Sunday, September 14, 2003

     On this past Labor Day, I was privilaged to be the guest of a member of the Honolulu Harley Owners Group as they toured my home island of Hawai`i. It was tons of fun (LITERALLY! Those bikes weigh some 800 pounds each, and my little Honda 450 weighs. . .450!!!). Their island is much smaller than mine (you can put all of the other Hawaiian islands on the island of Hawai`i and still have room left over), so they really enjoyed our longer roads, and hitting the twisties of Kohala Mountain Road. Finally, we wound down the Saddle Road to Hilo, heading for the harbor so they could put their bikes on the barge for their return to O`ahu.
     This past Sunday, it was again my privilage to join the Honolulu HOGs. However, THIS time I was a PASSENGER!
     Those who know me know that this just dosen't happen. I DON'T SIT BEHIND!!! I often tell my friends that if they see me on the back of a guy's bike, I must be riding with my mechanic to get PARTS for MY ride! Well, that was not the case this time. Manu Josiah, a nice CALM and steady rider, let me sit on the "throne" of his scoot.
     Manu and I headed out on our own "tour" of O`ahu - an island I have visited many times but always for business. I had never before explored outside of Honolulu and its environs. For some reason I had the impression the island was 50% airport and 25% convention center, with a few museums and homes sprinkled between (and a couple of REALLY big shopping malls!). BOY was I proved WRONG!
     I mislaid my camera during breakfast, so Manu bought me a new one at one of our stops. At Mokoli`i Park, we hooked up with his HOG chapter. We had stopped there to see the small island of Mokoli`i, shown behind me in the above photo. According to legend, Hi`iaka, the patroness of hula and the youngest sister of Pele, destroyed a mo`o, or giant lizard here, and the island is part of his remains.

     Here are some sights along the Kamehameha Highway, between Ka`a`awa and Waialua.

     O`ahu, being much older than my home island, Hawai`i, has more sharply eroded mountains. Here, a spur off the Ko`olau mountain range slices to the sea.

The north-eastern coast of O`ahu reminds me of Kailua-Kona when I was a girl. So different from Honolulu!

Straight ahead of us, you can see an old factory stack. I'll have to find out what it was for. How calm the sea is!

The Polynesian Cultural Center is off to the left. You can see three of their ki`i here.

Hawaiian blessing - a little rain squall swept across the road.

Another of the more than 100 motorcycle clubs on the island of O`ahu, also out to enjoy a beautiful Sunday ride.

Rivers and streams thread the sharp-crested Ko`olau Mountains. A local family is fishing from the bridge.

My gracious guide and driver - Manu Josiah.

If you would like information on motorcycle tours of the Hawaiian islands, please phone Leilehua Yuen, 1-808-935-YUEN (1-808-935-9836).
Or, e-mail yuen@ilhawaii.net.