Hello Dear Ones,
We just returned from our honeymoon, where we were in Hawaii for more than 3 weeks!
We spent 8 days on Oahu, 10 days on the Big Island, and 6 days on Kauai.
I was born on Oahu, and I got to introduce my wife and her mother to my Dad, my step-mother, and my older brother (who all live there). That was nice. It was great to see Oahu through their eyes as well!
We did a lot – several beaches – including viewing a surfing competition at the Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore. We went to several museums – the Bishop Museum is amazing, and the story about how the Americans overthrew the Hawaiian Monarchy is very very sad. You will not feel very good about yourself if most of your ancestors are Caucasian. But I am glad we went – in spite of having spent many years in Hawaii, I still learned A LOT about their culture and lifestyle.
For instance, the Hawaiian people were Moon people. They did everything according to the phase of the Moon. They even planted many crops and did some fishing at night! They were a very feminine-oriented culture, even if most of their chiefs were men.
In addition, we visited several botanical gardens. I highly recommend this. Even the Foster Botanical Garden near downtown is amazing! It has several trees that are huge and very old – more than 200 years old! If you get the chance however, visit Waimea Valley in the north.
Waimea Valley and Falls are very sacred. It is a huge botanical garden – they have more than 50 little individual gardens stretching up the valley, which terminates at the Waimea waterfalls. If it has rained a decent amount (but not too much), you can even go swimming in the pool under the falls! Make sure you are ready for some chilly water however! The waters come down from Oahu’s highlands. I wish I had brought my wetsuit top.
We could have easily spent hours at Waimea. If we had the time, we all would have liked to go back to see the gardens we couldn’t get to. Plus, down at the visitor center, the food was delicious and they have several gorgeous “wild” peacocks who show up around lunch time to patrol the dining deck for french fries.
One of the surprises for me however was the Royal Mausoleum. I am very glad this is not on many tourist sites. I think the Hawaiians want to keep this low key and sacred. This property is one of the only places where only the Hawaiian flag flies – no U.S. flag there. Many of the Hawaiian monarchs and their relatives are buried there. When we were there, there was a light misty rain without a single cloud in the sky. It was amazing – a rain of blessings for sure.
Thanks for reading! I will post more insights from our Big Island and Kauai sections soon.
May we all go within to hear the wisdom of our hearts.
Kirby Moore
Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 