Maps, Street Names and Beaches

Do you know how to read a map? No, seriously; do you know how to read a map? You know, the top of the map is North, the bottom is South, the left side is West and the right side is East. And there is always a guide letting you know the scale of the map. Here this now; these traditional map guidelines do not exist on all maps of Hawaii! Brent and I found this out personally as we drove around the island of Oahu recently.

While Brent visited me in Hawaii we took one day and drove around the entire island; or at least as much of it as we could. There is a stretch on the North end of the island that has no paved roads. We started the day around 9:00 am and finished the drive by around 5:00 pm. What fun and what an experience! If you ever want to do this plan on at least 2 people for the trip. One to drive and one to read the map!

A pineapple farm on the drive to the North Shore.

Maybe Hawaiian officials don’t think tourists will want to drive the entire island so they don’t put the entire island on a map. Or maybe they don’t want tourists to know about some of the more secluded and gorgeous parts of the island. I hope it’s the latter of the two!

We spent some time in the largest town on the North Shore, Hale’iwa. Please don’t ask me how to pronounce the town’s name, but it is a cute town! I’m guessing it has a population similar to Mulvane or maybe Rose Hill and a few cute shops. We did a little shopping and lots of looking. My favorite place was the Aloha General Store. Not like the general stores back home!

We also ate at a local Mexican restaurant called Cholo’s. You definitely get plenty of food for your money! And it was pretty good!

One of the beaches we stopped at is called Turtle Beach; wait for it…because of the turtles that are found at the beach! Now this isn’t your typical Hawaiian beach where you lay out to work on your tan or watch the surfers. It’s a fairly small bit of land and very rocky. Way to rocky to attempt to swim or surf plus you may encounter a turtle and guess what; they can bite! There are volunteers that spend time at the beach (daily during day light) to ensure people don’t hurt the turtles, touch the turtles, get to close to the turtles and answer questions. We were fortunate to see a large turtle they call Brutus sunning himself on the beach. These guys are huge!

Can you pick out the turtles in the water from the rocks?

Meet Brutus!

From Turtle Beach we continued our drive along the North Shore. I can’t begin to tell you the names of all the beaches we stopped at but I can tell you this; each one was breathtaking and beautiful in its own unique way. No two were alike. I could get used to life on this island! Oh, and the houses! Some are gorgeous and some have the most incredible views! Then again some are, how can I be polite when saying this? I can’t so I’ll just tell you how it is. Some are dumps! I’m not talking about a house that is aged and needs a little loving; I’m talking about a house that I have no clue how it is still standing and can only imagine that in Kansas it would be condemned. Brent and I played a game we called “Nice, Nice, Dump.” Think of “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Okay, maybe we’d had too much sun, but it was fun at the time!

One of the many beaches we stopped at…

Our PT Cruiser on a beach by the ocean! Who would have thought this car would be in Hawaii when we bought it in 2002!

Another beach we enjoyed. Many of the beaches we stopped at were once locations where Lost was filmed.

We eventually made our way back to civilization, just kidding; but we did make it back to more populated and commercial parts of the island. Yet, they don’t know how to name streets! I’m not kidding when I tell you this; and we have pictures to prove it! Not only were Brent and I in unfamiliar territory, we had maps that didn’t follow the standards we are used to and streets have numerous names. Seriously! One street can change names three or four times and you never turn off of it!

Here is one example; I hope you can tell from the picture. On the left is the street name “Kailua” but on the right the same street is named “Oneana.” We found this very confusing!

Same two streets, just from a different view…

Here is another example. The large street sign hanging from the light is “Hamakua.” Yet the smaller street sign in the picture is; okay you’ll have to take my word for it. I can’t read the small print.

Brent and I had a grand day with lots of laughs, lots of beautiful scenery and many pictures to share with others. If you ever get to Oahu I encourage you to rent a car and drive around the entire island. Make sure the car is filled with gas, take a cooler with pop and water and bring a towel and maybe your swim suit. You’ll at least want a towel to clean the sand off your feet from each beach. I know why they call this paradise!  Until next time, love and hugs to "my faithful followers!"

Guess what my next entry will be about???