Hawaii - Oahu, Maui, Kuai, The Big Island

---

Hawaii - Maui Stay

10-31-2007
As soon as I arrived in Honolulu and got off the plane I seen one of the most brilliant rainbows I have ever seen. I thought man what a great way to start the trip. Maria the couchsurfing person picked me up at the airport and drove me to her place. The couch I slept on, which was rather small and probably 12 inches of my body hung off the end but I am not complaining as she is a very nice lady. We went out to eat at Don Ho’s, a famous Hawaiian singer. The food was pretty good and I really loved her friends who were very nice. They talked about lots of different hiking places. I really wanted to get out and hike with a local somewhere in a place that maybe is not well known. I wanted to hike to a mountain lake and swim somewhere too during my stay in Hawaii.

Good night from Honolulu, Hawaii!

11-1-07

Maui
After flying into Honolulu and then spending one night there I flew the next day to Maui where I met Anita and Mike Kraut. Mike picked me up after his day of work in Molakai another Hawaiian Island. He ferrys there each day to where they are laying waterline for irrigation I think. I noticed on the two Hawaiian Airports I have been to security is really laxed. It was very refreshing and I long for those days to return at all airports but I suspect that will not happen anytime soon and doubt it will ever happen. Things usually do not go back wards with regards to security issues and that is sad. The world becomes a more and more policed state. All a person can do is be out there doing good deeds and helping and respecting there fellow man and do there part in words and actions and maybe some good can take place. I always think back to Jim Keeton's comment when I thanked him for letting me stay with him. He said just do something good for someone else someday. That's great advice and I hope maybe I have and hope to do so in the future.

It is so great when you fly into airport and you have someone there to pick you up. That does not normally happen to me these days. After about 20 minutes I had my luggage and was waiting on Mike who arrived shortly after. I threw my bag in the back of the truck and we were off. Mike and Anita live on the opposite side of Maui from the airport. It is amazing how you have preconceived notions about what a place will be like and normally you get there and it is nothing like that. Maui for me was not what I expected. You have the homes near the waters edge and the rest of the island appears deserted. I liked it that way.

The apartment complex where they stay is awesome
and I knew this was going to be an easy week for me. The most basic necessity for a backpacker a safe place to stay was taken care of the entire week. The first night I went to the pool and messed around with my fins, mask and snorkel as I wanted to get comfortable in the water with my knew gear. One of the main objectives for me this week was to get my scuba certification so I wanted to be comfortable with my gear. After that I had a couple beers in the hot tub with the few other people there. One of the ladies there was from Walawala, Washington and I tried to iintegrate the name of her home town into as much as the conversation as possible as it is a fun word to say. I actually think the more times a person is able to say that the happier his life will be. Walwala, Washington is just a fun thing to say and it makes a person smile, at least me it does. There you have it the secret to happiness Walawala, Washington. Say it a few times for me. Don't you feel better now?

I went to a Scuba Place that I had booked lessons at and did indeed get my certification. The hardest thing about the class was getting through the surf. We walked into the surf from the Beach with our gear and it was rathter difficult. Another lady taking the class was from Seattle and was not able to sucuessfully clear her mask in the cold water there and came here to take the class which made it easier for her to clear her mask in the warm waters around the Hawaiian Islands. She did indeed pass. The first day we had a different instructor than the second. I liked both instructors. The owner of the place was not my favorite person in the world. The first morning the lady that was taking the class with me was late in getting there as there was an accident and I had to sit around this dive shop for a couple hours waiting on her. The owner talked incessantly. He was always talking about how tough he was and how he was a ladies man etc. etc. He talked like he knew everything in the world. I was getting really sick of it and finally told him he must have a whole pile of diplomas at homes with as much as he knew. He said he had none and then continued on with his infinite wisdom. I finally grabbed a magazine and got as far away from him as possible and looked at the magazine. When we were driving to the place we would be diving the instructor said yes his boss thinks he knows everything but does not have the paper to back it up with. I told him I didn't know how he could put up with that but he said he treats them good. The guy probably was quite knowledgable but the way he presented himself made him seem not very smart.

Another day I took a boat to Molokini Island for some snorkeling. We were supposed to go to another place as well that they call turtle town but the waves were too bad making it dangerous so we skipped that entirely and spent all our time at Molokini. The water here on the deeper side of the island was the darkest blue water I have ever seen. I know now where they get the saying into the deep blue. There was a Canadian guy on the boat that was really fun and I actually bummed some anti fog (toothpaste) from him to put on my mask to keep them from fogging. He made the trip more fun. The snorkeling there was great and we saw lots of fish. I really enjoyed it. Afterwards I took the bus from there back to Mike and Anita's. I was trying to save some money and had not rented a car which sure would have been handy at this time. On the bus ride back you had to get off and on several times to catch the next bus. It really worked quite good.

At one point I had got to talking to two guys and told them I was looking for a tour guide to go with me to Hana and asked them to go along but they said they couldn't. We talked awhile longer and then this very pretty lady got on I think from Russia or somewhere in Europe. I talked to her for awhile and then she got off. The guys were telling me I was a fool as that was my tour guide. I guess I am never too good at closing the deal with women. Maybe the fear of rejection not sure?

One day Anita and I rode the bus together to Lahaina as she had just gotten to Hawaii and was not familiar with how it worked. We met a little later in the day and headed back. It was cool having a travel partner for this short time and I really enjoyed talking to Mike and Anita during my stay and look forward to drinking beers with them again some day maybe in Calhoun or Jersey County, USA. Yes Paris and Vienna or nice but a barbecue in a backyard in Calhoun or Jersey County is hard to beat. I like the people there a lot. They are some of the nicest people in this world I believe.

I rented a car towards the end of the week and left at 3 AM to go to Haleakala National Park for a sunrise. Haleakala is so high that clouds encompass the mountains and the peaks of the mountains actually protrude the clouds. It is cool how clouds seem to congregate around mountains like they do especially here. I called Karen from where I use to work as I remember her telling me about doing the very same thing when she visited here. I found the event to be pretty cool and for sure something a person must do but I have seen the sunrise through clouds on overnight airplanes so for me this was just ok. It seemed basically like the same thing to me. It was neat when a native Hawaiian chanted some Hawaiian words something to do with the rising sun.

After the sunrise I drive back down the mountain which was about a 30 minute drive and headed to the Hana Highway. I was taking the road to Hana which everyone I talked to just raved about the experience. The road is around 35miles I think, I do not remember exactly and there is a one lane bridge about every mile. It is very slow dirving but very beautiful. At the end of the road just before Hana there is an awesome park that a person has to stop and check out. I drove past Hana to the area they call the 7 sacred pools and did some hiking and swimming there. Not many people swam as the water was very cold but I did and some Austrians were swimming as well. I remember in Austria how cold the water was there and knew they could handle it as this water was warm in comparison to what they are used to. It was great talking to those folks as it is to all Europeans that I meet especially when I meet them in the states.

Probably my favorite thing there was hiking through the bamboo forest. These were the biggest bamboos I have ever seen and was quite a unique experience. I spent the night there in the Park. I drank a couple beers that I bummed off a few people there and talked to some folks camping buy me. I slept in my car as I had no campiing gear. It was quite good. In driving back to the Kraut's side of the island the next day I noticed a few of the locals were hugging the centerline of the road I think to just scare me, a tourist. I do not think the locals are too fond of the tourist. At one point I stopped and photographed some plants in a persons yard which were amazing. I thought man only in Hawaii can you grow stuff this amazing. A part of Jurassic Park was filmed on this Island. This part of the Island gets a lot of rain while the other side of the island doesn't get much. It is amazing to learn how rainfall changes so much depending on what side of the island you are on.

I stopped at a famous Wind Surfing place according to my guide book on the way back and backed over curb stop and damaged the car a little. I was concerned I would have to pay for the damages but in the end I do not think they noticed and did not say a thing about it.

Another day Mike, Anita and I drove around the north end of the island, we spent a night in Lahaina and had supper at Bubba Gump Shrimp and a couple nights we had supper at home. One night I tried to fix salmon for them and in the end with Anita's help the food turned out reasonably well.

My stay on Maui was very, very good and I had a great time. Man I would love to come back to this Island someday. I was now heading to the Big Island. I had heard good things about this place as well and was excited to be heading there next.

The Big Island
This Island just blew me away. It is by far the biggest island and I believe if you put all the other islands together it only comprised 50% of the size of this island. It also has all but a couple climates that exist in the world. It has a desert, a volcano, high alpine meadows, a mountain that gets snow, tropical and a rainforest. Amazing place.

I flew into Hilo and couchsurfed there one day before renting a car and heading out. I had couchsurfing contacts near Captain Cook on the other side of the island from Hilo and I headed there. This guy was an electrician and pretty much was self sustaining. His house did not have all the conveniences as he had a compost toilet but it worked pretty well and I admired how he lived. You just get use to certain things. He did not have a tv, but had a bull dozer and owned a few acres of land that he was developing and planning to sell. The sewage systems and water treatment was pretty basic but I guess it worked.

I spent two nights there. One of the days I snorkeled at a place called the Place of Refuge. The snorkeling there was really, really good. You could see where the lava had entered the ocean from the volcano way back when and there were several turtles around as well as fish. On the 2nd day I headed north towards Kona, where the Iron Man starts each year. This was the most developed and popular town. I tried to find a place to snorkel in that area but never did feel comfortable or safe in the place the couchsurfer had suggessted. He was a pretty rugged guy I believe and I am not sure I wanted to go everywhere he was willing to go. I had some hot wings at a Hooters there and they were very good. I headed back to the couchsurfer near Captain Cook for my last nights stay.

The next morning I drove north and headed to the north and visited Waipio Bay an absolutely beautiful place. I hiked to the bottom of this really steep road wanting to hike to a waterfall that was supposed to be around 500ft. High. I was having a hard time finding the train and then went and asked a local and he told me where the trail started. I had met a couple canadians and they were wanting to hike to the same place so we hiked together. The train was not well defined but you could kind of make it out. We got to a pool of water with rock walls on both sides. There was no way around this area so we decided to swim. I would not have done this alone but since the Canadians were there I did it with them. They were pretty rugged but seemed calculated. We got through there and then hiked on a steep hillside through some very rigged underbrush. After abou 2 hours of this craziness we finally abandoned the endeavor. Obivously the local was having a laugh at our expense. People must not hike this very often. Actually I do remember now the people I was hiking with were actually from Colorado and were in the military there as they said they were engineers in the military. They knew about hydraulics as we talked about the pipe coming out of the pool water we had swam through.

I hiked out of there at a pretty fast clip and went back to my car. There was a lot of risk of car break ins in Hawaii so I was always concerned by that. The locals do not really like tourist much so I never felt very welcome when I got out of the non touristy areas but never had any problems.

From there I drove around this area to the north and hiked down to this same region but farther to the north. This area was not as amazing as what you see in the Waipio Valley but it was nice as well. I was looking for a place to snorkel but the place I wanted to go was closed for some sort of native Hawaiian activity. I went to another place and snorkeled around but did not see anything to brilliant although I did see a drive shaft and propellar from an old sunken boat that was somewhat interesting. I left soon afterwards and drove towards Parker Ranch which is a place where I had a couchsurfing host for the night. Parker Ranch is a famous ranch and I read where the Hawaiian cowboys did really well in the Rodeo circuit in the US. I found my couchsurfing host and went to her singing practice that night. Her house was a little musty smelling and she had a person coming the next day to clean up the mustiness.

The next day I drove around looking for some snorkeling spots and found Beach 69 about 4 in the afternoon. The water was a little murky but I went out by this island where some folks said was good snorkeling. All of the sudden while out there this shark swam between me and the island. He appeared to be about 7 foot but may have only been 5 or 6 foot. He definitely startled me so I swam in the opposite direction and then said screw this and climbed up onto the rocks. I walked across the island and then had to swim the remaining 150ft or so to the shore. I was swimming fast but tried not to act scared or stressed. At two points I saw big turtles out of the corner of my eye that really scared me. At the shore I told the people that told me to snorkel there that I had seen that shark and they decided to not go back out. I asked a local about it and they said they see sharks about 10 % of the time when they are here but they said normally the sharks do not bother them but if they start messing with you you just bunch them in the face. I told them yeah and what if their mouth is open when I do. It was quite the day and I had had enough snorkeling. I went farther up the line and spent the rest of the day laying on the beach watching the sunset. I talked to a lady from Sweden for awhile who was back visiting after having been here for a long time. This place was very magical for her and she spent the evening swimming and just watching and hearing the sights and sounds as the sun settled in the western sky. She was traveling through the town where I was staying and we decided to have supper. I left messages for my couchsurfing host where we were going but she evidently did not get them as she was half mad when I got in around 9 which I kind of understood but thought she was over reacting a little as I did try and call her and left messages.

The next day I went back to Hilo and went to Volcanoes National Park. I hiked around there and actually hiked through The Kilauae crater. It is remarkable this place was such a violent place a few years ago and now there is plants with colorful flowers growing there. Time moves on.

I enjoyed the VOlcanoes National Park but there currently was no lava viewable so I didn't get to see that. There was lava flowing but in a remote area of the park that the rangers did not want you going to even though a local I met goes back there anyway.

I went back to Hilo and spent the night there. The lady there adopted a son that has some health issues and she said they are trying to get a surgery in St. Louis and I told her if she goes be sure to contact me and I would help and provide lodging anyway I could. She said some charitable orgainzation pays for those kinds of things. I really admired this lady she was in her 70's and was really with it and busy for a person of her age. I didn't get to sightsee in Hilo as much as I would have liked to but that's the way it goes some times. The next day I flew to my destination of Kauai. They say this has the best nature and I looked forward to seeing that.

Kauai 2
I really was satisfied with what I saw on the Big Island and was really excited to be heading to Kauai. My couchsurfing host took me to the airport I hopped on a plane and about 30 minutes after take off we were touching down in Kauai.

I was not overly exicted with what I saw initially when arriving at the airport but I guess the normally do not build airports in the most scenic areas. I talked to the information place and they told me which parks were safe to camp in and which ones were not. This was a little disappointing as I wanted to feel safe going everywhere here but did not get that impression. It quickely became evident that the locals were not too keen on tourist.

I got my car rental and the lady there emphasized what City's were safe and which ones were not. I drove past Anahola, which is not really signed on the highway. You find things are not well marked on many of the Hawaiian islands. I guess that is by design more so than by oversight. Anahola is where a couchsurfer lived that I would be staying with in a few days. I drove to Kilauea Lookout Point and was quickely blown away by the beauty there. It was very nice and they say this is a great whale viewing point and said they actually saw a whale there recently and figured it was a young male as they usually arrive first. The whales migrate hear during the Winter's which seems like a pretty smart thing to do. Maui is actually the best whale viewing location but this location is good as well.

After leaving here I drove all over the place looking for the campsite they recommended and could not find it. I finally did find it after much effort and realized again the locals are not signing anything. This place was safe to camp and I slept in my car that night there.

I drove up to Hanalei and the nature just got better. I was really impressed. Hanalei is a pretty tourist area as is Princeville. All the land here is extrmely pricey real estatet. There was a helicopter tour business located near Princeville, which would had been nice but I was going to hike the Napali Coast so I was not interested. I spent one afternoon hiking from Napali Coast State Park to the south. There is one cove there that is really dangerous. A sign at the cove said the currents were really unpredicatable and showed the number of people that had drowned there and the number was staggering around 50. When you swim in Hawaii you start trying to develop an understanding of currents and riptides but a person must realize that he does not know for sure and is really makng educated guesses as the currents in my opinion are not completely predicatable. Where I had been camping a local there said the waves get to be 35 ft. High sometimes. That is nuts. When I was there they were probably around 10 ft. Which seemed ridiculous as well. The hike was very demanding but I was in good shape and was able to do it without too much difficult. At the end of the hike there is a waterfall that I swam in. The water was really really cold and there were only a couple people swimming in it. I had a guy take a couple pictures of me swimming but none of them turned out to well. The hike to that point was a couple hours. I headed back and made it to that dangerous cove and sat on a rock for awhile. At one point the water really came high on the shore and I was scrambling to keep from getting wet. I saw another couple that got hit by a wave unexpectedly. The waves hit this cove from a myriad of directions and I could see why this was so dangerous. I hiiked back towards my car. This was a really popular hike and a must do in my opinion. You can see the north end of the Napali Coast from here and it was really, really good. Although little did I know the south end of this area was even better. I made it back safely and my car was undamaged which was constantly a fear of mine on pretty much all the Hawaiian Islands.

I couchsurfed a couple nights in Anahola. The mountains behind this ladies house were the mountains you see in the recent King Kong movie. They are the mountains you first see when they arrive to the island. I hiked with her one day and we snorkeled one day. I felt my self a little shy of the water after seeing the shark on the Big Island. There was a lot of current there and I thought the lady was a little crazy swimming there but man you did get a good workout fighting the current all the time. We spent some time relaxing there. There were lots of locals camping there and I think it is pretty well known for tourist not to go there.

The couchsurfer took me to her friends house for supper one night. The ladies son was playing a surfing game. These folks are ate up with surfing here even more than I expected. I really enjoyed seeing there passion for surfing. Beach life too obviously is a major activity. Where we go to a forested park for a picnic they go to the beach parks. The lady and her son invited me to there Thanksgiving Dinner. They were cooking in the traditional Hawaiian way using and imu oven. I had no idea what this was except that they cooked it in the ground. This was the method of cooking the pig at the Luau I had attended in Maui. I was excited about this and really looked forward to doing that.

I stayed with the couchsurfer a couple nights. She rented a house that was really open in most of the house and then this big area had a couple bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen around this open area. Lots of big screened windows and you could here the ocean in the distance. It was a great beach house and I felt was a pretty traditional home for Hawaii. The kind of home you expect to see at the beach and then there were was King Kong just outside the window. I really liked staying there.

Thanksgiving eve finally arrived and I was to meet the lady and her son and go to the place that was having the Thanksgiving Party and Imu cooking. The traffic in Kapaa was really crazy and I could not get through the town quickely and consequently was late in meeting the lady and her son. I told them to go on and I would meet them somewhere in Hanapepe where the party was taking place. Trafffic in Kapaa was always bad so this was not a surprise. There is a bypass to the City, but I was not confident enough to take that. There is so much resistance to development here that people really restrict development like road building. They just deal with traffic jams in exchange for no development.

I finally caught up to the lady and her son and the son jumped in with me and we went to the party. I had supper with them which included Crab and then we left and went to where they were they were building the oven. Before we left thoug we cut down a banana tree as the leaves were needed to put around the meat to provide moisture for the cooking. There was about 30 people there and everything kind of reminded me of butchering a little where lots of friends are gathered and work together. It was really, really cool and I hope to do it in Batchtown for the 4th of July this year. Some things will have to be done differently though as we do not have banana trees in our backyard to cut down. Maybe we can mail order some of the things like the tea leaves that were used. The meat was wrapped in aluminum foil and then chicken wire with leaves were wrapped around that. They also put a few tea leaves inside the meat as well. Essentially the meat was steamed underground. They do not have anyone gardening the meat over night but I think rigging an electric fence are at least building it by a dog pin might be a good idea so that dogs might at least deter any wild animals are dogs that might decide to dig the meat up. They have wild pigs in the animal but I think that is about it. Two of the native Hawaiians that were helping out actually had a rifle and were hunting wild hogs that evening when we arrived but did not get any. They cooked a wild hog in the oven though along with all the other pork that was cooked. There was a couple turkeys cooked as well.

After the meat was salted, they used a local salt mined in the area and wrapped securely more leaves and burlap sacks were put around the meat wrapped in the chicken wire. The fire was put out that was being used to heat the rocks. Rocks will explode when you heat them like this so special rocks are needed. At a minimum the rocks need to be heated once before being used for the oven to let them explode then and not during this activity when many people are around. I am not sure but maybe river rocks will work as that is pretty hard rock. Not sure that will require some more research. Afte the fire is removed the rocks are left in the hole the meat placed over the rocks and buried. We left there around midnight. We found only a couple holes where you could see smoke coming out of the dirt and in those spots we had to add more dirt. You wanted all the heat to be trapped under ground cooking the meat.

We left and the people offerend to allow me to sleep on there couch earlier in the evening. I had told them I was just going to find a park and sleep there and they said no just sleep on the couch so I did. I had offered to just sleep in my car but they said no just sleep on the couch.

The next morning we got up and headed back to the folks house were the meat was buried. We went back and you could see where nothing had bothered the meat and we dug up the meat. The meat was warm but not hot. We put the meat on a table and opened up the packages and salted to taste. The meat was probably the most tender I had ever eaten. It was really really good. The salt they used I think really improved the taste as well. Even the wild pig was awesome. The bones in the turkey just fell out of the meat. I can not emphasize enough how tender this meat was. I was floored. I think pork shoulders would be perfect for this method of cooking. Not sure of the cuts of meat they were using. After having a meat breakfast as we snacked on our handy work we headed back to the folks house I was staying at.

I left about midmorning and went o Waimea Canyon which is a place they call the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. I hiked down to the bottom of it which was a really gruelling hike. I saw lots of goats on the way down as well. They actually seemed quite tame. I only ran into a couple other hikers on the way. The hike really was not worth it as at the bottom there was not much to see from the stream as the surrounding walls inhibited any views in the distance. I hiked back out of there and went back for Thanksgiving dinner around 4:00. They said just show up whenever as in Hawaii there is really no schedules. I was often saying I was now on Hawaiian time. When you walk in peoples houses in Hawaii you always take off your shoes as well. Man I think couchsurfing has made all this possible. I would not have learned these customs had I been staying in hotels where the tourist stay. Couchsurfing is great for meeting locals and learning there customs.

They had a couple other orphans like me there and we had a good evening. Most of them had to work the next day so they left around 8 ish and we called it a night around 10:00. They offered me the couch again so I took them up on that offer.

The next day I was headed back into KoKee State Park to do more hiking there. The Ranger said the Napali Coast Hike there was ratetd as one of the best in the world. I could not pass that up so I did that and was absolutely floored by it. Probably the best I have ever done. Amazing, Amazing scenery there although parts of the trail were a little dangerous. There were helicopters often buzzing around showing the tourist the same view for a much heftier price although if a person is not capable of or would like to see this amazing coast from a different perspective I think the helicopters would be a great way to go. I hiked with some really fun people making the hike that much more enjoyable. I was couchsurfing in Kekaha that night and headed down there after the hike. This guy lived in Australia for a long time and his couchsurfing name was Boomerang Rat and he actually made boomerangs. I would have liked to see him throw one but we never got the time. He really recommended I get to the beach where the Napali coast starts but I did not have time that night so I went out to the beach and watched the sunset as surfers surfed until the light was completely gone. I went out and played in the waves for awhile and was able to body surf one wave really good. The waves here were probably 8 ft. Which is all I wanted. When they got a hold of you they would knock you down and you would feel like you were in a washing machine. These waves are powerful. It was unusal for this side of the island to have waves this large this time of year. There were some major swells going on on the north side of the island and lots of warnings and beaches were closed there so there was some wrap around effect going on here. The size of the waves are dependant on the time of year and the big waves hit the north side in the Winter and the south side in the summer.

I spent the night with Boomerang and then the next mnorning headed out early to the south start of the Napali Coast where Boomerang recommended going. He actually lived there for awhile. He is in his 70's now I recommend and found this place very special. I was floored by how long it took to drive to this beach on the southern point of the Napali Coast and pot holes were unbelievable and numerous. I knew the rental car company said to not travel this road. There were certain areas where the rental car companys said I was not allowed to take there car and this was one of them. I bet it took 45 minutes to drive to the beach. I was getting a little nervous as I had to catch a flight this same day. I made it up there and parked the car and ran out on the beach. I looked and listened for about 5 minutes. This place was cool but not sure worth the effort. There were several groups of people camping there even though signs said no camping. This place is pretty much unregulated I believe. On the way I saw a sign that said Die Developers Die. I get the impression the locals are not afraid to resort to violence if necessary. The big issue during my stay was the super ferry going to all the islands. They were protesting that and got it shut down. Supposedly the voters did not want it but the governor pushed it through. It reminded me of how the voters voted against the concealed weapons law and the next thing I know Matt Blunt and his republican cronies got it pushed through anyway. I still do not understand how they were able to get that law passed after the voters of Missouri voted against it. It is a little scary to me.

I hurriued up and headed to Lihue where the airport was and returned the car. I made it to the airport with a little time to spare. Man this Island really did blow me away. I have been to 3 Hawaiian Islands now and was really impressed by all of them. They all have something very unique to offer. I remember a guy who I use to work with said he came to Hawaii and was not that impressed by it but I think he just went o Oahu. Man I really really liked Hawaii. I came with relatively low expectations and have been thoroughly impressed. This is one on my favorite places yet.

Oahu
Walawala, Washington. I had not said that yet today and it makes me smile so that is why I type that. After being totally snickered (totally satisfied as snickers satisfies right ?) by the 3 islands I visited so far I thought Oahu, the populated one is going to be a let down. This is the island the lions share of the people come to. I was unable to find a couchsurfing host here for the Waikiki Beach area but one couchsurfer recommended a hostel to stay in which I did. It is always great to have some guidance on where to go. That is what is so good about the Lonely Planet books they give some guidance on where to go and stay and you do not enter a place without a clue.

The hostel was ok and relatively cheap so I was satisfied with it. The whole world was staying in this hostel. There was Australia, Germany, Canada, America, Denmark and Switzerland all represented. That is what is cool about hostels. I must say they have been a very positive experience for me. It is easy to meet people in hostels as they have areas that are open to everyone where most people hang out. Also they have information and often tours to all the good stuff.

I met up with the couchsurfing lady that I had contacted and a friend of hers and they took me around town. The one lady knew a colored guy from the tv show Lost and they saw him at a gas station and we talked to him for awhile. I was not familiar with the show but he does not have a leading role but anyone that knows the show will know this guy is what I am told. He seemed pretty cool and we talked for about 30 minutes. They dropped me off at the hostel and I called it a night.

I spent the next day hanging around Waikiki Beach and of course it is really touristy but yet it is fun too. I took a surfing lesson from a guy probably in his late 60's. He has been surfing his whole life. I got up but was not very proficient. I really enjoyed surfing and if I lived here would become passionate about it I think.

That night another counhsurfer invited me to her fire dancing practice. The other couchsurfer from the night before went along as well. As soon as we arrived one of the guys caught his sweats on fire which was really fun but I tried to restrain my laughter. I got a few pretty good photos and it was neat watching them do there thing.

I had a couchsurfing contact near Kaneohe where I headed out to one day and spent two nights with them. They were really fun and I was amazed at the scenery on Oahu as well. Even with all the development the views of the surrounding mountains were amazing. I got one of the remaining immunization shots I needed and a haircut. It was good to get that knocked out.

There was a surfing competition going on at Sunset Beach one of the famous surfing spots on the north shore so Carly and Kevin, my couchsurfing contacts, and I headed up there. The drive there was pretty and it was neat to see a major league surfing competition. The Australians were the best and I know a Kiwi was doing well to. One of the favored American surfers fell and got some broken ribs. The waves at this place were truly amazing. It was like something was lifting these things up out of the depths of the oceans. These waves were like nothing I had ever seen the way they were created off shore. The announcer said the biggest waves were around 15 ft. Which were not huge but they definitely were big enough to ring your bell and break your ribs. We watched that for a few hours and then headed down the road to Bonsai Pipeline probably the most famous big wave surfing in the world. Here the coral is really shallow and when you fall it is commone to hit coral making it so so dangerous. We continued along and drove though a town called Halaweia. Obviously another surfing town.

From there we crossed the middle of the island and stopped at a Dole Plantation which was a big tourist area. We then made our way back to there place where I spent one last night.

We went out and ate one night and had traditional Hawaiian food. It was very good. We met some other backpackers in there from Europe somewhere and they said Lonely Planet recommended that a person eats at the same restaurant.

I also hiked with Carly and Kevin to Diamond Head which provides a nice view of Waikiki Beach. There was a lady got sick as the hike to the top is pretty difficult and they flew a helicopter to the top and got her to a hospital. There was lots of other personnel there and the fire truck had a surf board on it and another truck was pulling a boat. The water was a long ways aways so I am not sure why the boat was brought. It was quite the deal and interesting to watch. I hope the lady was ok she was probably in her 70's, Asian and evidently had bitten off more than she could chew. She probably should have went slower.

I spent another day snorkeling at a bay near Waikiki and it was really good.

Another day was spent at the USS Arizona Memorial. It was amazing in that there is still oil that leaks out of that ship sunk in 1941. I had no idea that at Pearl Harbor they had this sort of memorial. They actually boat you out to the memorial that is on the water. It was a pretty good memorial. I remember that the person watching the radar screen saw the planes coming and then someone told him they were expecting planes from California to be flying in that day and that is probably what he was seeing so they did not worry about it. Most of the Planes at Hackam Air Force Base were destroyed because they parked them so closely together. The Japanese really performed a number on the US on this strike. I really enjoyed in a respectful way of course this memorial. It is well done.

One afternoon I was able to pick up my Malaria medication and confirmed the insurance company would pay for it. A lady at a pharmacy there said if I had to buy it it would cost me $1,000. Man drugs are big business.

The last day I rented a surf board and went out surfing. It was a really small board and I was not able to get up once. I had no idea the big board made such a difference. I got a little frustrated which is often the case when I can not figure something out.

Oahu too like the other islands was very interesting and very good and I must say I left not really having a favority Island. They are all very good, very unique and I can not recommend anyone. I suggest quitting your job and going to them all. I didn't make it to all of them but went to the big 4. I will have to go to Molokai on my next trip. I am going to be really torn though if I can only return to one of the four Islands I have been to because I really did like them all!

---

Photos

Kauai's - Napali Coast
This is a world class hike. Wow, Wow, Wow!

Waipio Park - On the Big Island
There was a Sunami that once wiped out all the people living in this valley. You can see how they would be very vulnerable.

This is God Talking!
This is near Hanalei. Have you ever heard the song called Puff the Magic Dragon. Well in the song it says he lived near the sea in a land called Hanalee. Well this location was the inspiration for that song.

Near 7 Sacred Pools on Maui
This is near town of Koali

Amazing Flowers
You can grow some amazing native flowers in in Hawaii. This is a picture from the Hana Highway on Maui.

Meet the Krauts
Mike and Anita let me couchsurf their amazing apartment on Maui. Thanks guys. It will be fun meeting you folks again someday maybe in Calhoun or Jersey County where we can talk about Maui. Endless Thank Yous!

Amazing Drive
In around 35 miles there are about the same number of 1 lane bridges.

Island Hopping
I took planes like this one from Island to Island for about $70. I made it to 4 of the Hawaiian Islands( Oahu, Kaui, The Big Island and Maui). Guys I was not expecting much from these Islands but they really did blow me away. Lots to do there.

Puuhonua Honaunau National Park
This was a location of refuge for people who where sought by other tribes during times of war.

Kona Coffee on the Big Island
If the coffee taste anything like she looks....... I might start drinking coffee.

Rainbow State
Man the weather could just think about raining and a rainbow would show up. A friend said she once saw 4 rainbows before 9:00 AM one morning. This pic was taken on the Big Island.

Waipio Valley on the Big Island
I hiked down into this valley on the Big Island.

Stay away from these Folks!
I met up with these Canadian's hiking in the Waipio Valley trying to find the same waterfall as I was and when we came to several road blocks where it was swim, rock climb or go back. Of coures they wanted to swim so we did. We never did reach the falls. The locals who told us where the path was I am sure had a good laugh.

Sunset Near Kailua - Kona
The Iron man triatholon is ran near hear.

Volcano Kilauea
Not so long ago this guy was raising all kinds of Cain! Now you can hike across it.

With Death Comes Life
This plant was growing down in the Crater.

The Mach 5?
Man how did this truck get out here? I saw 3 license plates on the Hawaiian Islands that were out of state. One was this one another from Colorado and I forget the third.

Picking Bananas!
This is me picking Bananas at my couchsurfers house in Hilo on the Big Island.

Coconut Coast
Over 50 Hollywood Movies were filmed on Kauai

Hiking on a ver Rainy Day Across the Center of Kauai
I stepped in some mud that I thought would be hard and sunk down to my knee. I instinctively throughout my arms as if in a quicksand response.

King Kong Was Here
The recent King Kong Movie was Filmed here. Those mountain Peaks are what you see when they first arrive on the Island that Kong lived on. This is the view from my Couchsurfers house in Anahola!

Imu Oven Cooking
Here we are preparing the meat for the Imu Over. The couchsurfing person I stayed with hooked me up with these folks for Thanksgiving Dinner. This is how they cook the meat in an Imu Oven.

The Meat Mound
The hot rocks and meat are buried underground for all night. Whose watching for dogs that might dig it up I ask? They said it has never happened and there are no night watchmen.

Comments

[Nancy R]

Isn't Hawaii Awesome?!
That other battleship by the Arizona memorial was the Mighty MO - USS Missouri.