstrations were underway by Hawaiians. We watched one man make fresh poi which we offered to us to taste. A young woman nearby was teaching children and some adults how to hula. I tried my hand at a Hawaiian game which was kind of like lawn bowling and cricket combined as I tried (without success) to roll a flat round stone through a set of wickets about 25 metres away. My brother-in-law, my opponent in the game, managed to get one of his stones though the wickets as he bowled the stone back towards us.

Imu

Near the beach, a large mound of beach sand was covered with a shovel. This was not a representation of a Hawaiian grave even though it did look like a coffin could be underneath, but the imu where the kalua pork was cooking for our dinner.  And what a dinner we had. Served buffet style, there was a multitude of Hawaiian foods for us to chow down on as the sun went down and the evening progressed. Just as we were finishing our dinner, and enjoying some sweets for desert, we heard the beat of the drums that signified that the entertainment part of the evening was beginning. All eyes were drawn to the large round stage around which the tables and eating mats were arranged. And the show began. 

I cannot begin to put into words what we saw during the show. But I now know why the Old Lahaina Luau is rated the best. Based on the legends of how Hawaii began to modern day life when the Fire Godess Pele created the land and married a human man, the dancing and singing went on for a couple of hours. Different styles of hula were presented, from traditional to modern. Hula is a very expressive dance, done by both men and women. Once banned by the missionaries as a heathen dance, the hand and facial expressions made when interpreting chants and songs is delicate and sensitive. It was difficult to photograph the dancing as it was lit only by torches and select lighting, but I was able to capture some of it on video. A short clip is at the following link to give you an idea of what we saw:  http://youtu.be/NelCv44zG6c

At the end of the show, we exited to our SUV and dug out our cameras so they would be safe for the ride back to the condo. That is when we discovered that our cameras were sitting in water that had leaked from our cooler into the compartment. We dried them off the best we could in the dark and headed back to the condo where we inspected them. My camera, a professional model, worked almost immediately after I turned it on. My brother-in-law's did - sort of. His viewscreen would not come on. We decided to let them dry out overnight and went to bed. 

The next morning we were up early and again checked our cameras. Again, mine was fine. Unfortunately my brother-in-law's had given up the ghost overnight. Accidents or misfortunes like the one we had is why I usually travel with two camera bodies. I lent him my other SLR camera for the duration of the trip and we left the condo one final time to catch our early morning flight to Hawaii - The Big Island.  Our journeys there will be covered in the next chapter. Until then, aloha.

Aloha Part One

Hawai'i.

The very word conjures up an image of an exotic, tropical paradise, where hula skirted girls gyrate gracefully in the warm, wafting winds as the soothing sound of the surf mingles with the tinkle of ice in a Mai Tai and the sun, a red ball against the darkening blue of the ocean, slowly slips below the far off horizon as another day in Paradise comes to an end.

Well, Hawaii can be all of that as we shall see shortly. It is also, as part of the United States of America, geographicially, and in Honolulu, not a whole lot different in places than downtown Los Angeles, or the Californian coast, and this also made an impression on me, my wife and brother and sister-in-law on our recent trip. I think from all the materials I had read, photos I had seen and TV shows about the place (Book him, Dano'), I expected something a bit different, at least culturally, than what I encountered and experienced. Don't get me wrong. I (and I include my travelling companions when I say I) did enjoy visiting Oahu, Maui and the Big Island (Hawaii) and I will relate my experiences and suggestions should you decide to visit the places we did. So read on.

Long Trip

Did I mention Hawaii is far away?  The closest place to Honolulu in Canada, Vancouver (yes, Victoria is closer, but there are no direct flights to Honolulu) is about 6 hours away by air. San Francisco and Los Angeles are about 5 hours and 30 minutes away. Tokyo is a little over 8 hours away and Toronto 12 hours. Sydney (not Nova Scotia) is 12 hours and 40 minutes away. We flew from Ottawa to Newark New Jersey and then direct to Honolulu. Total flying time was 11 hours 45 minutes. Total travel time for us was 18 hours. So the odds are you are not going to go to Hawaii for a weekend. Even a long weekend. We went for 12 days which we found is the minimum amount you should count on to visit 3 islands (there are 8 main islands of Hawaii, but tourists typically visit only 6 of these).

We arrived in Honolulu at 5:30 p.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Standard Time, or 10:30 p.m. EST. After exiting the plane, we headed for luggage retrieval. Which required us to go outside before re-entering the baggage hall. This might be a clever a ploy by the tourist associations in Hawaii because you are immediately struck by how warm it is, even in the dark at 6 p.m. in November. After getting our bags, we grabbed a taxi and headed across the city on the Interstate H-1 (the jokes about an Interstate highway in Hawaii have all been done). This was our first exposure to traffic in Honolulu. It reminded me of LA traffic. 

Our Bed and Breakfst hostess had told us that her place was somewhat difficult to find for taxi drivers. She wasn't kidding. Situated on a private road at the base of  Diamond Head, the cabbie's GPS got us to the street. With no streetlights, we drove slowly down the street looking for the address (very few houses had numbers on them, or if they had, they were not illuminated). At one point we stopped, got out our travelling flashlights and two of the men in the cab started checking out house numbers. I am only going to mention the stereotype of men not following directions just once in this blog. As two of our party ranged up and down the street, I finally found a light to see the piece of paper I had printed with the directions on it to the Bed and Breakfast. At the very bottom of the page was the clear instruction: Proceed to the last house at the dead end – downhill side is xx yy Drive – a blue mailbox. 

So we rounded up our roving party and drove to the end of the street to the last house and as we pulled into the driveway, out came Joanne, our host for the next three days to welcome us. After introductions were made, we settled in to our rooms on the top floor of the house and immediately changed into summer attire. The Diamond Head Bed and Breakfast has a lot going for it; the hospitality, food, location, and amenities were all great.  Indeed, waiting in our minifridges, we found cold water and beer. So, tired though we were from the travel and the time change, we were soon sitting on our balcony, enjoying the lights of Waikiki below and the local beer. But soon the travel caught up with us and by 10 p.m. local time, we were all heading to bed.

The next morning, we woke refreshed to the joyful singing from a multitude of birds. We could relate to how they felt. Warm and sunny always brings out the best in people and apparently birds as well.

Diamond Head

Before heading down for breakfast, we got our first glimpse from our second story rooms of Diamond Head, the extinct volcano cone that is known to Hawaiians as Lēʻahi. British sailors in the 1800s gave it its English name because they mistook calcite crystals in the rock for diamonds. Whichever name is used, it dominates the land above Waikiki. It cannot be seen from the ground at our Bed and Breakfast because of the foliage around the house, but a block or so down the hill, it protrudes above the palms into the blue of the sky.

Surfer Dude

After a very nutritious breakfast, we loaded up our backpacks and cameras and walked about 20 minutes down the hill on Monsarrat Avenue past the Honolulu Zoo to Waikiki Beach. We were lucky in a way, because we approached Waikiki from the south end, arriving first at the border between Sans Souci State Recreational Park to the south and Kuhio Beach Park to the north. Thus we were exposed slowly to Waikiki Beach. A very large Indian banyan tree and a bronze statue of a surfer greeted us as we crossed the main drag, Kalakaua Avenue, to the park and the sea side. Several people were already on the beach soaking up the rays and some were even in the water swimming and it was not yet 9 a.m. But it was already hot and pretty humid.

Leaving the surfer behind, we continued down Kalakaua (or up to be geographically accurate) and headed into the tourist trap known as Waikiki Beach. Kalakaua sports a mulititude of stores catering to tourists. The first store we encountered, called ABC (not

Board walk

the same as the liquor stores of the same name in Florida - although the Hawaiian ABC did have liquor) is a good example of a tourist store with hundreds of Hawaiian souvenirs, 99% of which are made in China, on sale. How do I know this? Our female travelling companions made a beeline for the store. These stores are found everywhere in Hawaii and at least on every corner in Waikiki. While the rest of our party were inside, I stood outside and watched the pedestrian traffic go by. Locals on their way to the beach, beggars on the sidewalk and of course the multitude of fellow tourists made for a busy and eclectic streetscape.

After browsing through the store (yes, I eventually went in), we continued up Kalakaua, stopping a few times for quick shopping expeditions in the many boutiques that line the right hand side of the street to buy new flip flops and to check out sun hats. The other side of Kalakaua, at least at the far end of Waikiki Beach, consists of Kuhio Beach State Park. The park was crowded with swimmers and sunbathers and surfer schools. And in keeping with the surfer theme of our introduction to Hawaii, just before we got to the concrete canyon formed by hotels on both sides of the street, we met up with the granddaddy of all surfers, the man who made it into the sport it is today, Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku, or Duke Kahanamoku for short.

Sir Duke

Of course you can't really meet him; he has been dead for 45 years, but you can see him or at least his likeness. An amazing athelete, Duke (his given name) was a five time Olympic medalist in swimming. He broke the world record for 100 yards (the measurement at the time) in his first competition. He also starred in several movies while living in California. On his tours around the world, and especially in Australia, he demonstrated swimming and surfing, thus spreading the latter as a sport. His statue is covered in leis in memory of the surfing king and what he accomplished for the sport and for Hawaii in his later years as Honolulu Sherrif and official greeter of the city.  Apparently, there is a web camera lined up on Duke and if you stand beside him you can wave to your family and friends elsewhere in the world to greet them and to let them know you wish they were here.

Past Kuhio Beach, Kalakaua heads 'inland' as hotels crowd both sides of the Avenue and the beautiful ocean view disappears. Famous hotels that established Waikiki as a resort, such as the Moana Surf Rider and The Royal Hawaiian (which started the rush to Hawaii as a resort in 1927) jostle for space along Waikiki Beach. Across the road, slightly less opulent and less expensive hotels (no real beach view except for the very top floors) are lined up one after another.  In the ground floors of these hotels, high end stores (think Cartier, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton) peddle their wares (not to us mere middle class mortals) to the rich and famous. Equally high end restaurants proliferate in this area of Waikiki Beach.

Duke's Place

Speaking of restaurants, it was getting towards noon and being very hot, we decided that a cold drink or two and a snack would be just the ticket. So after wandering around for a bit looking for a suitable restaurant or bar, we finally asked one of the Waikiki Information guides where to get a cold beer with a beach view that would not bankrupt us. He suggested Duke's Canoe Club (yes, named after Duke Kahanamoku) in the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel. And a good recommendation it was. We ordered some appetizers to go with our beers and Mai Tais and sat back to watch the people frolic on the beach and the waves roll in. If you go to Waikiki, be sure to go to Duke's for at least a drink.

Diamond Head Revisited

Feeling refreshed, we headed back out and decided to visit the beach. In Hawaii, no one can own the beach. So even the hotels that front the beach have to provide public access. Therefore, walking down Royal Hawaiian Avenue, we cut between The Royal Hawaiian shopping centre and the Wyndham Beach Walk Resort to emerge onto the beach beside the Sheraton Hotel. From here, you get amazing views of Waikiki Beach proper, the Pacific Ocean and Diamond Head in the distance.

Sheraton Seawall

We strolled (trudged since we were in sandals and flip flops) through the soft sand of the beach and then along the very narrow concrete walkway behind (in front of? - depends upon whether the street or the ocean is the front) the Sheraton as the sun beat down on us. Waikiki Beach is constantly fighting a battle with the sea as erosion eats away at the shoreline. Rising sea levels are certainly going to cause more problems in the future.

Home away from Home

We were starting to feel the effects of the long travelling of the previous day and the five hour time change. So after admiring the view along a couple of hundred metres of beach front walking, we thought that a return to our Bed and Breakfast by way of one of the ABC stores (to acquire some beverages) would be in order. And this is what we did. We spent the next hour or two enjoying a cold drink on the delightful lanai-patio of our home away from home before retiring to our rooms for a late afternoon nap. Not able to sleep, I sat on the balcony amid the scented flowers of the trees in the grounds below and listened to birdsong while I read some of the well stocked travel books in my room.

That evening (Hawaiians tend to eat early, many restaurants serving locals are getting ready to close by 8 p.m.), on the recommendation of our hostess, we wandered over to Kapahulu Avenue to Ono Hawaiian Foods for authentic Hawaiian food. Ono is the Hawaiian word for a type of mackeral. Whether or not they had ono on the menu, I don't recall. A tiny hole in the wall, the restaurant can be pretty busy. There were a couple of tables available when we arrived, but it filled up while we were there. Ono's Hawaiian server, after finding out we never had eaten Hawaiian food, suggested we try the LauLau Combination Platter for two. So we did twice as there were four of us. We enjoyed Kalua Pig (the traditional method of cooking in the ground) wrapped in Ti (a lily like plant) leaves, pipi kuala (kind of like beef jerky); lomi salmon (salmon and tomatos in a delicious salad), rice and finally haupia (coconut jello/custard) for desert. It was good although the meat dishes tended to be a bit more salty in Hawaii than the last time we had Polynesian food at a Maori night in New Zealand. We finished our evening with a drink back at our Bed and Breakfast and then called it a night.

The next day, after another scrumptious breakfast, we decided to take one of the many tour

Tourists R Us
(L Chaput, photographer)

buses that circle Waikiki Beach and parts of Honolulu. These 'hop on, hop off' buses are usually a pretty good way of getting to the major 'tourist' sites (the exception being Pearl Harbor as it is too far away) while the narration provides useful information about what you are seeing. Indeed, shortly after boarding and as we passed a non descript apartment building, our bus driver informed us that Barrack Obama had lived in it when he was a boy. (Which provoked Donald Trump to yell from the back of the bus that he wanted to see Obama's birth certificate). 

The walls of our Bed and Breakfast were directed with lots of paintings and watercolours and we could see that they were done by our hostess. She had been pretty prominent in the artist community in Honolulu and was still affiliated with Honolulu Museum of Art.

Museum of Art Courtyard

While discussing her paintings and the local art scene at breakfast, she gave us free passes to the Museum, so that is the first stop we made on our day of discovery. The Art Gallery turned out to be a pleasant and interesting visit. They have an excellent collection of art, from Old Masters to Modern Hawaiian painters. The doyons (volunteeer guides) are very helpful and are happy to provide information about the exhibits and the artists. As well, they had an Ansell Adams (if you are a photographer you know who he was) exhibit which we did not visit as we had run out of time. If you are in Honolulu for a few days, or on a rainy day, the Art Gallery would be worth a few hours of your time.

From the gallery, we got back on the bus and headed to the State House (Capitol Building) and the area around it. It is a fairly modern building, builit in 1969 in a style called Hawaiian International. I thought it looked more like an Art Gallery than a government building which is maybe a good thing. I understand it is more interesting on the inside, but we did not go in. 

Rotunda

People were demonstrating same sex marriage on the street just outside the State House; uncomfortable looking police and security guards stood by watching. We walked through the open concept of the rotunda which to me was the best feature and out the other side towards Iolani Palace. Built in 1882, it was the home of Hawaiian Royalty until the United States government, supporting an opposition group in Hawaii of mostly non Hawaiians, overthrew the Monarchy in 1893. (What is it with the US and monarchs, anyway?). 

Iolani Palace

Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch, was imprisoned in the Palace in 1895 for trying to reinstate the monarchy. Her statue is located between the Palace and the new State Capitol, appropriate I suppose as a link from the Kingdom of Hawaii to today's government. The Palace was used by the Provisional Government of Hawaii and the Republic of Hawaii until the US annexed the Islands in 1898. It was then used as the Territorial Government Headquarters. It continued as an administrative building, a military building during WWII, the State Building after Statehood and was abandoned in 1969 with the building of the State House next door before being restored in 1978. Apparently, the society that restored it is still searching for the Royal Family's furniture and goods which were dispursed in the 1890s, so if you are hoarding any of it, they want to hear from you.

Kamehameha

Across from the Palace, on the other side of King Street and located in front of the Hawaiian Supreme Court, stands a statue of the man who got the Kingdom of Hawaii started in 1810. King Kamehameha I, a chief from the Big Island (Hawaii), had a dream to unite the Hawaiian Islands. There are many legends about the man, his birth and early years and his later deeds and about how he managed to pull off this feat of unification. So I don't think it will be a problem to start a new one here. I think he did so by forcing each his rivals to say his full Hawaiian name, which is:  Kalani Paiʻea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiʻikui Kamehameha o ʻIolani i Kaiwikapu kauʻi Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea. When they obviously could not, he had them killed. Seriously, with his favourite wife who was higher born than he and her family and connections, he eventually conquered all other Chiefs on the other islands. His name (the shortened version) can be found on street names, on schools and other places throughout the Islands we visited. Interestingly, the translation of his name means 'the lonely one' so perhaps he just wanted more company and that is why he united the Islands into a kingdom. In the Hawaiian tradition, his burial place was kept a secret so his name certainly is appropriate today. 

Even phones have leis

We decided to go for lunch about this time, and walked the short distance down King Street to the start of Chinatown.  I thought there would be more restaurants than there were. Pehaps we should have called ahead or had a taxi take us to a place to eat, but we eventually found one called the Golden Palace and went in. It was a huge restaurant and the food was decent. Most of the people there were Chinese and perhaps because of this, service was interesting as we could not be understood by the wait staff except by one young person. Apparently the washrooms, which we were told did not belong to the restaurant (they were in another building) were disgusting. Good thing some of us waited until after the meal to use them. (Luckily, I was losing water another way because of the very warm temperature). 

Look Up

Afterwards, we checked our maps and figured that we could walk to the next 'Hop On' spot for the bus which was the Aloha Tower. Built in 1926 as a lighthouse, it was the tallest structure in Hawaii for 40 years. Gothic in style, this was the first thing hundreds of thousands of immigrants and tourist saw when approaching Honolulu by ship. Surrounded by a Marketplace, it was virtually deserted when we visited. Apparently it is not visited that much anymore and many of the stores have left the Marketplace. The Tower itself is showing signs of decay. The University of Hawaii has bought it and the surrounding area and hopes to redevelop it and build residences and other facilities in the Marketplace.

Two bored security guards were eating their lunches at the base of the tower. We asked if we could go up to the top and after a very cursory examination of our camera bags and purses, we rode the elevator up 10 stories to the observation deck (just above the clock in the photo). Because it is over 60 metres high, it provides excellent views of Honolulu, Pearl Harbor (I have spelled it in Americanese) and surroundings.

View Toward Pearl Harbor

The observation deck at the top affords views from all four sides. The breeze at the top of the Tower was very refreshing and we took our time shooting photos before descending back into the city of concrete below. 

We eventually found the Hop On bus stop (don't ask the few locals and security people  in the area, we got conflicting advice from them) and shortly thereafter, our bus came by. We decided our next stop was going to be the Ward Warehouse, an outdoor shopping market, similar to the Byward Market in Ottawa. The boys wanted to buy Hawaiian shirts and the girls just wanted to shop. On the way to the market, the bus driver pointed out a small marina full of sailboats and to the music of Gilligan's Island, informed us that the opening scene of the show, depicting the Minnow heading out to sea, was filmed here.

We spent about an hour (the time between buses) at the Ward Market and the men managed to accomplish our mission. As it was getting along in the afternoon and the heat was getting to us, when we got on the bus we decided to ride it back to where we started, at the far edge of Waikiki Beach.

Turn Right Here

From here we made our customary stop at the ABC store (to reprovision our liquids supply) and turning right at the large Indian Banyan tree at the foot of Monsarrat Avenue, wandered slowly back up to the Bed and Breakfast. That evening, we went out for an Italian type (Italian-Japanese fusion) dinner not far from the Bed and Breakfast. Then we retired back to the lanai for an interesting discussion with our hostess, her son and our fellow guest from Australia about Hawaiian property laws among other topics.

The next morning, our last on Oahu, and before breakfast, our host's son drove the boys and the Aussie up to the Diamond Head crater. The much younger Australian visitor wanted to hike from the crater to the rim so we went along for the ride and to photograph the sun as it rose on the other side of Diamond Head.

Another Day Starts

The interior crater, which is reached through a short tunnel through the volcano wall, for years was a military base and restricted to the public, but much of it is now open for hikes and other activities. There is nothing spectacular about the interior of the crater itself (other than its size). It was the view just outside the tunnel on the way down, as the sun rose over the Pacific, that was worth the ride up. And made breakfast when we got back to the Bed and Breakfast that much more enjoyable.

Juggling in the Park

Our flight to Maui was not scheduled until 5 p.m., but because of Honolulu traffic, our hostess suggested we needed to leave for the airport around 2 p.m. She made arrangements for a taxi for this time. As we needed to find something to do for the rest of the morning and early afternoon, we decided to go to the beach and just chill for the morning. So after packing up and checking out, we wandered one last time down the hill to the park at the foot of Monsarrat. We found a table under the trees and spent the next couple of hours walking up and down the path along the ocean in Sans Souci State Park and relaxing under the coolness of the park trees. The Honolulu Aquarium and the old derelict War Memorial Natorium (a sheltered former swimming competition area) are located in this park. The Aquarium was busy with school children and tourists. The park was a very pleasant place to spend our last morning in Oahu, people watching and relaxing. In retrospect, I think we all were feeling that three days on Oahu was more than enough, particularly since we did not rent a car to check out the environs beyond Honolulu and Waikiki Beach. 

Say Cheeseburger

As it was getting close to noon and we were all out of snacks and water, we wandered from the park into Waikiki Beach one last time for lunch and then walked back up the hill to collect our luggage and say goodbye to our hostess for an excellent stay. As the taxi fought its way through the traffic to the airport it started to really rain, the  first rain of our Hawaii trip. I guess someone was telling us it was time to leave Oahu and fly off to Maui, our next destination.