Hawai'i 2004
Waikiki, Hawai'i
February 18, 2004
Waikiki Beach
Aloha!
We didn't take the truck on this trip. The airplane was both faster and drier.
We landed in Hawai'i yesterday and are enjoying some warm, sunny weather for a change. It's been in the 80s, although a bit humid, and is expected to be like this for at least the rest of the week.
We did not come here directly from New York, but spent a week with Dan and Carrie in San Francisco. While there we visited the Exploratorium and several museums that we hadn't visited before: The Asian Museum (much larger than the one in NYC) and the Cable Car Museum (unique to San Francisco) where we saw the motors, wheels, and cables that pull the four routes of cable cars up the hills of San Francisco. Also, I had my first cable car ride (to get from Fisherman's Wharf back to Dan & Carrie's place. Sarah and I both stood on the running board hanging on to poles.
While in S.F., we took the opportunity to visit Mission Cliffs Climbing Gym. Mission Cliffs was featured in a NY Times article last month about indoor rock climbing. Dan, Carrie, and I spent some time literally climbing the walls. Sarah took pictures.
Mission Cliffs Climbing Gym, San Francisco
It was not a smooth ride from San Francisco to Honolulu, but a couple of Dramamine and a one pound bag of pretzels got me through the five hour flight.
Today we visited the Honolulu Zoo and the Honolulu Aquarium. Although billing itself as the 'best zoo for 2,300 miles,' the zoo is not large and has almost only African animals. It is primarily for the 'locals.' The zoo does have the 'nene,' the endangered goose that is the Hawaiian State Bird. It looks like a goose.
The aquarium is also small, but specializes in local fauna. Large numbers of very colorful fish and corals can be seen in large glass-fronted tanks. Coral growing in the aquarium in Brooklyn (and many other aquariums) came from the coral 'hatchery' here.
Many food items have to be brought to Hawai'i from the mainland so they are more expensive. Milk, which must be refrigerated, but not frozen, and has a short shelf-life, costs almost twice as much as back home: We bought powdered and reconstitute it as needed in our kitchenette.
Aloha,
Allen & Sarah
Oahu, Hawai'i
Feb 23, 2004
On Thursday I tried my hand at surfing again. (The last time was in San Diego in 1999.) This time, at Waikiki Beach, I took a one-hour private lesson, used a bigger board, and was more successful. I was able to catch a few good waves and ride them most of the way to shore. We have about a dozen pictures of these events, although most of them look pretty much alike: Me riding a surfboard.
Above: Allen surfing at Waikiki.
Below: Allen has blue flippers, Sarah has pink flippers, the Sea Turtle has green flippers.
The following day we went scuba diving at Koko Crater, a sand-filled submarine volcanic crater not far from Diamond Head. While above water we admired the lush scenery of bright green leaves up the sides of the volcanoes and the sharp edges of various craters; while under water we admired the bright colorful fish and several sea turtles. None of the animals seemed afraid of us and we got close enough to touch them, but didn't because touching is harmful to them. On the second of our two dives we saw more fish and more turtles.
We had some problems with our diving: It turned out that the dive boat that we took was geared primarily for inexperienced non-certified divers. They kept everyone together as a group and did all of the equipment set-up. Fortunately, in checking her equipment prior our second dive (something that the boat crew should have done), Sarah noticed that she had been given an almost empty air tank and it had to be replaced. Also, Sarah asked for more weights on her weight belt. Although Sarah was told that the weight would be added to her belt, it was slipped into the pocket of her Buoyancy Control Device vest (BCD). During the dive, when the weight slipped out of the unfastened pocket and Sarah rose unexpectedly to the surface, the crew assumed that she was having a problem that she couldn't handle. Although Sarah had several options and was still able to get to the boat rope and pull herself in (if necessary), they came out, put a float on her, and towed her in.
If we had been left to our own devices, we would have been able solve the problem ourselves. We are both certified divers and high school graduates. I believe that being slightly older people (at least the oldest on the boat), we were not given credit for the knowledges and abilities that we have. I have noticed that as my beard has gotten grayer over that last few years, people have begun speaking to me more slowly, loudly, and simplistically. Maybe I'm just having more dealings with slow-talking simplistic loud people.
BTW, we got some good photos.
On the island of Oahu, the most populated of the Hawaiian Islands, there are few highways. One highway goes around the island along the coast and the other goes through the central valley of the island from Pearl Harbor to the north shore between the two chains of volcanoes, hopefully extinct, which make up the island (previously two islands).
On Saturday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center on the northeast coast of Oahu from Waikiki in the southeast. Unfortunately, there was a traffic accident which closed the highway only about a mile from the cultural center. We had to go back almost to Waikiki, go west, and take the highway through the central valley of the island to the north shore in order to get to the cultural center. It too us an extra 3 hours to make the 1½ hour trip. The PCC has seven areas representing the different Polynesian cultures. We got to see only three of the shows and had no time to visit any of the displays or shops. Since the bus was a PCC charter, they compensated us by providing a guided tour to make the most of our two hours out of the 5 hours that the individual island areas are open (noon to 5p.m.) and transportation for the next operating day (Monday). [Our admission ticket was good for three days, but for only one day of transportation.]
Allen and the Fiji warriors, Polynesian Cultural Center.
We didn't miss the evening programs: The luau and the stage show. Also, by taking the route through the central valley of O'ahu, we got to see the Dole pineapple plantation and the north shore beaches with the 20-30 foot waves; not for me yet. Unlike valleys on the mainland, the central valley here was not cut by rivers or glaciers, but formed as erosion filled in the water between two volcanic islands. www.dole-plantation.com
The income from the PCC provides tuition, room, and board for the Polynesian students of Brigham Young University-Hawaii. The students provide 20 hours/week of service as guides, performers, etc. at the PCC. [The school does not require the students be Mormon to go there, but I'm sure that they'd like them to be Mormon when they leave.]
On Sunday we visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. Before being ferried to the memorial above the remains of the battleship Arizona and some of the 1,177 crewmen who lost their live on December 7, 1941, we visited the museum and saw a film about the early morning attack. The experience was very moving. Because tourists from Japan are ubiquitous in Hawai'i, their small numbers here became noticeable.
Following our trip to the Arizona, we visited the national cemetery in Punchbowl Crater, the only national cemetery in a volcanic crater. The crater had to be filled with dirt to a depth of twenty feet to create the cemetery. We took particular note of the marker on the grave of war correspondent Ernie Pyle.
Downtown Honolulu we saw the statue of King Kamehameha the Great who unified the Hawaiian Islands; it was not as impressive as I had expected.
Restaurants are good here and are not necessarily as expensive as many people think; you just have to look around. We've been on the 'Modified Atkins Diet': We eat all the protein that we want and add all of the carbohydrates that we want; we compensate by drinking Diet Coke® and using Sweet & Low®. If that doesn't work, we can keep in mind that Polynesian culture favors extra body-fat because it helps one to survive the long canoe rides between islands. Also, if swimming and diving didn't favor being thicker in the middle, why are dolphins built that way?
We spent all of Monday back at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had a really good time. It was a slow day and we were able to see all of the shows that we missed, visited the exhibits, and had the opportunity to chat with the cast members about their home islands and cultures. Sarah & I took part in several activities but only she went on stage. They didn't lose any money by providing us transportation to the PCC because the Monday bus was only 2/3 full. We were the only ones who were returning from the Saturday problem, the others must have had other arrangements or had already gone home.
Coming home was a different story. Everyone else on the bus was staying for the luau and show. The PCC provided a stretch limo for us and a family of four. It would have been less expensive for them if they had offered us the luau and show. There's always extra food at a buffet and the performers don't wear out faster if more people are watching. That way we could have come back on the bus.
Regards,
Allen & Sarah
The Big Island – Hawai'i
February 28, 2004
We flew via Aloha Air from Honolulu, O'hau into Kona on the Big Island of Hawai'i, the youngest and easternmost of the Hawaiian Island chain. As it sits on the volcanic vent which created this series of islands and the plate moves to the west, it has the active volcanoes. In size, Hawai'i is larger than all of the other Hawaiian Islands combined and is getting larger on a daily basis.
Some disappointment have been resolved. We found the original statue of Kamehameha I and it is impressive. It is in a small village on the west coast of The Big Island close to King Kamehameha birthplace. This is the original statue. After it was cast in the 1800s, it was decided that it would be placed in front of the courthouse in Honolulu because it is a big city. The original statue was lost when the ship carrying it sank. A replacement was cast and delivered to Honolulu. Decades later, the original statue was recovered and was placed in the village of Kohala. The villagers voted to paint the cloak and distinctive headdress of Kamehameha bright red and yellow to duplicate the colors of the feathers and the body brown. This is the statue that I remember seeing in photographs, not the bronze of Honolulu. Another copy of the statue is in the Capitol rotunda in Washington, DC.
The statue of King Kamehameha I
Also, the Nene, the goose that is the state bird that we saw in the zoo last week that looked really plain; it was a female. We saw a pair in the wild. The male has iridescent colors. Very tropical! We have also seen several Indian mongooses which were brought to Hawai'i to control the rats in the sugar cane fields. Today they create problems by eating the eggs and chicks of ground-nesting birds. 90% of Hawaiian flora and fauna are found nowhere else. Since the arrival of Europeans, 10% have become extinct and many others are endangered.
Landing at the airport in Kona, we saw fields of volcanic rock. After we checked into the hotel, we took a short walk on a lava rock beach. When we got close we saw numerous black crabs scurrying over and under the large black rocks. A good example of camouflage and natural selection.
Kona is famous for its coffee. Sarah tried Kona coffee and didn't like it. She tried a blend with only 10% Kona coffee and said that it was 90% better.
Along the road near Kona, many people have put names and/or messages on the jet-black rocks. Instead of paint, they place water-polished white coral stones. It is a stark combination and doesn't fade.
On Wednesday we drove around the northwest part of the island. This region dryer than the other parts. We saw grassland, cattle ranches, and prickly pear cactus. We also visited the area where Kamehameha the Great was born and saw his fancy-painted statue.
Kamehameha was told that if he built a great temple, he would become ruler of all of the islands. He built a great temple to the war god [Pu'ukohola Heiau] not far from where he was born. A twenty-mile human chain passed hundred of thousands of lava rocks to build the stone platform. Although he had defeated the rulers of other islands, his cousin was challenging his rule on his home island.
Kamehameha invited his cousin to the opening ceremonies of the great temple and in some sort of circumstance, the cousin and his retenue were slain. A small temple was built under water dedicated to the shark god. We saw two sharks circling in the water. We're assuming that they were sharks because of the dorsal fins cutting through the shallow water. We weren't going into the water to find out for sure.
On Friday we left Kona and headed for Volcanoes National Park. On the way we stopped at a coffee plantation, an ethnobotanical garden, and the southernmost point of the United States. This make the third southernmost point that we have visited: The southernmost point of the U.S. Mainland in Flamingo, FL; the southernmost point of the continental U.S. in Key West, FL; and now this one.
We took a break from driving and dabbled our toes in the refreshing water at a black-sand beach. To our toes, it did not feel the same as the quartz sand of New York or the soft coral sand of the Florida Keys. To the eye, it looked like caviar. While here, we saw our third Hawaiian green sea turtle for the day. This one was eating algae in a surf pool rather than basking in the sun on the shore.
Black sand beach, Punalu'u, Hawai'i.
In Volcanoes National Park, we drove the 11 mile Crater Rim Drive. The caldera (large crater) of Kilauea is so huge, 3-4miles across, that there is another large crater, ½ mile across, inside of it. These two and many others are still steaming and could erupt at any time. In the evening we drove to the end of Chain of Craters Road and watched the red glow from the volcano reflected in the acid steam emanating from the vent. At the same place, we saw where the most recent eruption spewed lava down the slope and across the road turning Chain of Craters Road from a loop into two spurs. Bikers and hikers can go down one side and up the other, but cars can't get past the blockage where the lava covers the road.
Where the volcano ate the road.
Regards,
Allen & Sarah
Hilo, Hawai'i
March 1, 2004
Aloha!
Tropical storms are what keeps the tropics green. We experienced our first tropical storm Friday night. More than 8 inches of rain fell in some areas with winds as high as 50 mph. We were staying in a B&B in Volcano, HI that was built in the 1890s. The sheets of wind-driven rain clattered on the tin roof and the gusts slammed the shutters against the window frames. I used towels to eliminate the pounding of the shutters, but couldn't do anything to restore electricity. At least the room came with a pair of flashlights (which were intended for after-dark trips on the lava flow to observe the glow of the volcanic vent).
We moved on to Hilo, The Big Island's largest city. It used to be larger, but a tsunami (tidal wave caused by an under-sea earthquake) took out most town in 1960. Most of the remaining downtown buildings date to the 1800s. All of the hotels have been built since the last tsunami, but there are not many. Hilo only has about 1,200 hotel rooms, all at tsunami level. We've have left an area which could have an eruption at any moment to stay in a tidal wave zone. It makes for a good night's sleep.
The Big Island has five volcanoes: three dormant and two active. From its base on the Pacific floor to its peak, Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain on earth. Everest goes further into the atmosphere, but begins above sea level. Mauna Kea rises 13,796' above sea level, but starts about five miles down on the ocean floor. Mauna Kea is dormant. Snow-capped Mauna Kea stands above Hilo. From downtown, one can see some of the observatories on its summit. Observatories are expensive; it makes sense to put then on volcanoes only when they are dormant..
Mauna Loa is the most massive volcano on earth and is still active. Kilauea is bubbling right now.
On the 30 mile drive from Volcano to Hilo, we saw the edge of the village which was swallowed by the 2001 eruption of Kilauea. We saw a film about the destruction of the village in a video in the Lyman Museum which houses Hawaiian artifacts. The Lyman Museum boasts the world's largest collection of wooden spittoons. It is pricey for a museum of its size, but it includes a tour of the Lyman's Missionary House from mid 1800s. Unfortunately, most of the walls on the main floor of the house were removed and windows added when it was turned into the original museum, so one loses perspective.
Also on the way to Hilo, we watched the pounding of the storm-caused waves on the lava cliffs. Waves in excess of 20 feet crashed and sent foam high up the cliff faces. I went out onto a point just above the crash zone so that Sarah could take my picture against the scenic background. An unusually large wave broke sending plumes of water over me. Sarah became concerned about me being washed out to sea because I had the car key. Sarah is a licensed driver, I'm sure that she would have figured something out.
In Hilo, we visited the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo. It is free, but small. Their collection includes animals from tropical areas world-wide, but not many. The zoo is also a botanical garden. Among other things, we saw 'fiddle heads' of ferns that were large enough to be 'cello heads' and ducks that whistle instead of quack.
Hilo is a 'city of parks' and home to the Pacific Tsunami Museum. Through displays, films, and lectures it shows the dangers of a tsunami and the history of tsunamis in the Pacific. Hilo has been hit by six tsunamis in the past 50 years. A big one in 1946 killed 150+ people in the state, 96 in Hilo and destroyed most of the town which was along the waterfront. In 1949 alarm sirens were erected and the town was rebuilt. When the 1960 tsunami struck, the sirens alerted people and many came to the waterfront to watch the big wave. Many drowned.
The government banned building at the waterfront and converted the land to parks. (The fourth statue of Kamehameha the Great is here.) Property owners were given government land further inland.
A few hundred feet from our hotel is the largest Japanese Garden that we have ever been in. It is said to be one of the largest outside of Japan. Narrow paths and numerous small bridges circle and cross many pools of seawater. Several tea houses dot the garden. The paths, small islands, and bridges are (what else) black volcanic rock. We relaxed there for a while before going back to our hotel.
We drove the belt highway around the northern side of the island to get back to Kona. Along the way we visited some waterfalls and took a tropical forest scenic drive.
Our flight, from the island of Hawai'i to the garden island of Kaua'i, is Tuesday. I hope all goes well. A few days ago someone drove an SUV into the terminal of one of the Hawaiian airports and set the car on fire.
Regards,
Allen & Sarah
Lihu'e, Kuai'i
March 7, 2004
After the tropical storm last week, which we were told had been the worst of the decade, we discovered a dent in the fender of our rental car. We were relieved to learn that we are not responsible for damage caused by falling tropical fruit or volcanic debris.
On the way to Kona to be close to the airport for our flight to Kuai'i, we visited a golf course that has a collection of Hawaiian petroglyphs. When compared with the petroglyphs of Arizona, these required more work as they had to be cut into harder rock rather than just chipping off the desert varnish. Also, the petroglyphs here have more sea turtles.
Kuai'i is known as the 'Garden Isle.' It is the northwesternmost and oldest of the inhabited Hawaiian Island chain. The chain is about 1,200 miles long, but the northwestern islands are small, rocky, and sometimes underwater. A new island is forming. It is southeast of Hawai'i, but, although several miles high, is still about 3,000 feet below the ocean's surface.
Having no feral mongooses, The Garden Isle of Kaua'i has many ground birds such as these colorful fowl. They are ubiquitous. Here they expect something from Sarah.
Being the oldest of the islands, Kuai'i has had more time to develop soil, hence, the 'Garden Isle.' Also, since the shipment of mongooses from Jamaica to Kuai'i fell into the sea and was never reshipped, there are no mongooses here. Ground-nesting birds that are disappearing from the other islands are plentiful here. Brightly colored tropical fowl are common along the verge of roadways as well as in fields, yards, and even downtown. Any Kaui'i family that is going hungry doesn't have anyone that can run.
It appears that Polynesians settled here several hundred years before settling the other Hawaiian islands.
Kuai'i is not large; 90 miles in circumference. A leisurely three hour ride would take one completely around the island if there were a road around the island. The rough terrain of steep narrow chasms along the coast makes a belt road impractical. Covered as they are in tropical foliage, the chasms are picturesque. From where we are staying [Kapa'a] on the east side of the island, we can drive about 1 ½ hours clockwise or anticlockwise and get to an end of the road.
In the center of the island is Mt. Wai'ale'ale, the watershed of Kaua'i and the fountainhead of all seven major rivers. The summit of the mountain is the wettest land on earth averaging more than 40 feet of rainfall annually. Kaua'i has the only navigable river in the state.
On Friday we drove along the coast and 3,000 feet up to the ridge of Waimea Canyon. We got some great sights and had a picnic lunch. There were lots of colorful tropical fowl in the picnic area. Unlike pigeons which become annoying or geese which become aggressive, these birds stayed several feet away, kept quiet, and waited for scraps. If people fed them, they did come. If it's true that clothes make the man, it looks like feathers make the bird.
It was a very full day: we left the resort before eight and didn't get back until after seven. We visited gardens, plantations (coffee & sugar), a lava tube that spurted seawater, and a lava-stone lined water canal which archaeologists claim was old when the first Polynesians arrived.
We spent the night of Purim hearing the ancient, although not traditional, story of Esther with the Jewish Community of Kaua'i in the parish hall of St. Michael's Church in downtown Lihu'e where they normally hold services. It was a pot-luck dinner partially hosted by the family whose baby was being named at services that night. We shared a table with a man who claimed to be one of the desendents of the original Hawaiians, from before the arrival of the Polynesians.
He & his wife married at an ancient heiau (sacred Hawaiian rock platform) in a combination Jewish & Hawaiian ceremony. He blamed the missionaries for destroying Hawaiian culture, creating a false history of the Hawaiian people, and perpetuating the falsehood through the local cultural museums (which were founded by missionary families). He is working toward the return of Hawaiian sovereignty as prophesied by his grandmother.
It had been only that morning, at the Kaua'i Museum, that we had gotten another dose of the 'official' Hawaiian story.
The following day we traveled by boat up the Wailua River, Hawai'i's only river navigable by motor vessels, to Kaua'i's famous Fern Grotto. 16,000 weddings have been performed here since 1962 (including William Shatner's), we were told. We also drove to see the falls that was used in the making of 'Fantasy Island.'
Aloha,
Allen & Sarah
Waikiki Beach, Hawai'i
March 9, 2004
Aloha!
We have heard that Hawaiians have a 'hang loose' attitude. We experienced this on numerous occasions. In one instance as we were driving through Hilo on the Big Island, we were suddenly exposed to the sight of Mauna Kea's snow-covered peak. We were so taken with the sight that we just stared at it. After a while I commented to Sarah how surprising it was that there was so little traffic on this road so close to downtown. I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw a line of cars patiently waiting for us to move; no horns blared.
We're finishing up on O'ahu before going to Honolulu Airport for our flight back to New York via Seattle and Chicago where we have to change planes. I hope that our luggage makes the change, too. Our flight leaves Thursday night and is scheduled to reach La Guardia late Friday afternoon. The flight is not as long as it seems since we're crossing five time zones. As we are leaving at night, we won't be able to see the Hawaiian Islands diminishing in the distance as we head for the mainland, but we'll be able to sleep while we are over the Pacific when there is nothing to see but open ocean.
Hawai'i has an interstate highway system: H-1, H-2, & H-3. One wonders how it can be an 'interstate' if they don't connect to any other states, but federal money is involved and maybe they're planning a really long tunnel or bridge to California. Hawai'i has just taken delivery of a ferry for new inter-island service. It is being referred to as H-4. I saw a newspaper photo of the ferry with a H-4 banner painted to resemble an interstate highway sign. We think that since it is a water vessel, it would be more appropriate if it were referred to as 'H2-O'.
It is well known that deserts form on the leeward side of mountains. This principle hold true here on Kaua'i as well. The difference is in the distance: The windward side is the tropical side where it has rained some part of every day that we've been here; the leeward side is dry. Since Kaua'i is less than 35 miles across, the drive along the coast from the tropics to the desert can be less that a dozen miles.
We are glad that we came to the 'Garden Isle.' Although small, Kaua'i is packed with varied scenery: a 3,000' desert canyon, tropical forests, numerous waterfalls, a navigable river, and, towering over everything, centrally located Mt. Wai'ale'ale's mile-high peak with its moisture-laden summit in the clouds. Having colorful tropical fowl running wild almost everywhere is always something that sparks Sarah's enthusiasm.
Sarah wanted a memorable view before she left the island, so we spent some time at the picturesque waterfall that was part of the opening scene of the TV show 'Fantasy Island;' then it was off to Lihu'e Airport for the ½ hour flight to Honolulu on O'ahu.
While back on O'ahu I toured the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii at Battery Randolf, the only remaining Hawaiian shore battery, whose 14” guns protected Pearl Harbor from a sea attack. Through the use of artifacts, dioramas, and display boards, this award-winning museum portrays the battles and events that changed Hawai'i from Kamehameha the Great through the Cold War. It was interesting to see how contact with Europeans enhanced Kamehameha's effectiveness in unifying the Hawaiian Islands by arming his war canoes with cannon and his warriors with muskets to augment their slings, war clubs, and spears. Before I visited this museum, the picture in my mind of Hawaiians going into battle did not include feather cloaked and helmeted warriors manning the riggings and cannon on frigates.
On O'ahu we wound up our trip by relaxing on Waikiki Beach and buying last-minute souvenirs along Kalakaua Avenue. So many street names here are in Hawaiian that Sarah (the navigator) is learning to read the local language. The alphabet has only 12 letters [7 consonants & the 5 vowels: ah, eh, ee, oh, oo]. All letters are pronounced; there are no silent letters. She has gotten good at it. Sometimes I help: When she read a road sign as “pee-peh-lee-neh,” I pointed out that 'pipeline' is not a Hawaiian word.
Saying 'good-bye.'
A hui hou (Until we meet again),
Sarah & Allen
Mainland, U.S. of A.
March 13, 2004
Hi!
We're back!
We checked out of our room at noon and spent our last day in Hawai'i doing some last minute souvenir shopping and relaxing around the pool. In the evening, when we moved our luggage from storage to curbside for the airport shuttle pick-up, several of the resort employees came out to say good-bye and they gave each of us hugs & orchid leis. As we hadn't seen any other departees getting leis (or hugs, for that matter), we were very pleased to have been treated so well.
The computers at airport check-in were down, so everyone flying ATA had to get hand-written boarding passes to get through security. We also had to pass agricultural security where our luggage was checked for contraband agricultural products: We know that we had been in a banana virus area, who knows to what other plant pathogens we had been exposed. We'll let you know if anything green or leafy starts growing on us.
Jennifer (to whom we gave one of the leis) and Mark picked us up at LGA and we stopped off at HHS (It was 'Sports Night') to give the other lei to Beryl. Now we're unpacking, unwinding, and sorting the photos.
Regards,
A&S
posted by Allen and Sarah at 7:53 PM
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