Tour of beauty

August 2, 2006

Today was our Grand Circle Isle tour. It’s really hard to convey through words everything we saw. I’m certain it will not sound like very much, even looking at my pictures they do not look like a whole lot, but I have lots of memories and that’s all that matters.

First off, before our tour even started, we texted Civic and waved to him from the Duke Kahanamoku statue. The night before when we visited Duke a guy said that we were on the internet. I was glad that he explained himself since it sounded kind of sketchy his claim that I was on the ‘net. Turns out there’s a webcam that looks down on the statue 24 hours a day. So this morning we surprised Civic when we asked him to check out the statue and he found us standing there. Heehee.

Our first picture stop was at Hanauma Bay. Despite all their warnings about protecting the reef (Daisy went back to snorkel there on a later day, they make you watch a video about the reef before you enter the water) the place is full of sunbathers and swimmers. Not only that but you can see the bald patches at the bottom of the bay where people have stepped on and killed the reef. Irregardless, the bay was gorgeous. Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii there. Apparently, the currents are pretty strong. One current is even called the Molokai Express, from what I’ve read, because it can honestly drag you out to the island of Molokai. Definitely not a place for a rookie swimmer like myself.

After Hanauma Bay we stopped at the Halona Blowhole and drove through the town of Waimanalo. Waimanalo has a gorgeous beach, but not many tourists head up there. It’s a community built exclusively for Hawaiians. Apparently you have to be at least 50% Hawaiian to have a house there, and you apply to the government for a house. Once you’re approved they “rent” the house to you, or something like that, for a dollar a year to a max of 99 years. So most Hawaiians just cut the government a cheque for 99 dollars, I hear, and then they are able to pass on the house to their kids, at the very least. It reminded me of the First Nations reserves we have around here, though just from our drive through the town the Hawaiians seem more put together. It’d be nice to live in Waimanalo, though. I should find myself a Hawaiian guy. But it’s not like they have it easy, it’s really expensive to live in Hawaii.

Before that (everything is coming to mind out of order, now) they also drove us through the community of Ala Wai, if I remember correctly. This community has a hoity-toity golf course and uber-expensive houses. Of course, the more expensive ones are those that are ocean-front.

After the blowhole we drove through a teeny bit of rainforest and stopped at the Pali Lookout. It was really windy there, but I love those tradewinds. It makes the heat so much more bearable than when it’s hot here in Calgary. At Pali is the last standoff place where King Kamehameha earned the reign over all the Hawaiian islands.

Then we swung back through Honolulu and headed up through the coffee and taro fields to Helemano Plantation. Helemano is right beside the famous Dole Plantation. In fact, they share the same parking lot. This was where we had our lunch hour break. We did not do the touristy thing and ride the pineapple train and go through the maze at Dole. But in all honesty the massive gift shop was more than enough Dole-ness for me. I had a personal interest in Helemano after our tour guide spoke about it. (Actually, I had dozed off, and Daisy had to fill me in) They hire developmentally challenged adults to work for them, and so when you buy their pineapples or have your lunch at their cafeteria or restaurant you are supporting their living program. All I could think about was how my sister would probably go ga-ga working for them. She’s a pineapple addict, haha.

Dole Plantation is purely for the tourists now. They are halting their pineapple production, in Hawaii at least, and focusing on the more profitable crops of Kona coffee and macadamia nuts. We were even told that Del Monte had done the same. Not sure where all the pineapple garnishing our meals and drinks were coming from if Hawaii was weaning itself off of pineapple, but the future looks pineapple-less.

After lunch our tour continued on to the North Shore to see the famous Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay. The ocean was so calm up there, you would not believe for a minute that it was the locale of every surfer’s fantasy. Note to self: definitely have to return one winter to see the legendary waves. Seeing as the Pipeline was basically a non-event, I was glad that we took the tour through it instead of spending a whole day to check it out. There was honestly nothing much to note action-wise. My only regret? That the tour did not stop in Haleiwa on the way to North Shore. I’ve heard great things about that town. And I would have tried a shave ice at Matsumoto’s, for sure, just to say that I’ve had it.

Onward to La’ie to drive by the Mormon Temple and view the outside of the Polynesian Cultural Center. I hope that Daisy was not too disappointed that we did not check the place out, but I had heard that it was really kitschy and over-priced. After I came home, Spidermonkey told me that when he visited the Center in high school it was very obvious that it was run by the Mormon Church, with Elders all around to chat you up in between “villages.” While he was the only one to claim such an experience, I still did not feel comfortable, with me being Catholic and all, spending all that money and helping pay their tuitions at Brigham Young so I could be fed tales of Polynesian history with a Mormon twist.

From the Mormon Temple to a Buddhist Temple. Our next stop was the Byodo-In Temple. It was beautiful and serene. I rang the bell for luck. The bus drives through the cemetery heading in and out of the temple. For 12,000USD you can purchase a burial plot with an ocean view. Craziness.

One last stop before heading back to Waikiki: a farmer’s macadamia nut “stand”…if you could call it a stand. It was more like a big shack. He had Kona coffee for you while you looked around, there were macadamia nuts of all sorts of flavors that you could sample. Daisy and I developed a system: she opened the sample container and took a nut, I then took a nut and then closed the container. And this is how we operated all the way down the line. The Kona coated nuts were really good, as were the cinnamon-sugar nuts. Unfortunately, the long lines prevented us from buying any macadamia nuts before it was time again to board the bus.

From the road we could see Turtle Island (since it was shaped like a turtle), Rabbit Island (since it was overpopulated with rabbits), and Bird Island (overpopulated with birds). We also caught a glimpse of Gilligan’s Island, yours for 1,200,000USD. Yup, the owner was selling Gilligan’s Island. Not that there’s anything on it. You only saw the island on the intro to the show, after that it was all a studio backlot.

Back in Waikiki by mid-afternoon and it was time for me to shop. I had heard soooo much about Ala Moana Center that I was convinced it would be like my wildest shopping dreams come true. Maybe I hyped it up too much in my mind, or maybe I was just not in a shopping groove, but it did not take me long to have my fill of Ala Moana. I visited Hot Topic, they didn’t have any shirts I wanted. I was disappointed to find out that there are no Victoria’s Secret in Hawaii, did not find a Frederick’s of Hollywood. At Daisy’s request we stepped into Tiffany’s. My very first time at a Tiffany’s instead of looking at the website! I fell in love with the Frank Gehry jewelry designs…I’m too scared to even find out how much those cost. My first time in a Sephora, but since I’m not much of a makeup maven I didn’t find it all too inspiring, though it is a neat store. Walked through the Puma store and the Lacoste store….was very sad to confirm my fears that they no longer make Anjans. I’m going to be so choked when my Anjans bite the dust. They’re my trustiest shoes. Did not see much at Lacoste that made me stop and take note. Visited Hollister, but did not find the shirts and hoodies I was looking for. *sigh* Not a very fruitful shopping trip, I must admit. Had a bit of difficulty finding the Sanrio store (I got so turned around in there, usually I’m so good with maps!) but when I found it I was amazed at the Hello Kitty things they sell now. Stratocaster guitars, with matching Hello Kitty picks, and Hello Kitty skateboards?! I could only dream of seeing such Hello Kitty goodness in Calgary!

I finally spent some money at the Hilo Hattie store buying some gifts for my parents before the mall closed. This was also where we went to the McDonald’s at the mall to ask about taro pie and got the famous pidgin “taro pie is all over no more” response. “All over no more” became an ongoing phrase during our trip, a lot of sights and recommendations that many people gave us for our trip turned out to be “all over no more.” Among the things that were no more: a restaurant called Pieces of Eight, many of the bars on Lewers St., the Kodak/Pleasant Hawaiian Hula Show, and we were hard-pressed to find a real lunch-truck.

Seeing as it was now late by the time we got back into Waikiki we had dinner at Jack-In-The-Box. There were a couple of soldier guys there looking for girls to club with, but unfortunately they did not invite me : ( and I was not about to invite myself. Oh well.

After we dropped our shopping back in our room we headed back out to wander around. Daisy had another shave ice and I bought a Halo Halo at the International Marketplace. We saw another roach (dead, thank God) on the street. Picked up some more souvenirs from ABC Store (have I mentioned how I <3 ABC Store? ‘cuz I DO!) Then it was back to the room to get some sleep. We had a chance to slack off today since our tour started a little later than when we would usually head out, but the next day was going to be another early riser.