Category Archives: Hawaiian History

Honolulu day trip

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Day Trip.’ (See more responses here.)

Any trip on the Big Island could qualify as a day trip, as everything can be reached and returned from in a day. But a common day trip in Hawaii is a visit to one of the other islands. This might be for work, for medical reasons, for some other kind of appointment, or simply for pleasure.

These photos are from my last trip to Honolulu. An early flight from Kona Airport and a late afternoon return gave me plenty of time to conduct my business and have a wander around downtown.

The top photo shows the entrance to the Hawaii State Capitol building. In the middle is Kawaiaha’o Church, constructed between 1836 and 1842, and considered the main Protestant church in Hawaii. Below is one of Honolulu’s large office buildings, somewhat screened by a generous amount of palms and other trees.

Shrapnel

These days, the military conducts exercises at its Pōhakuloa Training Area in the saddle between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Hualālai. At 133,000 acres, it’s the largest such installation in Hawaii or anywhere else in the Pacific.

But during World War II, the military leased 91,000 acres from Parker Ranch, around Waimea and down towards Kawaihae. A temporary base, called Camp Tarawa, was built on this land, and much of the rest of it was called the Waikoloa Maneuver Area. This area was used to train troops for campaigns in the Pacific.

After the war, the land was returned to Parker Ranch. While it was cleared of most munitions, a lot of shrapnel can still be found there today. The top photo shows part of the haul from a half-hour walk through the area. The coin is a U.S. quarter, a little under an inch in diameter. Many of the pieces have lines, grooves, and other marks that might help identify what munitions they were once part of.

The photo to the right shows a piece of shrapnel lying in the dirt in the scrubby ground that makes up most of this area. Kawaihae Harbor can be seen at the top right. I thought it would be hard to spot shrapnel in this terrain, but it’s surprisingly easy. Shrapnel has a slight, but distinctly different look to the dirt and lava rocks. Pick it up and it’s noticeably heavier than any of the rocks.

Hunting for shrapnel isn’t without risks. Apart from the dangers of wandering around on rough, unstable ground, there’s always a chance of finding something live. Best tread lightly.

Abstracts: State Capitol in Honolulu

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Design.’ (See more responses here.) For this, I’m posting photos of the Hawaii State Capitol building in Honolulu. Opened in 1969, it’s a relatively recent structure. Some of the design features of the building are striking because they represent elements of the state.

In the middle photo, the reflecting pool, surrounding the building, represents the Pacific Ocean. The columns resemble royal palm trees, and the conical structure, the base of one of the legislative chambers, is the shape of the volcanoes that formed the island chain.

The bottom photo shows how the building is open to the elements, and reflects life in Hawaii where many activities happen outside. On the right is one of four kukui nut trees, the state tree, which represent the four main counties.

The top photo is a view of a segment of the open roof and the walkway that encircles the upper level of the building. I like the strong lines and colors of this view.

Waimea and pu’us

The town of Waimea sits in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Kohala Mountain. The town is also known as Kamuela because several towns on other islands have the name ‘Waimea’ too. The postal service needed something more exclusive so Kamuela, Hawaiian for Samuel, was chosen to honor a local citizen.

This view shows the town nestled among trees and backed by pu’us (hills) on the flank of Kohala Mountain. It could be considered a rather bucolic view, which is something of a private joke in this household. A couple of years ago, a run down and shuttered gas station, at the main intersection in town, was becoming something of an eyesore. A letter to the local paper deplored this situation, saying it was a blight on ‘bucolic Waimea.’

Truth is, Waimea looks a good deal more bucolic from a distance. Close up, it’s a busy small town, with a good deal of traffic and a couple of prominent shopping centers. It’s really a quite nice small town, but I’m not sure ‘bucolic’ is how I’d describe it.

Mahai’ula Beach

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Warmth.’ (See more offerings here.) Picture yourself stretched out on this beach. Imagine the sun warming the sand, warming you. Perhaps it’s time for a dip in the clear, turquoise waters. After you emerge, the sun quickly dries you. Time to retreat to the shade of the trees lining the beach, a cool beverage at your side, a book in hand (put that phone away). Repeat as necessary.

This is Mahai’ula Beach, one of the beaches at Kekaha Kai Park. The old house, in the top photo, was built in 1880 by John Kaelemakule, a successful fisherman and businessman. After he died in 1936, the property was sold to the Magoon family who owned the land until 1993. It’s now owned by the state of Hawaii.

Sugar cane

North Kohala was a significant center for Hawaii’s sugar industry through the boom years in the 1800s until its decline in the first half of the 20th century. Now, sugar cane is being put to a new use in the area – rum production.

The photos show sugar cane being grown in the fields below Hawi wind farm. This isn’t just any kind of sugar cane. These are heirloom varieties, derived from canoe plants – plants brought to Hawaii by the original Polynesian settlers. Now they’re being used in the production of rum agricole.

Rum agricole hails from the Caribbean, particularly the island of Martinique. Regular rum is made from molasses, but rum agricole uses fresh sugarcane juice. The people behind Kuleana Rum have begun producing the Caribbean-style rum here on the Big Island. They have a distillery in Kawaihae, about 17 miles down the coast, and have opened Kuleana Rum Shack, a bar and restaurant in Waikoloa.

For more information about Kuleana Rum, go to kuleanarum.com. Posted in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘Spirit.’ See more offerings here.

North Kohala libraries

The new public library in North Kohala, Hawaii

Today’s post is in response to this week’s Sunday Stills challenge on the theme of ‘For the Love of Reading & Books.’ See more offerings here.

The top photo shows North Kohala’s relatively new public library, which opened in 2010. The library features wind and photovoltaic energy systems as well as a rainwater catchment system. These features helped it gain LEED Gold Certification, the first state building in Hawaii to do so.

The photo below shows the Bond Memorial Library, which served the area from 1929 until the new library’s opening. This building was much smaller – 1,610 sq.-ft. as opposed to 6,000 sq.-ft. for the new building.

When the library moved from the old building to the new, more than 1,000 volunteers lined the road to move the books by hand over the mile plus distance. This echoed the story of King Kamehameha the Great who organized a human chain 20 miles long to carry rocks from Pololu Valley to build Pu’ukohola Heiau near Kawaihae, though I don’t think King Kamehameha’s rock carriers were volunteers.

Back in 2014, there were plans to convert the old Bond Memorial Library to a cultural/historical museum for the area, but nothing has happened yet and the old building still sits there, unused as far as I can tell.

The old Bond Memorial Library in Kapaau, Hawaii.

A walk through downtown Honolulu

The Mission Memorial Building was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Protestant missionaries in Hawaii, something of a mixed blessing for the locals.
The lovely red brick Hawaiian Brewing Company building.

This week’s Friendly Friday challenge theme is ‘Photo Walk.’ (See more responses here.) I thought of a few options, but my visit to Honolulu last year seemed to fit the bill. After I’d conducted my business there, I spent the rest of my time on a photo walk through downtown.

I’ve posted some photos from this walk before. To see them just scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Honolulu’ in the tags.

The Sky Gate sculpture was built to celebrate the celestial event known as “Lahaina Noon,” which is when the sun is directly overhead and vertical objects cast no shadow. This occurs twice a year in Hawaii, usually in May and July. In the case of this sculpture, the wavy top casts a perfectly round shadow on the ground.
The art deco entrance to the Honolulu Fire Department headquarters complex.
These water fountains at the Hawaii State Capitol building are shaped like hibiscus blooms, which are the state flower.
Two contrasting tower buildings with a plane flying overhead.
A woman in red enters an elevator at the Hawaii State Capitol building.
Little Bo Peep has sheered her sheep apparently.
Huge banyan trees in the grounds of ‘Iolani Palace.
‘Iolani Barracks housed the Royal Household Guard.
‘Iolani Palace was the home of Hawaiian royalty until they were overthrown by American businessmen backed by the U.S. military.
This was something of a mixed blessing for the locals.