America Through My Eyes – Hawaiian Islands – 6

America Through My Eyes

Hawaiian Islands (Part 6)

Telugu Original : Dr K.Geeta 

English Translation: V.Vijaya Kumar

           It was the last day on the Big Island, the first of the Hawaiian trip. At six or maybe at seven o’clock in the evening, we had to board a plane from the Big Island to the island of Oahu, the capital city of Hawaii, Honolulu.

           By that time, we had covered the island from north to south for the last two days, going from the west coast to the east coast every day and visiting almost all the major tourist spots.  However, the actual beach visit was still pending.  Hawaii is famous for its beautiful beaches.  In our busy schedule, we did not let the children go into the water anywhere.  We decided to spend until three o’clock in the afternoon at the beach to cover up the lapse.

           We left the Kona resort around 9 a.m. It was very difficult to leave the beautiful sea view from the balcony adjacent to our room, the ships visible in the distance, and the wide curved shore feasting the eyes.

           I remembered that we didn’t have a look at the whole resort. We enjoyed the sights of the resort restaurant, the open theater, the other seaside features on the premises, the photos of the “Kamehameha” royals hanging on the walls in the corridors, the deva ganneru flowers scattered around the resort, the colorful big fish in the small canals and particularly the pineapple plants that I starved to see.  I was very happy to see the small pineapple seedlings beautifully grown like croton plants hiding in the bushes in the flower beds by the side of the roads.

           When children get into the water it’s very hard to come back. There was still time till the evening, so I took out the map to select a couple of places to see and then only preferred the beach.

           Children shouted “Hurray!”  Satya interceded and convinced the children to go to the beach after visiting the one place I suggested. As soon as the deal was done, I turned the jeep towards the south.

Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Park:-

First, we visited “Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Park.”  It was a place that tells the history and culture of the Big Island. This place was where the kings and religious leaders lived once.

           Living evidence stones of ancient times, many articles made of wood and stone, and mantra stupas carved like totems, the living places and rituals of that time, can be seen walking through the four-hundred-year-old-long stone ramparts on the seashore amidst the restored remains of that time. 

           The ticket to the museum is five dollars.  That means it is a very small one. At the entrance, there was a small gift shop with car parking and a long verandah next to it. The murals drawn on the wall along the length of the veranda tell the stories of the primitive people who lived on the sea coast.  For visitors to know all these features, there were headphones to listen to the sound by pressing a switch. When we got down from the verandah, there were six to seven huts, small and big, surrounded by coconut trees in the sand of the beach. You can walk through these huts.  In the first hut, a man wearing a loincloth like a primitive man, carrying boat equipment and other tools, was working on something.  He was carving some logs, perhaps making small-sized boats.  It was a good idea for the museum management to set up a man to show the way of life there. He patiently answered the questions to the visitors. I asked him, “How long have you been carving?”  Without even looking at me, he answered, “For fifteen days.” I thought it would be a good idea like this in our Shilparamam.  Children seem to be more interested in such demonstrations. The tools were piled around, hung from the rafters, and arranged neatly as if he lived there.

           From there, we went around a jig jig wall and returned to the center through a sandy path not understanding whether it was inside or outside the wall like a small horse’s hoof.  Coming back, we saw a tall hut on the seashore that looked like a Wizard’s abode, surrounded by wooden figures like dwarf monsters.

           When we were at that place, it seemed to us that instead of some historical place, it was like the first steps of life formed by man to live in a new place. If the man is unaware of modernity, he has to live using coconut trees and stones.  A kind of grandeur was revealed in every form. The sculptures and structures were symbolic of the inseparable relationship between man and nature, the fear of death, the mystic stories of life after death, and many more secrets.

           When Siri saw the sand, she ran happily there, standing between two nearby coconut trees she also posed for shots. When she saw those weird sukkah images she rushed back as if someone had chased her.

           We headed along the coast passing all of them. There were wooden block chairs, stone blocks, and a big rock to play a game like tiger and goat game in the middle for four people to sit around. They could not find anything interesting when they reached there. They got tired and squatted down on the chairs and were reluctant to walk further.

           There were very few people with us in that park. Those who came were leaving within ten minutes.  Perhaps we were only the people who spent most of our time explaining everything to the children.

           There was a “snorkeling park” on the opposite side of the beach visible through an iron fence. The crowd was greatly scattered there. Snorkeling means going under the ocean waves to see the wonders.  We booked tickets in Honolulu the day after that tour, so we didn’t go there. Of course, it was not the entrance.

Kekaha Kai State Park:-

We decided to go north towards the airport to any beach where children can enjoy and play. At this snorkeling park, the sea was turbulent with fierce waves and rocks. We searched the map for a beautiful beach with shallow waves and reached Kekaha Kai State Park, located in the north, about half an hour from the airport.  It was also interesting that Hawaiian names have fifth and sixth consonants like pa, ha, ka, and la.  We were troubled with the phonetic system of the language.

           When we watched from Kekaha Kai State Park we suspected that the route was closed. But I still can’t forget the great view of the drive down to the beach from there later.

           The dark blue color of the sea disappeared and changed into a light blue color because of the white, powdery sand at the bottom. We would have fabricated a story like that an old woman perhaps spread the flour there! By then it was noon.

           The beautiful sunlight shone brightly on the thin blue waves, and it seemed as if it had suddenly spread its wings and flown from the earth to some divine world. When you see that warm sand, you will surely want to pour it on your head and spread it all over your body like a child. Siri enjoyed getting into the water and splashing all over her body and then in the sand. That’s the game she enjoyed! As soon as I stepped into the warm waters I was reminded of Rishikonda Beach at Visakhapatnam.

           I have never seen such a beautiful beach.  Even though there were fifty others like us, the beach was clean. In such nice and warm weather, more people were relaxing in reclining chairs and towels on the beach than those taking a dip in the water.  An old woman came to Siri and chatted for a while.  Siri also easily makes friends like me and chats with strangers.  Siri joined her bed and slept with her for a while. She said that she came there from her friend’s house and was impressed by this coast like us and stayed here and added that she would come here every day for ten more days. Luckily, she left the beach earlier than us. Otherwise, Siri would have insisted on going with her.

           Returning to the shore, we took open-top showers, changed clothes in the washrooms, reached our clean car parking place, and spread a blanket. We ate bread, mango pieces (plucked from the trees the day before), and potato chips bought on the way.  We probed at the thorny trees for the glue, and for the worms we called “horses” as children.  No such traces were found.  Satya and I told the stories of our meeting places in such thorny trees to the children and enjoyed the moments.

           We hoped that we would reach the airport in half an hour so we started at 3 o’clock. We assumed fifteen minutes to return the rental car. Even if we reach there by four o’clock, our flight would be at six o’clock. When we got to the main road from the narrow beach road, the whole road was jammed.  It took us a lot of time from one signal to another.  What’s even weirder was that the GPS showed the airport was still forty miles away! As far as I could remember, the airport should be around ten miles from the coast where we were! Something suspicious.

           Satya, who always relies on GPS, denied my doubts in such heavy traffic jams. But I turned the car back after passing five or six signals, trusting my memory. Satya and the kids had a big fight but later realized that if I had not reversed the car, we would not have reached our flight time that day!

           We reached the airport around four and a half.  We returned the car at five o’clock and reached the airport premises which was like a bus stand.  There was an announcement that the flight was delayed an hour. It was daylight so we walked around the airport and took photos.  After the bags were checked in we went shopping. I liked standing in a queue to board the plane and going up the stairs to the plane like in a bus station.

           As we began our journey to Honolulu, which was about an hour away, when the plane took off and the Big Island turned into the Small Island from above, flying over the sea, passing two more islands below, until reaching Honolulu the island of Oahu, in the sparkling lights I felt something pain aches in my heart with those missing moments and memories.

*****

(to be continued)