Aloha Oy: The Blur

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 …


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Aloha, AlOha, ALOHA!

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 …


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Aloha Ah: Waikiki, Once

“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 …


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Aloha Ouch: One Big Bummah

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, …


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A Day on the Kohala Coast

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, …


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Aloha Oy: Island Arrival (Nov 4th)

Flying takes it out of me, more than I like to admit. For the past 12 plus hours, I’ve had a doozy of a headache. I’m drinking a lot of water and applying regular doses of ibuprofen and in the middle of the night last night, I tried some sinus meds – that seemed to take the edge off. It’s the dry, recirculated air and the less than comfortable seats.

Our flight was uneventful, which is all I ask from air travel these days. We left on time, had no trouble making our connecting flights, our bags were there as expected, the rental car company did not badger me with “offers” of overpriced gas or stupid unnecessary fees. Our rig these week is a Dodge Caliber, a heavy feeling car with a low ceiling and lousy visibility. Why, here in the islands where environmentalism is so important and gas so expensive, am I not offered the option to rent a hybrid?


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