Aloha is a great Hawaiian word meaning both hello and goodbye. Appropriate for me as I journey beyond its shores.
Aloha from Oahu(biggest city is Honolulu), Maui(lots of winding roads up to dormant volcano), Kauai(home of Juassic Park and South Pacific), Big Island (Hawaii)(Hilo average rain per year over 200 inches, access to Kilauea Volcano and Kono dry side average 20 Inches.), Molokai(not visited), and Lanai(not visited). This is the Hawaiian islands. Great Britian called them the Sandwich Islands but gave them back to the local inhabitants ruled by the great king Kamehameha. My history may not be great so here is an excerpt from Google.
“In ancient Hawaii, legends told of a day when a great king would unite all the Hawaiian islands. The sign of his birth, kahuna (priests) claimed, would be a comet.
And so it goes that Kamehameha was born in 1758, the year Halley’s Comet made an appearance over Hawaiian skies. Kamehameha was born in Paiea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Translated, Kamehameha means “the lonely one” (More history if want to research is available.) copy right 1997-2011 “Aloha from Hawaii”
Further research will possibly reveal that the good ole USA decided the islands were valuable enough to take over so they did. I guess the American Indians have a kindred connection. History is full of triumph over the weak. “Follow the money.”
As I travel from the Hawaiian islands to new adventures in Australia, I write this message. This is what I have learned about Hawaii from a tourist perspective.
First and last stop was Honolulu on Oahu. First day was not much as traveling but day 7 was all about the lives lost at Pearl Harbor. May we never forget. Later that night we walked along Waikiki beach with Diamond Head, extinct valcono in the background. Destruction of the past often leads to beauty in the present.
Our 2nd and 4th days took us to the island of Maui where we did a whole lot of driving up to another dormant volcano called Haleakala over 10,000 feet elevation. From there, we drove through a very nice town called Makawo and connected with the road to Hana. That road is very narrow and treacherous so we turned back after seeing a few water falls. It reminded us of the song lyrics, “don’t go chasing water falls”. We drove back along the coast to Paia and saw giant Green Hawaiian Turtles resting on the beach so all well worth the journey. The next day we just drove around to Lahaina for shopping.
On our 3rd day we went to the Big Island as they call it but is where they get the name Hawaii as I understand. We started at Hilo (rainy side) which is the gateway to vaconoes national park. Kilauea has erupted every day since 1983. Very large and spectacular! We traveled that night to see the eruption ending with the lava flow into the sea where fire is tamed by water. The 4th day we started at Kailua-Kona (dry side) where we stopped and played on the beach. Very relaxing day!
We then went to Kauai on the 5th and 6th days. That night we attended a Luau which tells the story of the Hawaiian heritage in song and dance while we ate. Very descriptive story picture with the Hula dancing! On the 6th day, the view of the island by helicopter is the only way to take in the full majestic beauty. I kept looking for dinasoars. Wander why!
That ended our magical Hawaiian adventure on day 7,
Now we are off to explore the land down under.
T