Hawaii days 10 through 14

       Our last few days in Hawaii were spent relaxing and enjoying the environment.  It was an incredible trip, and we will try to summarize the past few days in words and photos.

 Wailua Falls pool

      Charlie spent some time in the pool at Wailua Falls just outside Hana, and they both hiked down . . .

 Venus Pool, near Hana 

       . . . to a huge pool at the ocean fed by a mountain stream ending in waterfalls.  We spent some time at a black sand beach in a park near Hana, and hiked out to a red sand beach in the afternoon, where we snorkeled in a protected area.  Remind me to tell you more about that particular beach later.

Red sand beach and snorkeling pool

       The "non-essential" federal employees all having been furloughed thanks to the fiasco in Washington, we could not get into the national park near Hana to visit what the local merchants have dubbed the "Seven Sacred Pools" and their waterfalls.  But we did find out that there are not seven of them, and they are not considered sacred, except by those who make a few bucks from the tourists.  And when we tried to sneak into the park, we discovered plenty of Park Service employees must be considered essential, since they were all standing around blocking the parking areas and trails to be sure no one could get into the park.

      Not far from the solar-powered place where we were staying, we visited the grave of one of the most famous Americans of the 20th Century.  In 1927 he spent 33 hours alone in a single-engine plane, fighting hallucinations and exhaustion (he didn't sleep the night before takeoff, so hadn't slept for more than 50 hours) to become the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic.  Instantly becoming one of the greatest heroes in American history, he was greeted by four million people upon his return to New York.  Everyone on the planet who had any means of contact with the outside world knew the name and feat of Charles Lindberg--perhaps even more than many years later would know the name Neil Armstrong.

       After the kidnapping for ransom of his baby several years later (the baby died in an accident before the kidnapper even left the property), Lindbergh moved to the eastern part of Maui, where many people come to simply be left alone.  Whatever his motive, he contracted lymphosarcoma and went for treatments in New York.  When the cancer had progressed so far that the doctors gave him only a few days to live, he insisted on being taken on a stretcher to board a commercial Boeing 747 and was flown to Maui, where he soon passed away.  Lindberg's final resting place is a simple grave overlooking the Pacific on the eastern coast of Maui, where few tourists visit.  Even fewer stop to pay their respects to this genuine American hero.

 Hero's grave

       Leaving Hana, we traveled along the dry south coast, stopping from time to time for photos:

Black sand beach and arch, south shore of Maui

Wind turbines on the dry south coast

     After arriving at our accommodations in Kehei, on what they call the south coast, we had lunch with Charlie's old high school classmate, Cheryle Peeples Coopat and her husband, Tom.  There was a lot of catching up to do, as the two hadn't seen each other but once or twice since 1964.  It was Charlie's favorite meal of the trip (Cheryle insisted on paying).

Mini-class reunion at Tommy Bahamas Restaurant on Maui

       We did have an interesting dinner at a place near the harbor, where the license plates on the wall gained some company, with their first license plate from the great state of Georgia, continuing a long tradition for one in our party.

 A Georgia license plate for Beach Bum's Bar and Grill

       We swam, sunned, snorkeled, and relaxed, until doing one last special trip to see the sun rise at nearly 10,000 feet.  We had learned of the budget "deal" and called to inform one of the companies offering this trip that the national park would be opening shortly, so we were one of the first people in the past 14 days to be able to make it to the top.  Arising in the middle of the night, we were picked up at 3:20 a.m. and transported to the top of the highest mountain on Maui--Haleakala.  There we waited in the near freezing freezing temperatures for a spectacular sunrise

Just before the sunrise from atop Haleakala

       Following the light show, we were transported down to the park entrance, where we mounted bicycles and coasted down 25 miles or so of mountain roads to a full breakfast at ten.  It was an unforgettable experience, for which we made one stop for photos.

Bikers en route to the coast

       On day 14, we will depart for the long trek back to Georgia, which will include an all-night flight from Honolulu to Atlanta.  We have enjoyed having you travel with us, and hope to report on another trip one of these days.

Charlie and Tricia

©2013

P.S.  Almost forgot one important comment.  A new record may have been set for sampling ice creams over a three-day period.  Lilikoi quark, Big Island macadamia nut coffee crunch, mauna kea, Kona coffee, coconut, lime & ginger, S.P.A.M, Hawaiian tropix, Thai iced tea, coffee crunch, mint stracciatella, and Maui coffee and cream were among the many flavors that delighted one of our group members.  There were others, of course.  The diet back home is going to be brutal.

Hawaii day 8 and day 9

Day 8      

       While we spend our last full day in Kauai exploring its longest beach, on the western shore, and snorkeling near our condo looking for sea turtles, you should learn with us a bit more of the human history of this area.

       Hawaiʻiloa, according to Hawaiian legend, was the Polynesian navigator who discovered these islands; he named this particular island Kauaʻi, for his favorite son.  The island people here spoke a distinct dialect, which is still being spoken on the nearby island of Niʻihau, visible to us as we traveled around the southwestern coast. The Hawaiian language uses only 14 letters, the letter k being perhaps the most popular consonant.  The people of Ni’ihau still pronounce it with a “t” sound, just as the ancient Polynesians.

 Polihale Beach, west coast of Kauai

 

       Until Cook’s landing here in the late 18^th century, the islands were governed as separate kingdoms and had a population estimated at 300,000.  This was ended with the reign of King Kamehameha, when the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau were the last to be brought under his rule.  It took three tries, the first two involving tremendous armadas of ships and canoes.  The third effort was the charm, when the king of these two islands took one look and blinked.  He joined the kingdom without a fight, ceding the islands to the Kingdom of Hawai’i upon his death in 1824.  Within 100 years, there were less than 50,000, and today there are well under 1,000 pure Hawaiians.

       Before long, the islands were under the control of five corporations, all of which included descendants of the island’s nobility.  You could not do business in Hawaii without the consent of this consortium.  Only Sears Roebuck & Co. was able to break the monopoly when it opened a store in O’ahu; when the families announced their ships would not bring Sears goods to Hawaii, Sears announced it would buy a steamship line.  The families wisely relented.

Green sea turtle near our condo

 

       When the last of the Kamehameha line died childless, a new king was elected by popular vote in 1873 and a new lineage was established.  That ended in 1873, when a coup supported by the business cartel was backed by American marines (sent by President Harrison to “support American lives”) and the queen surrendered to the U.S. Ambassador.  Although incoming President Grover Cleveland was angered at this veiled takeover of an independent country, eventually the whole place was annexed by the United States in 1898, following a vote in which relative few Hawaiians were allowed to vote because of property and income qualifications imposed by the original conspirators.  So the later words of U.S. Senator S. J. Hayakawa have great historical significance to the people of the state:  “We should keep the Panama Canal; after all, we stole it fair and square.”

       Years later, when Ike grew bored with reviewing his plans for the interstate highway system, he decided to add Alaska as a state.  But when the Democrats in Congress realized that would add two U.S. Senate seats for the Republicans, they made him throw in something for them.  They searched around and found a great place in the middle of the Pacific that was sure to vote correctly in the future.  And there you have the brief story of how Hawaii became our 50^th state in 1959.  Now, on to Maui.

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Day 9

       While the flight this morning over to Maui was uneventful, we had two surprises awaiting us.  First, the city adjoining the airport was huge, compared to the past week’s experiences.  Four lane highways, traffic lights, traffic jams, and shopping centers.  What a mess.  We headed out for the eastern tip of the island as quickly as possible.

 Our first waterfall in Maui

       The second surprise was the road along the north and east coasts.  Winding and narrow, with more one-lane bridges than you could count and no place to pass or to pull over, it was no place for the timid driver.   Some places the road was so narrow the double yellow lines were gone; there was no room for them.  Speed limits of 5 to 20 mph insured we would take forever to reach our destination (not to mention the stops every 100 yards or so to take photos along the coast).

 Third waterfall in Maui

       We stopped to see a few waterfalls, but the flow was low on this day, and they didn’t compare with what we had seen in Kauai.  When we finally reached the little village of Hana, we realized it would take an hour to drive the 7 miles out to our accommodation and back into town—maybe more, after dark.  One of the two restaurants in town was closed for a private party, and we were told the other place would cost $100. 00 per person.  With that last bit of news, we promptly headed out for a shack on the beach that served a huge plate of huli huli chicken and trimmings for ten bucks.  They even threw in free music with the meal.  We may end up liking this place.

  Local music star at the Koki Beach Chicken Shack

       We have decided to give up on the museums, symphonies, art galleries, and theaters.  In a place like this, who needs them?  We’re going to spend a few days sunning on the beaches and swimming in the waterfall pools, and will report back then, from the western part of the island.  We have a lunch date there with a high school classmate whom Charlie hasn’t seen in nearly 50 years.

Charlie and Tricia

©2013

Hawaii day 7

       We thought nothing could top what we have already experienced here on Kauai—until today.

       We followed the plan, to drive west and explore the Waimea Canyon Drive, which contains not one, but two, state parks.  Along the way we stopped at overlooks, oohing and aahing at the views of what legend says Mark Twain called the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” (the legend is a myth, by the way; Mark Twain never set foot on Kauai).

One view in Waimea State Park

Tricia at Waimea Canyon

     We should mention here the speed limits that are supposedly strictly enforced.  The highest limit we have seen is 50 miles per hour, and that occurs on relatively few stretches of highway.   More common is 35, and more common still is 25.  You needn’t be in a rush to go anywhere in a car on this island.  And on this particular 20-mile road, the limit was 25 all the way.  As we approached the final lookout, we noticed off to the left side a large group of people in what appeared to be a family reunion picnic; but the number of cars pulled off the road indicated this was much more than a picnic.  Then we passed characters in costumes four abreast on horses, obviously preparing for some sort of procession.   A couple of cops were even directing traffic at this point.  We just had to investigate, but first went up to enjoy the view of the spectacular Kalalau Valley, the largest on the Na Pali coast.

Kalalau Valley

       On the way back down, we were able to find a parking place among the hundreds of cars, where we wolfed down lunch sandwiches and realized something pretty important was going on.  Lots of passersby had apparently recognized the same thing.   We walked over into the beginning of a huge celebration of an event in Hawaii’s history:  the 1871 journey of Queen Emalani  Kalanikaumakaamano Kaleleonalani Na’ea Rooke (Queen Emma to us) to Waimea-Uka and the Alaka’i.  The queen had taken a group of 100 of her subjects into the interior of the island in a journey of exploration, which was seen as quite dangerous at the time.

Gifts for the queen

       The characters we had seen on horses were playing the roles of Queen Emma (you remember from yesterday she was the wife of King Kamehemeha IV) and her entourage.  As we arrived on the scene, this group had been seated under a huge canopy, and Hawaiians from all over the state dressed in period costumes were ceremoniously approaching the queen with gifts.  We sat mesmerized by the proceedings.  Group after group of singers and dancers performed for the much beloved queen, who obviously has the respect and love of the people of Hawaii.

Singers

       The songs were sung in the native language of Hawaii, and at least two of them were performed by the songwriters themselves.  Just when the beauty of this island had distracted us from any interest in the culture of its people, suddenly we were immersed in the culture of Hawaii.  For two hours or so, we sat and watched, amazed at what we were seeing.  We both agreed that our experiences in Hawaii have surely peaked on this day.  We spoke with a couple of the singers after the ceremonies, one of whom had traveled from Nashville to perform.  They were obviously very proud of the culture of their ancestors, and excited to be able to carry on this annual tradition.

Dancers

       Afterwards, we toured the arts and crafts section that had been set up, and at the urging of one of the locals, Charlie tried a cup of the homemade macadamia nut crunch ice cream.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

Charlie and Tricia

©2013