Friday
was our next-to-last day in Hawaii, and we really wanted to see more of Oahu
and spend some time on different beaches. After eating the last of our Hilo
mochi and bread for breakfast, we were out the door at 8:30, already dressed
in our bathing suits. We drove northwest and stopped briefly at Leonard’s,
the bakery famous for their malasadas, for a second breakfast; after trying
every variety, we agreed that the original sugared, unfilled ones were best.
We
arrived at Hanauma Bay Beach Park at 9:15, but we weren’t able to get
onto the beach itself until almost 10:30. Hanauma Bay is a protected coral reef,
and apparently years of abuse had been devastating it. Now there are strict
limits on the number of people allowed, and the everyone has to watch a ten-minute
movie about protecting the reef. In short, don’t step on the coral, don’t
touch or feed the fish, and don’t take anything. Thus instructed, we walked
down to the beach, which was slightly crowded—though not nearly as bad
as the crowds upstairs, in the parking lot, and at the educational movie might
imply—and immediately went into the clear, bright water. As we stood in
the calm water, we saw a large fish swim past—right there, inches away
from us! It was amazing. We rented a snorkel, and though I tried to use it,
I kept inadvertently holding my breath rather than trusting the snorkel. Nervous,
I bit down too hard on the mouthpiece and broke it, but then I discovered that
by just using the mask over my eyes and nose, and by keeping my mouth shut and
breath held, I could put my face in the water and see fish. Robert got much
more into the snorkel than I did, and even with the now-broken mouthpiece, he
managed to snorkel all over the bay, looking at the edge of every part of the
reef he could find. When we left Hanauma, finally, it was 12:30.
We drove up the windward coast of Oahu, stopping at Keneke’s Drive In and Fear God Wrestling Team (yes, that was its real name). The dining room was painted with Bible verses on open cinder blocks, and the pork lau lau plate lunch, complete with one scoop of macaroni salad and two scoops of rice, was about what we’d expect. We took a detour into the 7-11 next door to gaze at bento boxes, sushi, spam musubi, and a manupuas-Coke combo. 7-11s by us don’t have things this tasty!
back
------------------------ next