They call it the washing machine, and with good reason. You are hurled about, coated in sea water, hurled about some more and then, ejected, stumbling into the bright Lahaina sunshine to dry. It’s only 45 minutes, but if you are prone to green and hurly, you will not enjoy it one bit. You might …
I feel almost guilty admitting this, but it’s all starting to run together. The volcano is up the hill behind us, there are some green mountains over there that are partly covered in mist, somewhere below there is a perfect crescent of sand that is black or gray or gold or has sparkling bits of …
It’s true what they say, you do need to get up early to climb Diamond Head. It’s not so much the heat, though it is a warm climb. It’s the crowds. As we stood at the top of the spiral staircase at the very top of the peak, dozens of Japanese girls stumbled out into …
“I used to surf with these old guys at Waikiki, one guy, he was 89. He said that the 30s and 40s, that’s when Waikiki was magic. The beach boys, they were gigalos, really, teaching surfing lessons by day and then at night, taking the rich ladies out and playing the ukulele for them on …
We are, I think, being good travelers. We wear sunscreen, drive the speed limit, tip generously, and eat local. We apologize before asking dumb mainlander questions, we say aloha and mahalo, we even send thank you notes to our hosts. We are working hard, keeping the off topic frolicking to a minimum, and in general, …
The first stop we make is the site of a former village and temple. It’s also the place where an attempt on Kamehameha’s life went awry, ending his competition and consolidating his power — he went on to unify the island kingdom, changing the history of Hawaii. Reef sharks swim lazy circles in the bay, …