Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [72]
PU′U ′UALAKA′A STATE PARK
For a remarkable panoramic view across Honolulu, detour to this tiny park (Map; admission free; 7am-7:45pm Apr-Aug, to 6:45pm Sep-Mar; ). The entrance is 2.5 miles up Round Top Dr from Makiki St. It’s half a mile in to the lookout; bear to the left when the road forks. The sweeping views extend from Diamond Head on the far left, across Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, to the Wai′anae Range on the right. To the southeast is the University of Hawai′i at Manoa, easily recognized by its sports stadium. To the southwest you can see clearly into the green mound of Punchbowl crater. The airport is visible on the coast, with Pearl Harbor beyond that.
Greater Honolulu
BISHOP MUSEUM
Like Hawaii’s version of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, this museum (Map; 847-3511; www.bishopmuseum.org; 1525 Bernice St; adult/senior & child 4-12 $16/13; 9am-5pm; ) showcases a remarkable array of cultural and natural history and science exhibits. It is often ranked as the finest Polynesian anthropological museum in the world. Founded in 1889 in honor of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a descendant of the Kamehameha dynasty, it originally housed only Hawaiian and royal artifacts.
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DETOUR: TANTALUS–ROUND TOP SCENIC DRIVE
Two miles above downtown Honolulu, a narrow switchback road cuts its way up into the forest-reserve land of the Makiki Valley (Map). Rewarding drivers with skyline views, it climbs almost to the top of Mt Tantalus (2013ft), aka Pu′u ′Ohi′a. Bamboo, ginger, elephant-eared taro and eucalyptus trees are among the profusion of tropical plants along the way. Vines climb to the top of telephone poles and twist their way across the wires. This 8.5-mile circuit is a two-way loop that’s called Tantalus Dr on the western side and Round Top Dr on the east.
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The recently renovated main gallery, the Hawaiian Hall, resides inside a dignified three-story Victorian building. Displays covering the cultural history of Hawaii include a pili-grass thatched house, carved ki′i akua (temple images), kahili (feathered staffs used at royal funerals and coronations), shark-toothed war clubs and traditional tapa cloth made by pounding the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Don’t miss the feathered cloak once worn by Kamehameha the Great, created entirely of the yellow feathers of the now-extinct mamo – some 80,000 birds were caught and plucked to create this single adornment. Upper-floor exhibits delve into the relationships between Native Hawaiians and the land, as well as the diversity of contemporary society in Hawaii.
The two-story exhibits inside the adjacent Polynesian Hall cover the myriad cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. You could spend hours gazing at astounding and rare ritual artifacts, from elaborate dance masks and ceremonial costumes to carved canoes and tools of warfare. The museum’s more modern wing, the Castle Memorial Building, has changing traveling exhibitions next door.
Across the Great Lawn, the state-of-the-art, family-oriented Science Adventure Center uses interactive multimedia exhibits and demonstrations to explain Hawaii’s natural environment, letting kids walk through an erupting volcano or take a minisub dive. The museum is also home to O′ahu’s only planetarium (848-4136), which highlights traditional Polynesian methods of wayfaring (navigation), along with astronomy and the telescope observatories atop Mauna Kea. Shows are usually held at 11:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm, and are included in the museum admission price. A gift shop off the lobby sells books on the Pacific not easily found elsewhere, as well as some high-quality Hawaiian crafts and souvenirs.
On-site parking is free. From Waikiki or downtown Honolulu, take TheBus 2 School St-Middle St or B City Express! to Kapalama St, then walk one block makai and turn right on Bernice St. By car, take the eastbound H-1 Fwy exit 20, go mauka on Houghtailing St and turn left on Bernice St.
NATIONAL MEMORIAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC