Oahu, Hawaii--New and some Free and not-so-free Things to Do

 Many of you know that the Hawaiian Islands are a second home to me.  I have spent many years working on the islands, and my partner is actually from Oahu and the Big Island.  So, we try to come "home" at least once a year.  This year we accepted a little "job" of taking care of our friends two very mellow dogs for five weeks on Oahu.  

Now usually we are rushing around in one week trying to do everything, visit everyone and get it all in.  But, this time, I just relaxed into "what do you want to do today?" We have  an electric car to get around the island thanks to our dog owners, so we have at least a 45-mile range.  We figured out that there are quite a few things that you can do here on Oahu for free...and this is a good thing, because it is expensive here.  

We started off with a visit to Ala Moana Magic Island right at the top of Waikiki.  Now Waikiki is the crazy beach with 1000s of people, kind of like a perpetual spring break crowd there...so we drove a little farther away from there where most of the locals go for picnics and family gatherings.  Magic Island is right next to the harbor and the Ala Moana Hotel, so you can often see famous people's boats and yachts that come in. I usually recommend staying at the Ala Moana Hotel to friends and family, as it is not in the middle of Waikiki, and  I like the beach (though man-made) there because it is easy to walk to from the parking lot, and if you don't want to swim, you can take the walk around the "island." 

On Friday nights, you can sit from the porch of our house that we are staying in and watch the fireworks that go off like clockwork at 8 p.m. from the Waikiki Hilton.  We bought a nice bottle of wine from the grocery store on sale, and took in the fireworks while cooking ono (fish) that had been caught by our dog owners (we promise not to eat all the fish in the freezer Earl and Kate:)

I have always wanted to drive up into the Manoa Valley- in the back of Waikiki, to the Tantalus Lookout, in Puu Ualakaa State Park.  You drive up Nutridge Street to get there (hint: Macadamia nut trees once grew here).  Technically it is a  forested cinder cone that frames the Manoa Valley on the left side.  You can actually do quite a hefty hike from that point, but we opted to drive up to the view of Waikiki from the back.  We take the dogs on two walks each day.  We are way up high in the back of Waikiki.  The dogs actually climb each day to the Wa'ahila Ridge State Recreation Area.  The view out to the ocean and Manoa Valley is pretty spectacular.  

We have also made the pilgrimage to the North Shore; including Dole Plantation for Dole Whip (frozen smooth pineapple ice cream) and all things pineapple, and the Haleiwa Shopping Center (which is not free, but always yields delightful finds).  My good friend Annie came with us, and was able to direct my partner to a ni 'ihau shell bracelet that I have wanted a long time, for our 12th anniversary.  The shells for this bracelet are gathered from the "Forbidden Island" of Ni 'ihau (because it is privately owned).  They are so tiny, that it takes a large number of the white, yellow, red, and green shells even to make up a bracelet.  Imagine how many shells it takes to make a lei.  It is a very local thing, but highly valued for the intense work in collecting and stringing the shells. Jewelry and leis rom these Ni 'ihau hakelelani shells have been valued for a long time here in Hawaii. Both Hawaiian Queens Kapi 'olani and Queen Emma wore Ni 'ihau necklaces and leis to be presented to Queen Victoria of England. 

We finished our day at the North Shore with a visit for shave ice at Matsumoto's Shave Ice. It is one of the best stops you can make after a hot day.  My flavors over the shave ice were mango, strawberry, and lilikoi (local word for passion fruit), and underneath ice cream.  There are many places on all the islands to get shave ice, but Matsumoto's is the best- in my humble opinion.  

 We are slowly making our way to the 5 State Botanical Gardens (SBG) this time around.  I am not sure why I have never visited these gardens, but they are spectacular.  For the most part they are free.  We started off at Koko Crater SBG on the east side of the island, which has some of the most beautiful Plumeria varieties.  The smell of these trees takes your breath away.  To me, they smell like a combination of lemon tree and Gardenia blossoms.  There is nothing like it in the world.  

We travelled to see the Wahiawa Tropical SBG near the North Shore of the island.  This is where my partner was raised, and when he was growing up, there was only grass to walk on in the garden.  Now there are pathways through this luscious green tropical garden.  I saw flowers and plants that I have never seen before from all over the world.

For Father's Day, we went to the Hula Grill, a very famous restaurant right in the middle of Waikiki.  If you ever get a chance to go there, order the calamari steak.  I have never tasted better calamari.  We also had tiki drinks that made me smile. A Hula-rita and signature Mai tai. We ended with Hula Ice cream pie.  Sometimes you just don't skimp.  

We are about halfway through our stay here on Oahu. I have a few more things I want to do and explore, including 3 more State Botanical Gardens, afternoon tea at the Moana (means ocean) Surfrider Hotel, snorkeling, and the boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor National Park.  It has been raining for the last week, so this really churns up the ocean and causes murkiness when you want to snorkel to see the  fish.  We will try for this next week.  Until then, Aloha from Paradise.