| Hawaii Diary 2000 | |
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We drove around the north tip of Oahu and headed further along Oahu's North Shore. Before reaching Waimea Bay we detoured inland along a steep and winding road to reach the Puu O Mahuka Heiau State Monument.
Puu O Mahuka Heiau State Monument
Photo by John Fischer
This ancient Hawaiian sacred place was built high above Waimea Bay. The views of the Bay are fantastic from this very solemn and holy place.
The Kamehameha Highway remains blocked as repairs continue to re-align the highway following a major rockslide earlier this year. The temporary roadway across the beach worked well to get us to the other side of Waimea Bay immediately ahead of a large tractor trailer that ignored the signs that no trucks were allowed.
As we drove away, the police were trying to figure out a way to either get the truck across the roadway or turn it around and send it back from where it came.
From Waimea it was a short drive to Haleiwa, the most famous town on O'ahu's North Shore.
Haleiwa Beach Park
Photo by John Fischer
Haleiwa is now home to Baywatch Hawaii which films on location during the summer and fall. By 3:00 p.m. we were both very hungry. Our appetites were satiated by a plate lunch and shaved ice in Haleiwa town.
From Haleiwa we headed back to Honolulu through Central Oahu. We stopped briefly at the Dole Plantation to check out their latest addition, the largest maze in the world as ruled by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998. It was also a chance to have some pineapple soft cream which is absolutely delicious.
This was a very long day. We arrived back at the hotel around 6:00 p.m., just in time to rest up to watch the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards on TV tonight. These are the equivalent of the Grammy Awards for Hawaiian Music. Congratulations to Keali`i Reichel for his significant and well deserved win for best Hawaiian Album of the Year with Melelana.
Tomorrow we turn ourselves over to our Honolulu/Hawaii Guide Kathy Durham, who will be showing us Leeward Oahu. It's an area not well known to tourists and many locals would probably prefer to keep in that way. Join us tomorrow for our report.
