Our First Day Off with the Smiths in Hawaii

When I said that we got up at 4:30 AM, I was serious.  We were in the van and pulling out by 5:00, hoping that we would miss the Honolulu traffic. 

And we did.  We're pretty sure that the traffic was less because of Labor Day--not as many people traveling in to work.  Whatever the reason, we had NO problems all day long.

Tantalus Drive
We headed to the hills above Honolulu on Tantalus Drive.  There were several overlooks, and the view was beautiful, but it was a very cloudy.

That's Diamond Head in the distance on the left.

We waited at the gate of a state park until they opened at 7:00 AM, and the panoramic view there was pretty amazing.  This view of Honolulu was from a much higher vantage point.

View from Pu'u'ualaka'a State Park.  Let me hear you pronounce that one!

Moleka Trail 

On the way down we stopped at the Moleka Trail and headed into the rain forest.  Very wet.  Very slippery.  Very beautiful.  Because we had SO much we wanted to do, we didn't walk very far.

Punchbowl Cemetery

We headed down the mountain and visited the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, better known as Punchbowl Cemetery.  The rain caught up with us here, but it did not diminish the experience at all.

Punchbowl Cemetery, where there are over 45,000 of these markers indicating the graves of men and women.

According to what we've read, Hawaiians in ancient times buried their royalty here and also used it as a place of human sacrifice. And so the the Hawaiian name for this crater is Puowaina--hill of human sacrifices. (From Andrew Doughty's book, Oahu Revealed)  Since 1949 it has been used as a cemetery for those in the military who sacrificed their lives in the Pacific.

Under the sculpture of Columbia is a quote said to be from Abraham Lincoln.  He supposedly wrote it in a letter to a mother who had lost her sons in the Civil War.  "The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice on the altar of freedom."

In addition to the 45,000 marked graves, 28,778 names are carved into the walls on these terraces "whose earthly resting place is known only to God."  Chill bumps and teary eyes.  It was a very stirring, memorable experience.


Kahala Avenue 
After leaving the cemetery, we headed over to Kahala Avenue, supposedly where the very rich live.  We did see some pretty amazing homes before we headed out of town on the coastal route toward Kailua.

Koko Head
We passed by Koko Head, but opted NOT to climb the 1048 railroad ties, or steps, to the top.  They were placed there by the military in World War II.  Art wants to climb them.  I don't.

Everywhere we looked in the Koko Head area, we saw amazing views.  We pulled over, and were shocked at the number of crazy people who climbed out on the rocks.  Waves were crashing into the rocks, and Tim estimated them to be around 4 stories tall.  It's hard to tell that in the picture because we are looking at it from so far up, but those are some HIGH cliffs.

At the Lana'i Lookout

We, being perfectly sane people, stayed a safe distance away from the edge.

Halona Blowhole

The next pull-out along the coastal route was at the Halona Blowhole.  Oh My Goodness!  The ocean has undercut the lava rock and drilled a hole through the top.  The waves roll to the shore shoot sea spray high into the air through the hole, like a geyser.  I was thrilled!

Makapu'u Trail

Our next stop was at the Makapu'u Head trail, a 2 1/2 mile round-trip which we walked in 88 degree temperatures that felt like 110 degrees (to me) because of the humidity.  But...it was beautiful the entire way up, and when we arrived at the top I had to agree that it was worth it.

On the way up.  There were a lot of wild cactus in this area.

The trail is an old road that was used during World War II.

The lens on the Makapu'u Lighthouse is the largest in the United States.

Our view from the top!

We left Makapu'u with grand intentions of traveling on up the coast, but we were SO hot and tired.  So instead, we had delicious cheeseburgers at Maaloha in the little town of Kailua.  Ahhhh, cheeseburgers in paradise--maybe not Jimmy Buffett's paradise, but definitely paradise.

H3

We decided to head back across the island and get a little closer to "home", so we cut across on H3, a very scenic highway.  THESE ARE NOT MY PICTURES!  I hope I'm not breaking any laws, but I wanted you to see it.

Photo by Mark Payton Photography

Photo by Kenji Saito (kenjisaito.com)

It's a 16 mile road that cost $100 million PER MILE to build, and it took 37 years to complete.  It ought to be great, right?

Ko Olina
Ko Olina is a resort on the leeward side of the island near Waianae.  We ended our day there, watching the sun set over one of the four man-made lagoons.

It was a very special day.  The memories of it made scrubbing 15 commodes quite bearable!  :)

 

When Work is Over in Hawaii

Now that I've explained a little bit about the work we do, I need to make sure you know that it is SO worth it!  We want to make sure that we experience a little bit of Oahu each and every day, so this post explains some of our adventures on the days we don't have off.


Wednesday, September 2
We began our first day of work on Wednesday, but stopped around 4:00 (couldn't take much more with the heat and humidity) and decided to venture out.  After eating sandwiches on the top lanai (porch) with this view...

 ...we drove with Denise and Art to Po'kai Bay Beach, just a mile or so down the road.  And this is what we saw there...

The sun was setting, and a children's hula class was performing.  Precious!

My favorite part is the little boy play in the sand ignoring the dancers.  Reminds me of when Alex first started playing Little League.  I didn't want to stop watching them, but I also didn't want to miss the spectacular sunset!

We walked out on a rock jetty and just sat for awhile enjoying our blessings.

Thursday, September 3
It rained and rained and rained on this day, making work a little harder.  The men still mowed and worked on the grounds, and we still cleaned rooms, but for every bit of mud we mopped up, we tracked in more.  But at the end of the day, we drove down the road just a little way and walked down to a beach where turtles are known to frequent.  We didn't see any on this trip, but we will return!  And we did see surfers!

When we reluctantly left there, we drove into Kapolei, a somewhat larger town nearby, so that Denise and Art could buy groceries.  (They hadn't bought groceries yet since on their first day after arriving they spent much of it traveling to Honolulu to get us from the airport and then showing us around.)  While in Kapolei we ate dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.  And just in case you need to know, "Buy one/get one half off" isn't good in Hawaii or Guam.  Read the fine print.

Friday, September 4
Because our first group was arriving, we had to get all work finished by early afternoon.  (You don't want to be cleaning and mowing when your guests arrive!)  So after work Tim, Denise and I went back to look for the turtles.  After consulting our travel guide, we thought we had a shorter route to that beach.  Not so.  But this is where we ended up.

This is what we dislike most about Hawaii--the crowded beaches!

We were walking along just as you see in the picture, when a big wave appeared suddenly and soaked us from the waist down.  They aren't kidding when they say "NEVER turn your back on the ocean."  We headed over to those rocks you see below the mountain and explored a little bit.

While Tim met a local and talked a LONG time, Denise and I found a path through the woods that took us on a somewhat sketchy walk back to our car, we bought lumpias (sort of like a skinny egg roll with meat and cheese in it) from a cart on the side of the road, and we hoped desperately that Tim would soon return.






Saturday, September 5
Saturday was our first full day with a group, so we didn't have much time between meal services.  But between breakfast and lunch, we did manage to make a quick trip to the Waianae Farmers' Market.

I'm pretty sure this is supposed to say "Local DRAGON fruit".

 

Malassadas - a deep fried doughnut kind of pastry with cream in the middle.  Art made us.

We ended up with tomatoes, a mango, salted caramel kettle corn, and the malassadas.  We hurried back to set up for lunch, and were just TOO TIRED to go back out between lunch and dinner or after dinner!  All this work is interfering with our adventures!!

Sunday, September 6
Yesterday we served breakfast, then walked about 100 yards to the Waianae Baptist Church for the morning worship service.  The sides of the church roll up so the breeze blows through, almost like  having church outside.  The pastor and the congregation we very welcoming and friendly, and they knew we were from Pu'u Kahea and that we would have to leave early to set up for lunch.  That made it a little less awkward when we had to walk out.  I know that we'll visit again before we leave.

Our grand intention was to relax on the beach when dinner service was over, making plans for today, our day off, but no! Too tired.  Denise keeps saying, "I promise it wasn't this hard last year!!"  We've decided the biggest difference is the weather.  Time for those storms to move on and the trade winds to return!

And so it's 4:45 AM and we're heading out (early--hopefully to avoid the horrible traffic near Honolulu)  to see what we can see!

There is Work to be Done in Hawaii

Mine and Tim's first day of work began on Tuesday with a meeting at 8:30 on the lanai (porch) of Plantation Hale.  Jimmy, the PKCC director, explained how this volunteer thing works.  He went over the schedule, the special projects list for the month, and general expectations.  The meeting itself didn't last long, and then he directed Art to take Tim and Dexter around for a campus tour, while Denise showed me the ropes.  She went over with me the things I would need to know, showed me where supplies are stored, explained the laundry and food service processes, and took me around to all the buildings.  Another couple, Fred and Joyce, are also working here this month.  They have been here NINE times, and they didn't need a tour!


After our tour, the men headed out to begin the HUGE job of mowing and weed-eating.  When Denise and Art were here last April, it didn't rain one single day in Waianae the entire month.  This year, it has rained every day we've been here, and had been raining for awhile before we arrived because of the storms brewing in the Pacific.  The rain, along with broken lawn mowers (Tim felt at home right off the bat!) made for a LOT of yard work catching up.

Denise and I headed up to the top lanai of the plantation house to clean off the flat surfaces.  Everything gets dusty really quickly, and in addition there are a LOT of geckos.  (They aren't housebroken.)  It's a big beautiful porch, wrapping around the entire length of the front, the side and the back of the plantation hale.  The view is amazing, and it was a great place for me to begin.



The work is on-going.  In a nut-shell, we prepare the campus for groups before they arrive, we provide food service while they are here (we set up and clean up--we don't prepare food), we clean their rooms/bathrooms/dining room/etc. when they leave, and then we complete special projects and monthly maintenance if there is any downtime.  This month's special projects/maintenance list include things such as...

• Repair sprinkler system
• Repair/replace carpet
• Paint porches, floors, steps, ramps, etc.
• Organize and clean storage sheds
• Change air conditioner filters
• Maintain golf carts and vehicles
• Spray for bugs
• Trim trees and bushes
• Clean ceiling fans and light fixtures

The benches and other outdoor surfaces quickly become covered with leaves, dirt, and bird/gecko droppings.  It's just like housework--nobody notices unless you DON'T do it!

Is this work?  I learned to drive the Genie (sort of) and picked the papayas!

This was definitely work!  There are coconut, papaya, and mango trees on the Pu'u Kahea property.






There is ALWAYS work to do.  Our purpose for being here is to to make sure that this campus is ready when groups come in for conferences, retreats, renewal weekends, youth camps, etc.  It's a Christian campus where families, youth groups, ministers and church workers can relax and renew.   I'm happy to be here, and I hope that we will be able to help wherever we're needed.

Waking Up in Hawaii!

Sipping coffee and overlooking Yokohama Bay

On our first full day in Hawaii, we woke up really early because our bodies thought it was 10:30 AM instead of 4:30.   Tim and I had the day off so that we could acclimate to the time change, rest from the tiring day before, and acquaint ourselves with the area.  Denise and Art had to work, but the positive side of waking up so early is that we still had time to explore a little before they started work for the day.  Since we hadn't bought groceries yet, we headed to McDonald's for breakfast and our morning coffee, and then up the coast a little ways.  

We drove to the end of the road, where the western tip of the island, Ka'ena Point, is about 3 miles away.  You have to walk to get there because the road really ends, and that's definitely on our list of things to do. As we were about to leave Yokohama Bay, we saw a beautiful rainbow!

We pulled over on the side of the road on the way back to Waianae to explore Makua Cave. We walked back as far as we could, but to go further would require crawling through a small hole.  This is NOT on my list of things to do.

After dropping Denise and Art back off at Pu'u Kahea, Tim and I headed out of Waianae for the day just to see what we could see.  We quickly realized that we would be pulling off the road a LOT!

Those of you who know Tim will NOT be shocked to see that he is on his phone.  "Hello Irvin!"

The North Shore

Ka'ena Point State Park

We headed up to the North Shore, which wouldn't be far AT ALL if that road I mentioned earlier went all the way around the point.  But it doesn't, so instead of driving 15 minutes up the leeward (western) side of the island, you have to drive south, then east, then north.  And an hour later, if there's no traffic, you are back at Ka'ena Point, about 6 miles from where we had our coffee this morning. And it is OH SO BEAUTIFUL!

It is a very rocky shore on this part of the island, with great big chunks of lava rock.  The road ends on this side too, with a 3+ mile walk out to the western point.  We will save that for another day too.

One of Tim's favorite things about Ka'ena Point was watching the gliders soaring overhead.  They are tethered to a motorized plane until they are airborne, and then land at a nearby landing strip.

Hale'iwa

We drove into the historic (and famous) North Shore town of Hale'iwa. This is where where major surfing events take place during the winter.  That's when the huge waves appear.

And it's where the famous shrimp trucks are, with this (Giovanni's) being one of the most well-known.  We ate at a dirty picnic table with a lot of strangers and flies, with chickens running around our feet, and loved every minute of it.  (Almost. We really didn't enjoy the flies that much.)

And once again, for those of you who know Tim, he didn't really enjoy the messy eating!

 

 Matsumoto's

And what's a trip to the North Shore without trying their famous Shave Ice?!  You can get it plain, or served over ice cream OR served over beans.  Hmmm.  We chose ice cream.

After leaving Hale'iwa, we traveled further north, then back down the windward side around the eastern shore of Oahu. 

This is Turtle Beach.  We didn't see turtles, but we'll be back another day!

One thing that has amazed us is that on our side of the island and all the parts we've explored so far, there are no large buildings/high rises/condominiums anywhere.  I know that they are in the Honolulu/Waikiki area, but we haven't been there yet.  I actually read that other than at Waikiki, there are only about a dozen resorts on Oahu.  The road winds along by the ocean, and when you want a closer view, you just pull over on the side of the road and walk less than 50 yards down to the water.

Chinaman's Hat

We ended our day by getting stuck in the Honolulu traffic trying to get back to our side of the island, then finding a Target where we finally bought a few groceries for an astronomical price, and then eating some of said groceries and collapsing into bed for the night! 

What a great day!

Aloha!

Honolulu International Airport

The day we had been waiting for finally arrived!  In April of last year, Denise and Art volunteered at Pu'u Kahea, a Baptist Conference Center in Waianae on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.  They loved it, came home excited about all they had experienced and accomplished, and suggested that Tim and I apply to volunteer.  We did, and on Monday, August 31st we boarded a plane at RDU and headed for Honolulu, Hawaii by way of Dallas, Texas.  (Did you know that it takes as long to fly from California to Hawaii as it does to fly from North Carolina to California? It's a long way!)  It took over 3 hours to fly to Dallas, then another 8 1/2 hours to fly to Hawaii.  The skies were cloudy as we flew into Honolulu, but when we broke through the clouds...oh my.  Breathtaking!

Tim looks a little goofy, but it's a little hard to take a group selfie!

Because he knew Denise and I were sisters, the director of the conference center sent Denise and Art to pick us up from the airport.  They greeted us with leis--shell leis from Pu'u Kahea, and a special orchid lei from them to me!  We traveled about 35 miles from Honolulu  to Waianae where the Pu'u Kahea Conference Center (PKCC) is located.  Waianae is a small town located on the Leeward (west) side of the island, and I'll tell you more about it later.





The Plantation Hale (pronounced holly and meaning house) is the center point of the PKCC campus. The house, outbuildings, and grounds were a former sugar plantation.  I'll tell you more about that later too, but this was our first glimpse of our home for the next month..

The Plantation Hale, originally the main house of a sugar plantation

Okay, not exactly OUR home, but it is the location of meetings, five guest rooms, and all guest meals.  It is definitely the focal point of the campus.

THIS is our home for the next month!  Ours is the apartment on the right, and that's my golf cart!

The name of our cottage is Makai, it means "beach", and it's named that because it's the volunteer cottage closest to the water.  Denise and Art are in Mauka, it means "mountains", and it is closest to the mountain range.

A one room (plus bath) efficiency apartment...

...with a bed, dresser, sofa, table for two, sink, stove, and refrigerator...

...and a BIG bathroom!

We quickly unpacked our bags (one carry-on each--didn't take long), and decided to walk the few blocks to the "downtown" area for dinner with Denise, Art, and Dexter. Dexter is a fellow volunteer, and is a retired minister from Charlotte, NC.  Denise and Art suggested a restaurant, and I cannot imagine a better ending to our first day in Hawaii!

Our view from the Waianae Army Rec Center where we ate dinner

"And the evening and the morning were the first day." Genesis 1:5