Oahu, an adventure in history, beaches, landscape and culture

Check off another item on our bucket list as Cintra and I complete our fabulous visit to Hawaii. Over the past two weeks, we enjoyed the beauty, sounds and tastes of Big Island and Oahu. We are happy that all went well and are looking forward to getting back to reality.

Oahu was everything we hoped for and more. Having done a self-driving tour of Big Island, we changed our plans to use a car rental and chose to join group tours instead.

This turned out perfectly as we did an amazing island tour with the help of a charming and expert tour guide. We had absolutely perfect weather and a small group of fellow pilgrims. Our first major stop was Pearl Harbor, a must-see for any visitor to Oahu.

As Canadians, this was a very informative and emotional experience. I can only imagine how deeply it touches Americans, especially those with military ties.

There is much to see at Pearl Harbor, but in our limited time we walked around the site, viewed the indoor display, watched an amazing video and took an eight-minute boat ride to the USS Arizona Memorial building. This is a structure built over the shattered U.S. warship that took the brunt of the surprise attack by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. That attack not only destroyed the vessel but resulted in the loss of 1177 lives and their bodies were never recovered. The site was later used to deposit ashes of other servicemen the who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. To stand on the site of this watery grave was very emotional.

Our tour continued to a visitor centre by Dole Plantation where we were exposed to  the usual myriad tourist memorabilia, gifts, keepsakes as well as treats like pineapple ice cream. As we moved to the north coast, it was fascinating to view the rich landscape of pineapple, banana and coffee plantations.

The most stunning sights of the coastline of Oahu were the swells that make this area ideal for recreational and competitive surfing. Even if surfing is not your cup of Kona coffee, it is breathtaking to watch the coast line that combined sandy shores, rocky edges, scenic cliffs and huge crashing waves.

Along the way, some of the group reported they were lucky to view whales and dolphins in the distance.

We couldn't stop to absorb all of these sights, but we're happy the guide made time to stop at some strategic locations. Among these was a mountain lookout at Pali Point offering more than 180 degree view of Kawainul Marshland  the community of Kailua framed by mountains on both sides.

Our guide was full of fascinating trivia such as showing us homes that were occupied by the rich and famous like Elvis Presley, Cary Grant, and others. We viewed the location that was the site of the beach romantic encounter with Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the movie From Here to Eternity.

We had a brief lunch stop at the Polynesian Cultural Centre where we returned later in the week for the famous luau and cultural shows. It was fascinating to have this preview of this popular tourist site.

Having wandered around the island, we gave ourselves a couple of days to absorb the enchantment of Waikiki. We were fortunate to be based in the heart of Waikiki village and were yards from this iconic beach.

There is never a shortage of things to see and do in Waikiki and certainly endless choices of places to eat and shop. Our first venture into the beach did not start off so well as we found the floor of the sea very rocky. We had to search for a sandy floor and enjoyed the rest of the experience. That evening was capped off with a spectacular Hawaiian sunset.

Our next venture into the water turned out perfectly as we immediately found an ideal spot and totally enjoyed our time. The blazing sun was ideal for sun bathers, but we decided to pass up on this popular Waikiki pastime.

We saved the highlight of our Oahu visit for the final evening when we took in the famed Polynesian Cultural Centre about an hour out of Honolulu. This was a full day's outing by coach and is almost beyond description.

In short, the PCC is a theme park featuring the cultures of the islands that comprise Polynesia and that were the early settlers of Hawaii. The Polynesian cultures on display were Tonga, Figi, Samoa, French Polynesia, Aotearao (New Zealand), Tahiti and Hawaii.

It is hard to imagine a more colorful, vibrant and rich mix of cultural practices. The outline of the visit was basically optional buffet lunch, displays of music, dancing and crafts in individual halls, a canoe pageant of all the cultures, a luau, a spectacular IMAX show and closing the evening with a large scale music and dance show in an auditorium and a pre-show backstage tour

If visitors were not filled with the rich cultural showcase, they would be saturated with the sights and colors of the cultures as well as with the unlimited and exotic foods in the luau, which also included another stage show. As luck would have it, we were ushered to front row seats for the luau.

It is very easy to become emotionally connected to the Hawaiian culture as well as to the Polynesians who make up the Hawaiian population. To be greeted with Aloha is common, as is being thanked with Mahalo or to be called cousin or family.

To be clear, a visitor is not necessarily surrounded with native Hawaiians. It is almost as easy to see Asian tourists mainly from Japan and Korea or to see tourists from Europe or the U.S. The Canadian tourists are rare.

There are so many aspects of our visit that justify our naming Hawaii on our bucket list. Our trip was short and sweet and will live in our memories forever.

Getting to know Big Island

After a couple of false starts, Cintra and I finally left Regina on the 25th and made it to Hawaii for our first ever visit to this famous tourist destination. When we first arrived at the Regina airport, much earlier than needed, we learned the flight could not leave because of fog at the Edmonton airport. So we were rebooked through Vancouver instead two days later.

Our party also includes Cintra's sister and brother-in-law Mamin and Kwong. On Monday we all showed up for our flight, early again, and we told the flight was delayed several hours due to a low ceiling in Regina preventing inbound flights from landing. We had to retrieve our luggage and return to the airline counter to find another connection when conditions improved. So we were booked through Edmonton again. We were quite concerned about the possibility of missing our connection in Vancouver. All went well and we made it to Kona, Big Island, late Monday evening.

So here we are and in just a few short days, we are in awe of the beauty and diversity of Big Island, HI. We are anxiously awaiting even more exciting sights, tastes and sounds in Oahu this weekend.

On this first phase of our vacation, we chose to explore largest and youngest of the Hawaiian islands. Having decided to stay in Waikoloa, near Kona on the west coast, we were amazed at the landscape of lava rocks almost as far as the eye can see.

Among other things, these dark, odd-shaped rocks, are in stark contrast with the lush, manicured resorts sprinkled at various strategic locations. But even more dramatic is the difference between the rocky and barren west and the tropical rainforest in the east.

In the first couple of days in Waikoloa we explored some of the beaches in the area. Then we ventured on a drive around the island to the city of Hilo (hee-low) in the east coast. We couldn't stop observing and commenting on the beauty of the towering forests, and the vast variety of flowers, plants and fruits. Even signs of "donkey crossing" caught our attention.

We took a short detour to a lookout on the northeast coast to see the Waipi'o Valley. It was one of the most breathtaking sights ever from our mountain-top viewpoint.

Hilo was a stopping point on our way to our real destination which was the Kilauea volcano. Hearing about this historic volcano is unbelievable in itself, but to see the smoking crater before your eyes is quite overwhelming.

Our drive back to Waikoloa was an overland route where we again observed the rich rainforest slowly morph to a rocky barren landscape, with desert-like conditions in between.

We later ventured to the most northerly point on Big Island where the major commercial centre is the village of Hawi. This has to be one of the quaintest communities with its rustic lifestyle, gift shops, and eating places. An ideal place to sample some macadamia and Tahitian Vanilla ice cream.

From Hawi, we drove through lush forest and villages to the Pololu Valley Lookout. The view made the drive most worthwhile. What was even more worthwhile was the sighting of about half dozen whales in the ocean on the way to Hawi.

Having explored the coast north of Kona, we embarked on another outing south of Kona. Our first destination was a National Historical Park called Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. This was the royal residence of the first Hawaiian King. It included ruins of early temples, a mausoleum, stone pebble game, utensils and fishing tools. It was in a stunning seaside setting.

Most significant about the ruins was the the Place of Refuge where early Hawaiians sought refuge if they were caught breaking the law of their people.

Not far from the historical site is a popular attraction known as the painted church. It is an old Benedictine church completely covered in ancient paintings depicting biblical scenes and myths.

Two tempting destinations for visitors are Kona coffee plantations and macadamia plantations. It is clear that Kona coffee is a huge attraction on the island. There are numerous Kona coffee locations, but the one that was highly recommended by the priest at the church was Kona Joe Coffee. After a frustrating search for this plantation and shop, we were most impressed with the special trellis grown coffee, the first of its kind in the world. It is promoted as "coffee grown like wine." This plantation also offered a breathtaking view of the ocean.

Naturally we enjoyed tasting the coffee as well as sampling the chocolate-covered beans and macadamia nuts.

Our short stay in Big Island has left us with rich and lasting memories of a place that we knew little or nothing about before. Now we are preparing for the second part of our vacation on the island of Oahu and look forward to sharing another blog of this adventure.

We invite you to view a photo album of our stay in Big Island at: http://s210.photobucket.com/user/mkanhai_photos/library/Big%20Island%20Hawaii?sort=3&page=1

Aloha and mahalo. Moses and Cintra