HAWAII

PEARL OF THE PACIFIC

Edith Hicks

Hawaii, the fiftieth state is know as the Aloha state.  Aloha means hello in Hawaiian. It also means good-bye, but what it means most is the way that Hawaiians live and see life.  You will see this expressed in Hawaii when you hear someone say, "Ain't no big thing."  Living is easy here, as is relaxing. 

Your visit to Hawaii usually begins with a flight from Los Angeles or perhaps Oakland.  You can arrive by cruise ship as well.  On the plane you get a meal.  Take the Mahi Mahi.  It's a delicate fish dish with a succulent moistness.  Although, a very distant relative to the porpoise, please be assured, you are not eating Flipper or his relatives. 

You will be asked to declare what you are bringing in to Hawaii.  Unless you have live flowers in your button hole or a live snake under your seat, you will not be asked to participate in a customs search.  There are no snakes in Hawaii and they are very particular about this.  Someone did try to smuggle in a python on a plane about fifteen years ago, but you can rest assured, he was caught and he and the serpent were sent back on the next plane, although the snake flew cargo not first class.  Planes and boats coming in from foreign ports are searched.  Unless you are planning on a very long stay, leave Fido and Fluffy home.  There is a six months quarantine on all pets.

There are many lovely hotels on the island of Oahu.  Prices vary but they usually decrease as you go farther from Waikiki. It would be difficult to choose the very best.  If you plan on staying at least a month, you might want to rent an efficiency unit and do your own laundry.  With all that beach and all those restaurants to try, how much time will you spend in your room anyway?

If you don't like crowds, avoid Waikiki beach.  Try the north shore for tremendous waves and great surfing.  Makaha Beach on the west hosts the international surfing Championships each year.  Even if you don't surf yourself, this is an awesome sight to behold.  At Waimea on the north shore you might be lucky enough to survive the pipeline, but you've got to be one of the best to even think of trying this. 

For milder ocean sports, try parasailing or wind surfing at Waianae, Kahana or even Maunalua bay.  If it's just swimming you're after it can be done on any shore.  Some of the best swimming can be had at Haleiwa Bay.  If you've got little ones or non-swimmers in your group try the coral side of Haleiwa.  There is a smooth coral shelf that is not more than three feet deep for almost a half mile out.  It's a great place to teach a kid to float.  The salt water makes it extra buoyant. 

A lot of small, but beautiful shells are found here.  In fact, you can usually find lei makers here collecting tiny shells to knot the lei flowers with.  Giant African snail shells can be found at the opposite end of Haleiwa.  You can also find the shells of big round sea urchins here, although they are usually broken.  This is because the shrewd sea gulls get at the meat inside by dropping the creatures on the rocks.  Bigger shells can be found on the other beaches.  You won't find many on the north shore because the surf is so rough it breaks them up.  A lazy shell collector can find huge  and varied shells in every shop.  These are dredged and netted near Taiwan but they are still beautiful and easy to obtain.

Don't bring home the smooth black volcanic rocks you find along the shore.  These are known as Pele's tears.  Pele is the goddess of volcanoes and islanders believe you will have bad luck if you remove her tears.  The opposite is thought of  mermaid's tears, the surf-polished smooth pieces of colored glass.  You store these in a glass jar with water in a sunny window to bring back memories at a glance.

Transportation is easy to find on Oahu.  Besides taxis, there is the bus system.  It is recommended that you board the bus, pay your fifty cents and settle back for the "Circle Island Tour."  The driver does not actually tell you what things are unless the bus is almost empty.  When school is in session, some bus runs are packed, as all students use public transportation.  There are several rental car agencies which offer a five dollar per day deal to tourists showing a return plane ticket and a current drivers license. After the bus ride you'll have a pretty good idea of where you're going.

History buffs will find a visit to the Arizona Memorial a real treat.  It is possible to see oil still seeping from her wounds.  Her turrets are above the water line and quite a sight for the tourist who remembers Pearl Harbor and December 7, 1941.  It is also possible to see the original bullet holes on some of the older buildings at Schofield Barracks.  In Honolulu, there is a large museum of war memorabilia.  You can purchase a copy of the special edition of the Honolulu Star Bulletin for that "day that shall live in infamy."  In Honolulu, you can visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.  Here you will find the Gardens of the Missing in the famed Punchbowl Crater.  Engraved on Trani stone, in the Courts of honor are the names of 26,280 MIAs from WWII and the Korean War.

Some of the highlights of the island are the old sugar mill at Waipahu, the coral gardens off the coast at Kaneohe, Rabbit Island and Makapuu Beach on the windward side of Oahu, and the pineapple fields near Waialua and just down the coast from there is the black sand beach of Mokuleia.

If you are there at the right time of year, you can see the burning of the sugar cane fields at Waialua.  Harvesters set fire to the fields prior to cutting the cane in order to seal the juice into the canes.  It also burns off all the unwanted leaves making harvesting easier.  Perhaps the more important facet is that burning also drives out the huge poisonous cane spiders.  These are sometimes bigger than your hand with yellow and grey bodies and usually only found in cane fields.  

One of the most stunning beeches in Hawaii is Hanauma Bay, a few minutes from downtown Honolulu.  Viewed from a rented helicopter flight, the coral appears dark purple with the water a deep blue green.  It has been the subject of most of Hawaii's painters at one time or another.

Hawaii is also a photographer's paradise with the magical sunsets that are totally different each evening, the frequent rainbows, the thousands of different flowering trees and bushes as well as many wild flowers native to islands including the rarest of orchids and the brilliant red Antherium. Hawaiian wood rose is a member of the morning glory family that grows as a vine in the wild.  It truly does look like it was carved of wood.  Poinsettia grown in Hawaii are not those small house plants that appear as if by magic at Christmas time on the mainland, but huge shrubs and trees that have to be cut with a machete.  White ginger blossoms and pink plumeria grow in everyone's garden.  These are used mainly in the crafting of leis, the flower necklaces that islanders use to greet you.

Also on the windward side is the Nuuanu Pali Lookout.  Besides being one terrific view, it is also the site of the battle of Nuuanu that was won by Kamehameha the Great and united all the islands of Hawaii into one country.  Rumor has it that his opponents were tossed over the cliff.

            You don’t have to fish to find fish fun.  Near Waikiki is the aquarium.  Here you can safely see most of the fish life found in the area including the big boys, the sharks.  They are rarely seen near the islands as the Menehunes drove them all away centuries ago by blowing little silver horns to scare them.  The Menehunes are the little folk who do good deeds for Hawaiians.  You can purchase a drink called Menehune juice that will enable you to see them, although they try to remain invisible and only come out at night when everyone’s asleep. 

You can also find fish by taking a glass bottom boat cruise.  You might see a mermaid.  Another good deal is the underwater photography tour.  You have to know how to scuba dive, but you can rent the special underwater camera and purchase film from the guides.  Even if all you’ve used before is that old point and shoot camera, you could come home with some pretty sensational stuff that you’ll want to enlarge and frame.

            Paradise Park has all the birds you’ll ever want to see from the pinkest flamingos to the most exotic toucans, parrots, macaws and cockatoos.  Here you will also find some of the more exotic orchids and rare flowers.  You are encourage to go off the path in places to stroll through the immense green bamboo forest.  View the enormous Monkey Pod tree, source of most of Hawaii’s hardwood for her woodcarvers.  You can see the flame tree as it’s commonly called.  The brilliant blossoms provide striking decoration for many lovely homes in Hawaii where they call it the Royal Poinciana. Crawl through the gnarled branches of the Monkey Puzzle tree, if you dare.

            Visit the Polynesian Cultural Center to see what life was like throughout the islands of the South Pacific.  Bring plenty of film with you everywhere you go.  You’ll need it.  At the Kodak Hula Show held at Waikiki Beach you can watch Tahitian dancing.  You can not only watch the hula dancers, but they’ll teach you how to do it yourself.  As the song goes, “every little movement has a meaning all it’s own.”  It was a way to tell stories when the islanders didn’t always speak the same dialects.

            On Tuesdays in Wahiawa, you can shop in the open market for the freshest and largest fruit and vegetables found anywhere.  Most are from the islands, but they do bring in apples and kiwis from New Zealand, as well.  You may need a guidebook to tell you what the fruits are and how to prepare them.  You can buy fresh fish here, too.  Pineapples grow all over the island as do mangos, papayas, coconuts, guavas, lychees and passion fruit.

            The luau is a tradition in Hawaii that you should not miss.  Pork is the main dish, having been cooked in a pit for many hours before hand.  It is extremely tasty and tender.  This is a good time to try those other delicacies you’ve probably only read about.  Laulau is a pork dish made with Ti leaves.  It reminds me of dandelion greens and salt pork but the bitterness of the greens is absent so it’s a much tastier dish.  Poi is not what you would expect.  It’s made from fermented bean curd, and leaves a lot to be desired.  It’s an acquired taste, but sample it anyway.  You can purchase jars of it to bring home to friends just to prove you went to Hawaii. 

            Your friends might prefer a sack of macadamia nuts.  These are perfectly round with an almost impossible to crack shell.  You can see them growing in the botanical gardens in Wahiawa as well as giant tree ferns, eucalyptus trees, nutmeg trees, and even the paper bark tree.  It’s like a small rain forest tucked into the middle of the island.

            For shopping on a grand scale try the Ala Moana shopping center in Honolulu, Pearlridge Mall at Pearl Harbor and even a smaller mall at Mililani about half way between Pearl and Wahiawa.  You can find almost anything here from silks and brocades to state of the art electronics.  At Pearlridge you can ride on the monorail to take you from one side of the mall to J.C. Penneys on the opposite side.

            There are many night clubs and fine restaurants in Hawaii.  One in particular is the Oceania Floating Restaurant at Pier Six adjacent to downtown Honolulu.  It is the world’s largest floating restaurant.  There are many entertainers to see while you are on Oahu as well as Don Ho and the Aliis.  You can also listen to homegrown Hawaiian rock or the comic antics of Hawaii’s own Andy Bumatai with his infamous cockroach racing. 

            Holidays are very special in Hawaii celebrated with more fireworks than you will probably ever see again in your life.  There is also the Carole Kai Bed Races where contestants push beds with scantily clad partners riding on them through the streets of Honolulu to raise money for charities. 

            On Kamehameha Day the stature of the famous king outside of Iolani palace is also decorated with leis.  There are parades and much feasting.  You can visit the palace for a tour.  It was erected during the reign of King Kalakaua.  You can also visit the Bishop Museum to see many Hawaiian artifacts.  The museum is named for Princess Bernice Pauahihi who married a native of Glens Falls, New York, Charles Bishop.  The main rule when traveling to Hawaii is to bring your camera, arm yourself with lots of film, and plan on enjoying yourself.  An empty stomach for all that food and an empty suitcase for all your treasures will help as well.