DAY 7, DEC 16TH, 2012, SUNDAY
8.30AM, BISHOP MUSEUM:
Founded in 1889, BISHOP MUSEUM is the
largest museum in Hawai'i and is home to the world's largest
collection of Polynesian cultural and scientific artefacts.
As usual we were the first on the premises and got some great pics when we were waiting for it to open.
Lovely stone sculpture—moai here. These are also called Easter island heads—Moai are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. To the people who erected and used them, they were actual repositories of sacred spirit. Carved stone and wooden objects in ancient Polynesian religions, when properly fashioned and ritually prepared, were believed to be charged by a magical spiritual essence called "mana."
Charles Reed Bishop, a philanthropist
and co-founder of Kamehameha Schools and First Hawaiian Bank, built
the museum in memory of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi
Bishop. She was the last legal heir of the Kamehameha Dynasty, which
ruled the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi between 1810 and 1872. Bishop had
originally intended the museum to house family heirlooms passed down
to him through the royal lineage of his wife.
Lovely dark yellow haus... to continue
with our hibiscus count.
Dwarf coconut tree laden with coconuts.
Anthropod exhibition. Little kids loved
these slow moving animatronic insects.
We entered the main building hosting
the lovely Hawaiian halls at Bishop museum.
Bishop museum has all its doors, wall panels made of precious koa wood... awesome sight.
In the hallway—clock shows 9.15.
Lovely wood totem pole—made of red
cedar. .
Kahili—feather standards of Kings and Chiefs.
KU—Hawaiian God.
Hale pili —grass house —from above.
3 stories of treasures—MARINE
CREATURES AND THEIR SKELETONS hung up.
Real skeletons of these sea creatures—this is a shark.
As we went up the floor, saw the specimens closer.
Saw many Kū (The Provider/Protector) as well ... were lucky to buy 2 and have them with us now.
Seen so many of these thatched houses in Indian villages—hale pili—-house of grass.
Hale pili as well as the wooden pots hung up on coir stands are all a throwback on our Indian culture as well.
Traditional sculpture—stone Easter Island head included.
A land surrounded by water loves its
boats...
Koa wood seats.
Got a couple of these leis made from
kukui nuts as presents from Sheraton in Big island where we stayed
for the last leg of our vacation.
Love the hats... beats the stupid
baseball cap anyday.
Gourds carved out into pots, and hung
up.
Whale bones and teeth were priced possessions
Awesome mother of pearl—a lovely
painting on it.
Nacre also known as mother of pearl, is
an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as
an inner shell layer; it is also what makes up the outer coating of
pearls. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Awesome tray... look at the design of
the legs/handles.
Hawaiian paintings.
Famous Hawaiian tapestry.
Clothes...Royal jacket.
Feather cape.
Feather masterpiece.
Duke Kahanamoku, the father of surfing
won 3 olympic medals for the country.
Koa wood staircase leading to Hawaiian
hall.
The last royal—Bernice Bishop.
Bishop who donated this museum to the
people.
White visitors intimidating natives
with their gun power.
Tribal battles
Koa wood again—the famous macadamia
nuts.
Taxidermy.
Traditional Tile work
Shell collections.
shells: gems of nature...again familiar
sight from kanyakumari et al.
Science building exhibits fit for educating little local kids...Creating patterns on the wall with drum
beats.
Entering a volcano.
Creating a tsunami.
Lovely garden to match—screw pine
tree roots.
Kualoa Ranch:
We then drove off to Kualoa Ranch after
making an appointment with them... totally loved this scenic ranch.
The ranch consists of 3 valleys:
Kaʻaʻawa Valley, Kualoa Valley, and Hakipuʻu Valley. The ranch is
located on Hawaii State Route 83 between Kaʻaʻawa and Waikane.
Kualoa is open for guided tours.
More than 50 movies and TV shows have
been filmed at Kualoa over the years, including Paradise,
Hawaiian Style, Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, 50
First Dates, You, Me and Dupree, Hawaii Five-0, Mighty Joe Young, Pearl
Harbor, Windtalkers, Godzilla, Kong: Skull
Island, Jumanji, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Lost.
Here's Kualoa ranch history. The valley
was sacred to ancient Hawaiians from the 13th to the 18th century, as
Chief Laʻa-mai-kahiki settled there after
visiting Kauaʻi before returning to Tahiti. It was
also the site of the sacred drums of Kapahuʻula and
Kaʻahuʻulapunawai as well as the sacred Hill of
Kauakahiakahoʻowaha, the key to the sovereignty of the Kingdom
of Oʻahu.
 |
| Ranch History |
As written in the Kumulipo, an ancient
Hawaiian genealogical chant, Kualoa is where Papa and Wakea buried
their first still born child, Haloa. It is said that the first kalo
(taro) plant grew up from where Haloa was buried at Kualoa.
In 1850 an American doctor, Dr. Gerrit
P. Judd purchased 622 acres of ranch land at Kualoa for $1300,
and also the island of Mokoliʻi just offshore, from King
Kamehameha III. Dr. Judd was the first person to translate medical
journals into the Hawaiian language for King Kamehameha and so the
king was very grateful for his works. In 1860 Dr. Judd bought a
further 2200 acres. Then in 1880 Dr. Judd's son Charles bought
another 1188 acres. Today there are about 4000 acres of land.
In 1863 Charles Judd and his
brother-in-law Samuel Garner Wilder started a sugarcane
plantation and built a sugar mill at the ranch.
Several years of low rainfall brought sugar farming to a close, and
the mill closed in 1870. The ruins of the old sugar mill can still be
seen along Kamehameha Highway.
In 1941 during World War II, the
U.S. military occupied the land, which became the site of Kualoa
Airfield. After the war the ranch was returned to the Morgan family,
the owners and descendants of Dr. Judd
This stunningly beautiful ranch has
some 4000 acres and is owned by a wealthy private family now... they
preserve heritage and their tours are informative and entertaining.
Awesome koa wood sculpture.
The whole area is classy and well
run... a tourist trap of course if you choose to use their
restaurant.
The 2 wagon tours we took are
reasonably priced at $25, we took the tour of land and history, and
also the movie set tour; other kualoa ranch tours on ATV/ horses etc
are $100 and above... we just wanted the ride through the beautiful
valley with least trouble.
The whole place was full of visitors
despite the high prices.
Ponies available for rides.
Lovely Hawaiian tiles making a cool
portrait at the Kualoa Ranch.
We were on a Swiss army six wheeler...
view of old fishing pond.
Thee were touch me not plants nearby,
which we touched and watched them close.
After the 1st tour of land and history,
we went for the movie set tour as well... both priced at 25$......
waiting to check in for our 2nd tour now.
Could easily recall the scenes from
Jurassic Park picturised here.
The dinosaur eggs from the movie set.
From high up on the hill, ocean was
visible as well.
Lovely tiles.
That was the end of the day.
DAY 8, DEC 17, 2012
6.30AM: Sunrise at Waikiki beach
We sat around at the Waikiki beach for
almost an hour. There were low clouds and slight color changes as the
sun rose. The ambience was peaceful and well worth it.
This is the water falls at Hilton
Hawaiian village on our way back from Waikiki sunrise.
Checked out of hotel Ramada after
breakfast, went to the Honolulu airport, returned the rental car and
waited around for our flight to Hilo on big island. they had changed
the timing to 11.30 and it was such a waste of time...
BIG ISLAND:
Collected our rental car,
checked into Hotel Hilo Seaside, this was for 3 nights, followed by 1
night at Volcano National Park and then 3 nights in Sheraton at
Keauhou Bay. We then drove back to Hilo, return the car and tke our
inter island flight back to Honolulu for our flight back home to
Houston.
3 bases were right for the size of this
island. With the same drop off destination, car rental was
reasonable... not a big issue driving back.
4PM: Rainbow falls
After trying to make it to World
Tropical Gardens and Nani Mou gardens, reached Rainbow falls.
The previous week, we had seen dry
pics, so were very happy to see water flowing.
It was right on the road... not after a
trek as reports reviewed.
Hamakua Coast Drive:
Then we went on a drive through Hamakua
coast..... scenic point here.
This is the bay road, quite near our hotel Hilo Seaside.
There is a trail from here but it's quite dangerous.
This is on a one lane bridge... water was gushing through a cave... it was dangerous to park the car here as oncoming vehicles may be speeding.
It was a very nice scenic drive through a thick
rain forest but darkness was setting in. We drove back to our hotel
and called it a day.
Report of next 2 days is here:
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