Car and Kite: After finding an affordable 2-day rental, I drove for the first time in months today. It required me to take a bus to the airport, but now I have wheels to get me there early Sunday morning when I leave Honolulu for home. To the North Shore I headed with my surf board. Actually, the waves are not that big this time of year, so I decided not to borrow a board from the Y before I left. I took my camera instead. I covered the entire North Shore; it’s a small island. Haleiwa is the old service center for the region; Waialua is the old sugar mill town. The road to the west eventually turns to dirt. Much of the land is under protection or is owned by the military. The beaches and coves are amazingly beautiful, as blue as can be, hemmed in by a mountain backdrop, and frequented only by the hearty. The winds are strong, which meant that the kite surfers were in fine form. What a sport! I watched as they readied their kites and launched them into the air. Then, out to sea the wind pulled them. I was worried about one of them who seemed to be too far from shore, but he apparently knows how to manage the island’s cosmic forces because he and his board were soon back within sight. I think this was the first time I have seen kite surfing, which is a quantum leap beyond wind surfing.
More than a Muralist: I follow mural art when I travel, so I was delighted to see the Wyland gallery in Haleiwa. Too bad, I missed his visit by a day. We have a Wyland mural in Norfolk, and I thought that was all he did. Not so. He actually considers himself a sculptor who paints on the side. Some of his marine life paintings were also on the display at the gallery, as were some of his glass sculptures. Now you know something about economic geography of the North Shore. It’s not just for surfer dudes anymore! It’s for the artsy crowed who keep the Wylands of this world afloat. One thing that did surprise me, though, was how few motels there seem to be anywhere in Hawaii. Although there are lots of hotels and resorts, the mom-and-pop enterprises that we get used to on the mainland seem to be absent. In fact, the trend seems to be towards more resorts as the state exercises its powers of eminent domain to claim property along the North Shore.
I covered a lot of territory in one day and was ready to head over the mountains (actually through them in a tunnel) to Honolulu. I passed a mall in Kaneohe, however, and an idea struck! This was Friday, July 15, and the opening day of the Deathly Hallows. The mall had a cinema and, by chance, I arrived just in time to catch the last matinee of the day. Great movie. This was one of my favorites. They say it won’t happen, but there’s plenty of room for some more Potter adventures, though maybe not Harry’s.
Geographically yours,
D.J.Z.
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