North Shore Oahu, Hawaii
For around $500 per person, Delta will happily get you from YYZ to HNL and back. This included flying on one of the world’s longest domestic flights, JFK-HNL, for 11.5 hours. For reference, Vancouver to Tokyo is an hour faster.
The temptation of being on a plane for almost 12 hours at such a suspiciously cheap price was irresistible so I took the bait and gave Delta my money. I knew very little about Hawaii, except for the Honolulu airport’s runway layout from playing I am an Air Traffic Controller ぼくは航空管制官 3.
The moment you exit the plane (a 767 btw, not too many of them around these days!), the sweetness of the Hawaiian air overwhelms you. The airport terminal itself is open-air, which makes the transition from our fully climate-controlled journey even more jarring.
First order of business is Costco. Because where better to go on a Saturday afternoon than to Costco?! We are in America, after all. And we left with loads of Ahi Poke, Lau Lau / Kalua Pork, and Manapua – all things you can only get here. We will be making sandwiches and lunchboxes with them for hikes etc.
The jet lag means we were up really early in the morning, enough to catch a relaxing sunrise at the beach. The sky started out with a pale lavender colour, before slowly letting bits of ever so subtle orange through.
Watching the waves pound the volcanic shoreline, part of my brain got thinking about the crashing waves motif from White Lotus. But another part of my brain reminded me that, hey, you are not an ocean person. The water is a dangerous place, so maybe step back a bit from the water, yeah?
With the day underway, we headed to Waimea Valley for the casual walk to Waimea Falls.
The walk was pretty interesting in itself. There were exhibits on Hawaiian culture, and lots of plants to look at through the extensive Botanical Gardens.
In the afternoon, we visited the Dole Plantation. In stark contrast to Waimea Valley, which is owned and operated by a Native Hawaiian governing entity, the Dole Plantation embodies the colonial legacy of the Dole Food Company. The pineapple industry was a big economic driver for Hawaii, and it played a huge part in Hawaii’s contemporary cultural diversity.
I rode the ‘Pineapple Express’ train as part of the plantation visitor experience. It’s a narrated train tour that takes you through the pineapple fields. It was cool to see how they are cultivated en masse. Apart from agriculture facts, though, the narration also attempts to positively frame the colonialism that made this operation possible. As an example, the narrator said that workers from Japan and China would celebrate their respective cultural holidays and have gatherings at the plantation. I am sure they certainly preferred working away from home being subject to the imperialist’s orders than celebrating with family at home I guess.
We ended the day in Haleiwa, with a filling dinner at Kua’Aina Sandwich & Burgers. The burger was juicy and seasoning delicious. Can’t complain!
The next day, we set out for a casual hike to Ka’Ena Point. The views were gorgeous (see cover photo). We chatted with a Japanese father-son duo out fishing. They were sansei & yonsei (the father was the grandchild of the immigrant generation), which was pretty cool. I asked them how they felt about the ocean. They are quite scared of it as well. Apparently, if the water is cloudy, you gotta be extra careful because that’s when the sharks come out. Also, everybody knows someone who has drowned, so the danger is accepted as fait accompli of life.
At Ka’Ena Point, we found a nesting area for albatross (!!) I don’t think I have ever seen an albatross this close before.
The dramatic view of towering cliffs inspired me to see whether there was any climbing nearby. Turns out there is the nearby Mokule’ia Wall and it seems to have loads of top rope options. Perhaps that’s for next time!
