O'ahu Trip - And What I'd Forgotton
Ten Years Makes a Difference
We honeymooned on Oahu ten years ago and have always wanted to go back. But that took time (not to mention rescheduling the rest of my life), and we finally went to go last week to celebrate ten great years. But we decided on a different side of the island. We went to the West Side instead. Although there will be several posts ahead, I thought it was humorous (and some not so humorous) what I’d forgotten (or realized wrongly) about Island Life.
There are no sanddollars and no seagulls. This is alien to me as we live in Oregon and these are both common “finds.” In fact, the seagulls abound at home. And this is the same ocean!
The waves are different. They swell and don’t usually crest until the last minute. The ocean literally swells as you watch it. A friend on Facebook tells me that it is a “shore break” as opposed to a “beach break.” A shore break is caused by deeper water next to the shore, and the waves don’t curl until the bottom of the wave hits the bottom of the ocean. Oh! Makes so much sense. Yes, there was a drop-off. But again, the same ocean!
The current is intense on the west side. With several warning signs around us, we watched some skilled swimmers. Most times, it took them 4-5 tries to get out over the strong waves to actually swim, kayak, etc. AND the poor turtles kept getting stuck in it. But they seemed patient and literally went with the flow until they were successful.
There is no tide. This one took me a while. People would set up the chairs, etc, and go off for long walks without watching their stuff. But this was no issue. The water seldom came up above the sandbank. I kept questioning it until hubby reminded me. LOL. There are also less shells, rocks you can carry, and sea glass.
There is no hard sand! Unless it is on a rock! Walking was pretty tough and quite the workout. The sand was either soft or softer, sometimes like a quicksand when you sink up to your calves. Those with back issues, beware, although one would hope that more sand-walking would eventually strengthen it. Just don’t overdo it like I did the first day.
I’m a minority there. I’d forgotten about that until we walked into the Honolulu airport. It isn’t a bad thing to experience and remember how minorities in our regions often feel. Different looks and many different languages. I used a lot of a universal language - a smile. Turns out, the shuttle driver had been here to Forest Grove for the Corn and Chalk Festival a few years back. And he complained about our roundabouts, just like we do. :-) He pulled us aside later to ask about housing prices. It is indeed a small world.
Flowering Trees, Music, and the Experience. For our honeymoon, we stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort, and it was our first time in Hawaii. The impression I got? ALL OF HAWAII is like this. We received lei’s on arrival at the hotel. All we heard was Hawaiian music, there were excessive flowering trees, so much so that I’ve told everyone else that there are more flowers on trees than leaves. Ha Ha. Well guess what, I saw so many trees this time with mostly leaves and I heard one Hawaiian-type song our whole five days there.
They make fun of the chicken - but hey, I guess you gotta have a bird mascot. We saw a lot more chickens in the parking lots on the North end. Again, so much so that I would tell people all about the chickens. We heard them every morning starting at 3am due to a small hobby yard nearby, but other than that, we only saw one or two in parking lots. However, I found this lovely stuffed chicken at the airport gift shop, as well as a Christmas ornament for the chicken.
There is now a huge homeless/houseless population. More coming on this one as well. I don’t remember any tent cities on the North End ten years ago. We were truly shocked when we drove to the west side to see that the State Parks on the beachside were lined with encampments. Many have been there for years. This touched me deeply, so I had to research it, journal about it, and, of course, connect with the local domestic violence center because where there are people, there is DV. And it suddenly made sense why the majority of homes we saw had locked gates and why our condo building was also very secure. These people need help, and affordable living seems out of reach. :-( And unlike popular opinion, the shelters do run surveys and it appears very few, if any, are ever “given a one-way ticket to a warmer climate.”
10. Hawaii is not immune to the social issues. In fact, sometimes they are increased there. They are a private people, in a populated vacation place, but behind closed doors, their struggle is much the same as it is for others. That includes family trauma, substance abuse, domestic abuse, broken people, poverty, a struggling education system. and more. Not all is glamorous on the islands. But in general, the people are trying to work through their issues and are hospitable, friendly. and warm.
Here is some Hawaiian terminology I am working on. Do you know how to pronounce it all? Please do tell!
Are you looking for my regular blog posts or more about the near-death experience I had last month? Find that here.