I hope this doesn’t sound like bragging but we woke up to
another beautiful day in paradise. Each elevator had a five-day forecast posted
inside it. “High 81. Low 69. Sunny.” That was the standard forecast that
might change a degree or two. Opening our curtains in the morning exposed
Waikiki and even at 8 a.m. we could see decent amounts of swimmers and surfers
in the water. The sun was out. Gentleness pervaded the area, marred by the
occasional loud bus or truck. It would be easy to get used to it. The newspaper
was talking ominously about a Christmas storm heading for the northeast United
States. We cackled a bit. We couldn’t help it.
Terri had to get up earlier than she would have liked
because with the help of the hotel concierge she had managed to snag a rental
car for a few days. We were glad to have a rental car but the price was higher
than we would have preferred: about $45 a day for an economical Nissan Sentra.
We knew we could get pretty much anywhere we wanted to on the island by bus, but
for a tourist it would be much faster to get to places with a convenient car,
and we could stop and linger at sites as we chose.
Although a bit of an oxymoron, Oahu does have some
interstate highways, or more precisely interstate quality highways paid for
mostly with federal dollars. H-1 traverses East and West through Honolulu and
Pearl Harbor. It is reputedly the most expensive interstate ever built and it is
not easy finding an entry ramp. Terri wanted us to see the north side of Oahu
today. She had seen it 25 years earlier and had remarked how amazingly different
each part of Oahu is. Not only were we to see the North side but we were also to
discover some of Oahu’s accessible points of higher elevation. This would be a
far different experience that the Oahu we had so far encountered.
We didn’t have to go west on H-1 very long before we veered north on Rt. 61, a road that cuts through the mountains and takes a traveler rather rapidly to the northern city of Kailua. However in a four-cylinder car we were something at a disadvantage. The climb was slow since the road was steep and we found it advisable to be in the right lane. When we reached the highest point we pulled off the road to the Pali Lookout, where you could get a commanding view of northern Oahu. We were clearly several thousand feet up and it was very windy and cold at the lookout. It was remarkable how much the climate could change in 30 miles or so! I’m guessing the temperature was maybe 60 degrees but the wind chill made it feel much, much colder. There was a rather steep (but paved) trail you could walk down for a further view. Rosie and I walked the trail a bit, but at one point the wind was so severe I was nearly blown off my feet! But it was worth dealing with the wind for the view. The pictures should speak eloquently because words largely fail me here.
Terri remembered a “valley of temples” near Kaneohe full of temples, churches, synagogues and other houses of worships, with a recreation of a famous Japanese Buddhist temple (Byodo-In) being the star attraction. We didn’t make the proper turn, however, so we were somewhat delayed in finding it. But in 25 years the place had largely been transformed. The Buddhist temple was still there, and one church, but mostly the place was a cemetery. And since it cost two buck per person for admission it was not quite free either. Still it was a very pretty and serene place that felt somehow dangerous, perhaps because of its close proximity to some close, steep and ominously looming mountains. The temple was at the back end of the place and was quite beautiful. Before entering the temple you had to take off your shoes. A large bronze casting of The Buddha was at the center of the temple. The local Buddhists had not completely given up materialism because next to the temple was a convenient gift shop. The proceeds from the gift shop no doubt helped maintain the considerable cost of the open-air temple.
Surrounding the temple were well-manicured lawns and ponds not unlike Liliuokalani Gardens. The ponds were stocked with what appeared to be twice as many koi as were realistically needed. The koi seemed to need plenty of air or were expecting handouts because their mouths were constantly on the surface of the water. They seemed to be aware of us and kept following us as we walked. Their mouths kept opening and closing, as a baby’s mouth might expecting a bottle.
Now that we were fully on the north side of Oahu we drove west following the coastline, hugging Rt. 83. The speed limit on the two-lane road was mostly 35 mph and it really wasn’t safe to go much faster even if you could go faster, which the traffic didn’t allow. There were many a beach or lookout point that we could and did tarry at. One was Kualoa Point, which had a lookout that showed off a little island called Chinaman’s Hat, otherwise known as Mokoli Island. There were a number of coastal retirement and resort communities, and most of this sort of living was concentrated around a small coastal town called Laie. There we found lunch at yet another Subway. It was not small enough not to have a theater, and “The Two Towers” was playing. Rosie wanted to stay and see the movie, but if we were to see it again Christmas looked like a better day to see it, since we expected most other amusements would be closed.
Passing Laie we stopped at Sunset Beach, perhaps the most
popular beach and surfing spot on the North Shore of Oahu. The waves were pretty
impressive, but they weren’t high enough to see the famous “pipeline”
waves we had heard about. A few miles down the road was the Kaleiwa Alii Beach
Park, which offered yet another fabulous beach. There is no lack of nice beaches
on this island!
Eventually we arrived at Haleiwa, a city on the northwest
part of Oahu. The mountains had finally disappeared behind us. We were now in an
area of Oahu full of pineapple plantations and something resembling a plain.
Actually it was a valley of sorts between two sets of mountains. We began our
drive south back to Honolulu from here and did indeed pass the famous Dole
pineapple plantation. However we did not stop for the tour or to sample the
pineapples. Rt. 99 lead us directly to Pearl Harbor but we also hoped to find a
shopping center where we could stock up on food, as our cupboard was getting
bare and we were sick of paying tourist prices. We found a Foodland in the
Waipio Shopping Center north of Pearl Harbor, but there were no food bargains
here. Bread was about $2.50 a loaf. A large jar of applesauce went for nearly
$5. But I guess these are about the going rates in Hawaii. The shipping
companies are probably laughing all the way to the bank.
You did have a nice view of Pearl Harbor from the road. We knew we had to get to Pearl Harbor and see the USS Arizona Memorial, but it was not on our agenda for today. With our perishables we headed quickly back to our hotel. Fortunately the traffic on H-1 was moving along rather briskly and we made good time.
With our refrigerator restocked we considered where to go
for dinner. Since we had a car available we saw no reason to stay in Waikiki.
The AAA tour book gave a place called The Sunset Grill a decent recommendation,
so we elected to go there. But first I talked with the concierge about where we
could eat on Christmas evening. The tour book seemed to suggest that all the
restaurants were closed, and I didn’t want to have peanut butter sandwiches
for dinner on Christmas. He got us reservations at a place called Duke’s on
Waikiki for Christmas dinner.
The Sunset Grill is not too far from the Ward Center where
we saw the movie but out of Waikiki proper. The meal was good, but not
spectacular, and felt overpriced. But we enjoyed the change of locale even if
the restaurant did not offer any gorgeous sunsets for us to view with dinner. We
were, however, already feeling nostalgic about our dinner at Tiki’s and making
plans to return before we left.
Visions of sugarplums, or at least coconut trees were dancing in our heads as we retired. Tomorrow was Christmas, but it would certainly be a different sort of Christmas for us!