| Hawaii Diary 2001 | |
Our Last Night in Hawaii
Photo by John Fischer
While the rest of my group returned to New York yesterday on the Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays/ATA direct flight, I decided to lay over on Oahu for a couple of extra days.
This morning I decided to get up and take a drive. Proceeding east past Waikiki and around Diamond Head, I decided to visit some of the areas in southeast Oahu. I spent some time at Haunama Bay, walking down to the beach to watch the children play and children of all ages snorkeling in the wonderfully clear waters of Haunama Bay.
From Haunama my journey took me past Koko Head and the Halona Blowhole to Sandy Beach, where the surf was up and the water was crowded with lots of folks testing their surfing skills.
After rounding Makapuu Point my next stop was a vantage point with excellent views of Makapuu Beach Park, Manana (Rabbit) and Kaohikaipu (Turtle) Islands. My final stop on this driving tour was Waimanalo Beach Park where there were several windsurfers in the water.
Waimanalo is, in my opinion, the most beautiful beach on O'ahu. It is a major weekend gathering place for local families who hold picnics and barbecues near the beach.
From Waimanalo it was back to Waikiki and a stop at the Honolulu Zoo. I had never visited the zoo before, but I was really impressed by the variety of species on display. Their Savannah area is particularly impressive. I took lots of photos at the zoo which we'll be adding soon.
As I was leaving the zoo, I heard the Hawaii State Song - Hawai'i Pono'i being played from the direction of the recently renovated bandstand in Kapiolani Park. I soon realized that I was in time to catch the weekly concert by the Royal Hawaiian Band. For the next hour, the band entertained the large crowd. This concert is a regular Sunday afternoon event.
Following the band concert and dinner, I wandered down to the Waikiki beachfront near the Hyatt Regency where the City and County of Honolulu together with the Hyatt have been sponsoring free nightly Hawaiian music concerts. Tonight's entertainment was provided by Hula Halau Ka Pa Ku Kaiaulu from O'ahu who delighted the crowd to hula kahiko and hula auana (ancient and modern hula) for over an hour.
We
took well over 200 photos today and we'll be adding many of them to our Hawaii
Photo Gallery. Here are just a few to show you some of the highlights of our
day.
Haunama Bay
Photo by John Fischer
Keiki at Play - Haunama Bay
Photo by John Fischer
Surfer at Sandy Beach
Photo by John Fischer
Waimanalo Beach Park
Photo by John Fischer
Nene - Hawaiian State Bird
Honolulu Zoo
Photo by John Fischer
Royal Hawaiian Band
Kapiolani Park Bandstand
Photo by John Fischer
Hula Halau Ka Pa Ku Kaiaulu
Photo by John Fischer
Join us for Part 8 of our Hawaii Diary 2001 where we will report on our journey to the North Shore of Oahu with Kathy Durham. We'll also present our retrospective on our January 2001 visit to Hawaii.
