Hawai'i - Part II

We were anxious to visit the Hawaii County and State Parks offices to obtain camping permits for the week. It seems the park systems do not encourage camping in their parks or backpackers... bummer because this is a beautiful island! Both the county and state parks are closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They claim it is to help preserve the parks and resources, but we heard there is a significant homeless problem on the island, so the park is closed for clean-up and to force the homeless out of the parks.

The nice lady at the state park office was able to reserve a campsite for Tuesday night ($5 a night). When we stopped by the county park office, the lady said the only campsite available all week (remember they too are closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays) was for Friday in Waianae - a town a friend and locals have told us to avoid because of our skin color. So we didn't obtain a permit - which is needed to stay in the county parks.

Needless to say, we were bummed we could only camp one night on the island. Unfortunately, there were fewer and fewer inexpensive alternatives as we headed north.

Despite the camping news and having no idea where we would be sleeping tonight, we drove the Kalaniana'ole Highway (Route 72) and headed to Hanauma Bay. This is a unique nature preserve famous for its reefs and snorkeling.


To reduce human impacts and restore the reefs, the park charges an entry fee and limits visitors to 3,000 a day, and every visitor must watch a video about the reef and how to help protect the ecosystem. Unfortunately, not every visitor clearly understood the rules from the video because there were park volunteers screaming "Get off the reef! Get off the reef!" to snorkelers.


I was really excited because this was Richie's first time snorkeling. He rented a snorkeling set for $5 and spent hours viewing hundreds of fish. The colors were amazing and the sealife plentiful. He has a few scratches from the sharp coral, but a worthy souvenir from O'ahu, Hawai'i.

Fun Fact: Did you know Hawai'i's state fish is the humuhumunukunukuapua'a? Certainly the longest name I've ever seen for a fish!


We had plans to climb Koko Crater (Kohelepelepe in Hawaiian), but honestly, an elevation gain of 1,208 feet in 2 miles just didn't seem appealing after hours of inhaling salt water and soaking in the sun.

Our goal now was to a place to sleep.

We stopped at a local ice cream parlor in Kailua to borrow a phone book and make a few calls. Luckily, we found places to stay later in the week, but nothing for this evening. We drove in circles, literally, for places when we finally pulled into a 76 gas station to ask about inexpensive hotels, motels, shacks... anything!

It was a terribly frustrating and insulting experience.


Understanding the tension between locals and tourists, we were careful all week to always be courteous and to not get lumped in with the going-on-springbreak and playing-loud-music crowds. Unfortunately our skin color and youthful appearance was working against us. Richie went in - making certain to remove his helmet and sunglasses - and asked the clerk if there was anything around. She looked at him with open hostility and with a hatred that was palatable. She said something like, "There are no hotels here. You go back to Honolulu and Waikiki." He said "Really? Not even some cheap motels on this side of the Island?" Now "this side of the Island" included something like 50 miles of coast line where many people live and visit. She continued to reply, "No. There's nothing here. Hotels in Waikiki." Richie thanked her and left.

Turns out that there are several small motels and many people rent out their beach cottages all along the coast of Hawai'i. We drove around a bit more and hit upon a set of small cottages in the area, made a phone call, and had a place to stay for the night.


Tuesday took us inland to Nu'uanu Pali State Park (aka - Pali Lookout). This is the site of the bloody Battle of Nu'uanu and the first paved road through the mountains.

The Old Pali Highway still exists but is now overgrown with spectacular foliage and serves as a hiking trail. We hiked the road for 3/4 of a mile and were overwhelmed with the views of the 985-foot cliffs of the Koolau Mountain Range and "the windward side" of O'ahu.


Quick Sidenote: The entire island is plastered with signs indicating "High theft area - do not leave valuables in car!" While we were glad to be warned, this makes for an uncomfortable visit across the island.


We drove along the Kamehameha Highway (lovingly called Kam Highway) to Kualoa Beach Park to watch locals wading in the water and men fishing with nets, loops, and spears. We spotted Chinaman's Hat - a popular O'ahu landmark.

Richie thought it would be funny to Photoshop a few pictures together to make it look like I'm wearing Chinaman's Hat. I think he did a great job. It's silly, but a nice job.

It was a traditional fish and chips (mahimahi fish) at The Crouching Lion Restaurant. The waitress brought me a fragrant yellow flower - stem removed and replaced with a toothpick for easy behind-the-ear placement. (This was the first flower offered to me in O'ahu.) I was told to place it behind my left ear. Behind the left ear meant you were taken, behind the right ear meant you were available. Our waitress wore her flower on the right side, regardless of her husband's complaints about it.


We continued northwest along the windward side of the island - thankfully missing the raindrops in Kahana Bay. This is the rainiest part of O'ahu, Hawaii - receiving over 300 inches of rain annually!

Along the highway, we couldn't help but giggle as 4 sand-colored Humvees traveling south had large red signs on each grill that said "Caution: Student Driver." Truly a missed opportunity for a candid photograph - darn.

We arrived early at Malaekahana State Recreation Area - our first and only night camping. It was a quiet place with only a handful of day-use surfers in the protected bay. We practically had the campground to ourselves with only two other couples spending the night.

With our tent and bed rolls ready, we decided to spend the afternoon swimming in the Pacific Ocean. The water was a bit chilly at first. It was comical to watch each other inch our way into the water. We had to wear our sandals because the ocean floor was covered in sharp reefs and rocks. It was such a spontaneous idea that we forgot to apply sunscreen and later paid for this oversight - - but we had the best time splashing around!