Die Zeit verändert uns nicht. Sie entfaltet uns nur. - Max Frisch

 

Und am Freitag beginnt das Wochenende …

.. und wir haben uns mit meiner Freundin Bobby aus Kailua zum Mittagessen getroffen. Bobby und ich haben uns online während der COVID Zeit kennengelernt und uns letztes Jahr zum ersten Mal hier live getroffen. Also war es natürlich klar, dass wir uns auch dieses Mal sehen würden. Ich finde es immer wieder überraschend, dass man online Menschen kennenlernen kann, sich direkt verbunden fühlt und im wahren Leben feststellt, dass es auch real so ist. Aber gut, man muss nicht immer für alles eine Erklärung finden. Manche Dinge sind einfach so wie sie sind. Wir verbrachten auf jeden Fall eine schöne Zeit miteinander und tauschten aus, was so alles in der letzten Zeit in unserem Leben passiert ist. 😊

Der Rest des Tages ist ziemlich schnell erzählt. Am Nachmittag hatte ich meinen Termin mit Nico, dem Tattoo-Künstler von 808 Tattoo in Kane’ohe. Wir besprachen mein Motiv und machten einen Termin für den kommenden Dienstag, weil wir am Montag noch eine “Wasseraktivität” gebucht hatten. Darüber werde ich zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt mehr erzählen. Ach ja, wir waren auch noch auf dem Postamt hier in Kane’ohe und haben einen dicken Stapel an Postkarten, die alle nach Deutschland gehen, auf den Weg gebracht. Ich musste dabei wieder an die Verkäuferin bei Longs Drugs denken, die letztes Jahr unseren Einkauf von so einem dicken Stapel an Postkarten mit dem folgenden Satz kommentierte: “Wer will denn auch keine Postkarte aus Hawaii erhalten?!”. Ja, das ist wohl so. 😆

Auch am Samstag war es bei uns relativ langweilig. Ich meine, Urlaub ist ja auch nicht nur für Nonstop Action gedacht, nicht wahr? Es verschlug uns nochmal nach Honolulu, um den Tantalus Drive nochmals komplett abzufahren. Zufällig hielten wir an einer Stelle an, an der wir den -  meiner Meinung nach - beeindruckendsten Blick auf Downtown Honolulu gefunden haben. 🥰 Wenn ich an der Stelle nicht aus dem Auto gestiegen wäre, hätte ich diesen tollen Blick gar nicht gesehen, wodurch mal wieder eindrucksvoll bewiesen ist, dass es immer auf den Blickwinkel ankommt. Ob nun tatsächlich oder im übertragenen Sinne. Aber sieh selbst ..

Anklicken zum Vergrößern

Genauso beeindruckend ist die Aussicht, wenn man von der H3 auf die Mōkapu Saddle Road in Richtung Kane’ohe fährt. Der Blick über einen Teil der Kane’ohe Bucht begeistert mich jedes Mal aufs Neue!

Wir beschlossen den Samstag mit einem gemütlichen Treffen mit unseren Gastgebern Thom und Recce, in dem wir unter dem Pavillon im Garten saßen, leckere Pupu’s (Snacks oder Vorspeisen auf hawaiianisch) aßen und ein gutes Glas Wein dazu genossen. Zu erzählen gibt es immer eine Menge; irgendwie gehen uns die Themen nie aus. Es war das perfekte Ende eines herrlichen Tages. ❤ 

Zuhause gehe ich sonntags nicht in die Kirche; ich bin ja auch schon vor vielen Jahren ausgetreten - also aus dem System, so wie es bei uns gehandhabt wird. Das bedeutet nicht, dass ich nicht an Gott glaube. Doch ich definiere meinen Glauben deutlich anders, als es bei uns praktiziert und gelehrt wird. Seitdem diese Hawai'i Sache für mich begonnen hat, hat sich auch meine Ansicht zum Thema Glauben verändert. Hawaii hat auch viele meine Lebensansichten verändert, insbesondere weil ich mich in der hawaiianischen Kultur mehr zuhause fühle als dort, wo ich aufgewachsen bin und lebe. Als meine Freundin Mary uns letztes Jahr in ihre Kirche eingeladen hat, war ich sehr neugierig. Es überraschte mich nicht, wie man in dieser Kirche den Gottesdienst abhielt, aber es überraschte mich, wie sehr ich mich wohl fühlte. Entsprechend waren wir auch an diesem Sonntag wieder in Kahalu’u und nahmen am Gottesdienst der Hāmama Community Church teil.

Der Sonntag hatte morgens mit einem Regenbogen über der Kane’ohe Bucht begonnen und endete mit einer doch umfangreichen Überraschung in Form eines ganzen Berges von Kokosnüssen. Hier kommt die Anekdote dazu: Thom, unser Gastgeber, hatte mitbekommen, dass wir uns gerne unterwegs eine frische Kokosnuss kauften, das Kokoswasser daraus tranken und mein Schatz dieses Ding dann später auseinander brach, damit wir auch das Kokosnussfleisch essen konnten. Dafür benutzte er die Werkstatt und das Werkzeug von Thom. Ein paar Tage zuvor hatte unser Gastgeber angemerkt, dass er gerade auf einer Baustelle arbeitete, auf der ein paar Kokosnusspalmen standen, deren Nüsse aus Sicherheitsgründen gepflückt werden mussten. Er wollte sie mitbringen und so ist dieser liebe Mensch am Sonntag (während wir in der Kirche waren) mit einer entsprechenden Leiter zu besagter Baustelle gefahren und hat uns 15 Kokosnüsse vor die Tür gelegt! 😍 Unglaublich, oder? Also damit war mein Schatz dann erstmal beschäftigt. 😇

Aloha! 🤙🏼

Time does not change us. It just unfolds us. - Max Frisch

 

And on Friday the weekend begins...

.. and we met up with my friend Bobby from Kailua for lunch. Bobby and I met online during COVID and met in person for the first time here last year. So, of course, it was a given that we would see each other again this time. I'm always surprised that you can meet people online, feel an immediate connection, and then realize in real life that it's real. But hey, you don't always have to find an explanation for everything. Some things are just the way they are. In any case, we spent a nice time together and exchanged what's been happening in our lives lately. 😊

The rest of the day is pretty quick to tell. In the afternoon, I had my appointment with Nico, the tattoo artist from 808 Tattoo in Kane'ohe. We discussed my design and made an appointment for the following Tuesday, as we had booked a "water activity" on Monday. I'll talk more about that later. Oh yeah, we also went to the post office here in Kane'ohe and sent off a thick stack of postcards, all of which are going to Germany. It made me think again of the clerk at Long's Drugs who, after we bought such a thick stack of postcards last year, commented on our purchase of such a thick stack with the following sentence: "Who doesn't want a postcard from Hawaii?!" Yes, that's true. 😆

Saturday was also relatively boring with us. I mean, vacation isn't just for nonstop action, is it? We headed back to Honolulu to drive the entire length of Tantalus Drive again. By chance, we stopped at a spot where we found—in my opinion—the most impressive view of downtown Honolulu. 🥰 If I hadn't gotten out of the car at that point, I wouldn't have seen this amazing view at all, which once again impressively proves that it's all about perspective. Whether literally or figuratively. But see for yourself...

The view is just as impressive when you drive from the H3 onto Mōkapu Saddle Road toward Kane'ohe. The view over part of Kane'ohe Bay never fails to amaze me!

We concluded Saturday with a cozy get-together with our hosts, Thom and Recce, sitting under the gazebo in the garden, eating delicious pupu's (Hawaiian snacks or appetizers) and enjoying a good glass of wine. There's always a lot to talk about; somehow we never run out of things to talk about. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day. ❤

At home, I don't go to church on Sundays; I left the church many years ago—that is, the system as it's run here. That doesn't mean I don't believe in God. But I define my faith significantly differently than how it's practiced and taught here. Since this Hawaii thing began for me, my view of faith has changed. Hawaii has even changed many of my outlooks on life, especially because I feel more at home in Hawaiian culture than where I grew up and live. When my friend Mary invited us to her church last year, I was very curious. I wasn't surprised by how the church conducted its services, but I was surprised by how comfortable I felt. Accordingly, we were back in Kahalu'u that Sunday and attended the service at the Hāmama Community Church.

Sunday morning began with a rainbow over Kane'ohe Bay and ended with a rather extensive surprise in the form of a mountain of coconuts. Here's the anecdote: Thom, our host, had noticed that we liked to buy a fresh coconut along the way, drink the coconut water from it, and then my honey would later break it open so we could eat the coconut flesh. He used Thom's workshop and tools for this. A few days earlier, our host had mentioned that he was working on a construction site where a few coconut palms stood, and their nuts had to be picked for safety reasons. He wanted to bring them back, so on Sunday (while we were at church), this lovely man drove to the construction site with a ladder and left 15 coconuts on our doorstep! 😍 Unbelievable, right? So, that kept my honey busy for a while. 😇

Aloha! 🤙🏼

Time is money... Waste it now. Pay for it later - Benjamin Franklin

 

A day like this can be quite exhausting. A long time in the sea and in the sun... We were pretty exhausted on Saturday after spending Friday on the sandbar, so we started the day quite leisurely. It was a windless morning, which drove our hosts, including a small family, onto their stand-up paddleboards and paddling out into the bay. Our hosts have two small dogs, and at least the little brown poodle (Mister Beau) is always with them. The little guy with the heart of a lion loves going out into the bay with his owner—whether on a board or in a boat. Beau always has to be there. 🥰

We ended the day with an attempt to watch the sunset from the Tantalus Drive lookout above Honolulu. It remained a wish, because on the way there it started to rain, and the cloudy sky quickly made it clear that we didn't even need to drive to the lookout. So we settled for a quick stop at the Diamond Head lookout on our way home.

Here, too, Sundays are a bit more relaxed than other weekdays. As mentioned before, we spent Sunday morning at Hāmama Community Church.

In the afternoon, we headed back to Honolulu—again with the Tantalus Drive lookout as our destination. And as it goes… At some point, we must have taken a wrong turn and found ourselves on a section of Tantalus Drive we hadn't driven yet. It was a winding path through Puʻu ʻUalakaʻa State Park and the surrounding area of ​​Mānoa Valley, and it developed into a scenic drive through a lush tropical rainforest. The beauty of the native nature here never ceases to amaze me! I think I'll ask my honey to drive this road with me again—I enjoyed it so much. The sunset thing didn't work out, though. But hey, we still have a bit of time. Nonetheless, this view is always worth the trip!

Well, sometimes you just don't feel your best, right? Monday morning, I had a headache, a stuffy nose, and a scratchy throat. No way?! Nobody needs that kind of thing when they're on vacation! Luckily, we know how to handle ourselves here – after the episode we had to go through last year. I just thought: Please no! Please no cold! Last year, it took us both out of action for a good 10 days right at the beginning, and I really didn't want to experience that again. And luckily, as the day went on, it turned out that it wasn't so bad. So I stayed in the apartment and we spent a very, very quiet day. 🙏🏼

Credits to our Host Thom who made this photo

That's how it can go sometimes. But don't worry – our adventures here aren't over yet. The next activities are already planned, booked, and finalized. It won't be boring, I can promise you that. Stay tuned. 😉

Aloha! 🤙🏼

Zeit ist Geld ... Verschwende es jetzt. Zahle später dafür. - Benjamin Franklin

 

Längere Zeit im Meer und in der Sonne … So ein Tag kann ganz schön anstrengend sein. Wir waren am Samstag doch ziemlich erschöpft vom Freitag auf der Sandbank und haben den Tag ganz gemütlich begonnen. Es war ein windstiller Morgen, der unsere Gastgeber inklusive einer kleinen Familie auf die Stand-Up-Paddle Boards trieb und auf die Bucht hinaus paddeln ließ. Unsere Gastgeber haben zwei kleine Hunde und zumindest der kleine braune Pudel (Mister Beau) ist immer dabei. Der kleine Kerl mit dem Herz eines Löwen liebt es, mit seinem Herrchen auf die Bucht zu gehen - ob auf dem Board oder mit einem Boot. Beau muss immer dabei sein. 🥰

Wir ließen den Tag mit dem Versuch enden, den Sonnenuntergang vom Tantalus Drive Aussichtspunkt oberhalb von Honolulu ansehen zu wollen. Beim Wollen blieb es, denn auf dem Weg dorthin begann es zu regnen und der bewölkte Himmel machte uns schnell klar, dass wir gar nicht erst bis zum Aussichtspunkt fahren brauchten. Also begnügten wir uns damit, auf unserem Heimweg am Diamond Head Aussichtspunkt einen kurzen Halt einzulegen. 

Auch hier geht man den Sonntag etwas gemütlicher an als die anderen Wochentage. Wie schon zuvor erwähnt, verbrachten wir den Sonntagvormittag in der Hāmama Community Church. 

Am Nachmittag fuhren wir zurück nach Honolulu – wieder mit dem Aussichtspunkt auf dem Tantalus Drive als Ziel. Und wie das so ist … Irgendwann müssen wir wohl falsch abgebogen sein und landeten auf einem Abschnitt des Tantalus Drive, den wir noch nicht gefahren waren. Es war ein kurvenreicher Weg durch den Puʻu ʻUalakaʻa State Park und das umliegende Mānoa Valley, der sich zu einer malerischen Fahrt durch einen üppigen tropischen Regenwald entwickelte. Die Schönheit der einheimischen Natur hier begeistert mich immer wieder! Ich glaube, ich werde meinen Schatz bitten, diese Straße noch einmal mit mir zu fahren – ich habe es so genossen. Mit dem Sonnenuntergang hat es allerdings nicht geklappt. Aber hey, wir haben ja noch ein bisschen Zeit. Die Aussicht ist auf jeden Fall immer wieder sehr beeindruckend!

Na ja, manchmal fühlt man sich einfach nicht so gut, nicht wahr? Montagmorgen hatte ich Kopfschmerzen, eine verstopfte Nase und einen kratzenden Hals. Nee ne?! So etwas braucht doch niemand im Urlaub! Zum Glück wissen wir uns hier gut zu helfen – nach der Episode, die wir letztes Jahr durchmachen mussten. Ich dachte nur: Bitte nicht! Bitte keine Erkältung! Letztes Jahr hat sie uns beide gleich zu Beginn gut 10 Tage außer Gefecht gesetzt, und das wollte ich wirklich nicht noch einmal erleben. Und zum Glück stellte sich im Laufe des Tages heraus, dass es gar nicht so schlimm war. Also blieb ich in der Wohnung und wir verbrachten einen sehr, sehr ruhigen Tag. 🙏🏼

Danke an unseren Gastgeber Thom, der dieses Foto gemacht hat

So kann es manchmal gehen. Aber keine Sorge – unsere Abenteuer hier sind noch nicht vorbei. Die nächsten Aktivitäten sind bereits geplant, gebucht und unter Dach und Fach. Es wird nicht langweilig, das kann ich dir versprechen. Sei gespannt! 😉

Aloha! 🤙🏼

Time is precious. Waste it wisely.

 

More than a week has now passed and we are halfway through our stay on Oahu. We are feeling so good that we were finally able to start the activities we thought about. I deliberately do not call it "planned" because I find chasing after any kind of plans on vacation far too exhausting and, in my opinion, misses the point of a vacation of this kind. In any case, I have a lot to tell you.

After our trip to the west coast, we took a short tour to Waimānalo the next day. Waimānalo Beach is known for its white sand and wonderfully turquoise water. The colors are an absolute feast for the eyes! But despite the overcast sky, you can quickly feel the Hawaiian sun on your skin. 🌊🌴☀

And what you also see in Waimānalo (not only there) is the other side of the so-called paradise. Five years ago there were already many homeless tents along the road in the same place - and unfortunately there are now significantly more. You can now find them all over the island, preferably near the beach parks because there are public restrooms and showers. Believe me, it hurts to see this misery. Such a wonderful place, and yet so much poverty and suffering. The state is currently trying to take action against these people with a controversial bill. In my opinion, this is the wrong approach. 😥

We spent the next day very relaxed again and outside our holiday apartment. Cozy in the shade under a large parasol, or rather in the shade on our lanai (terrace), with an ice-cold drink by our side... That's a great way to bear almost 30°C. And what can I tell you? We got sunburnt despite the shady spots! That was to be expected, but I was still hoping to avoid it in the shade. No matter, we know enough home remedies that can quickly soothe a mild burn. ☀

And now I want to tell you about an experience that means a lot to me. ❤ You've already read about my friend Mary, the Kumu Hula, in my blog. She lives on the North Shore and has 3 children who are now grown up. The youngest is Tani, whose full name is Sitaniselao Kukalamaulaikalani Kupau Mikaele and who has just finished high school. He has been a sought-after young football player for some time and has had a sports scholarship on the mainland for the last five years. Mainland in this context means that he played for a while in Las Vegas and also for a certain amount of time in California for a high school team. I think that's pretty cool for such a young person. Especially when you consider that you can finance your education here with a sports scholarship. In any case, Mary invited us to his graduation party, which was held in her garden at home. Family, or Ohana, is very important here and that includes friends. We met a lot of different and incredibly friendly and open-hearted people of all ages there. Mary introduced us all as “Auntie and Uncle from Germany” and admittedly that felt a bit strange, but we are not the youngest anymore and belonged to the “upper third” of the age group at Tani’s party. 😆

Nevertheless, it was a wonderful experience, especially because the warmth was so great. There was lots of homemade Hawaiian food, from pupu’s (appetizers/starters) to main courses and desserts. I admit that I don’t know what I tried, but it was super delicious! 😋 I really like Hawaiian cuisine; it is a mix of many different cultures. There was live music from various musicians and bands and quite a few of them were former students of my friend Mary. There was singing, laughing, dancing and lots of talking. I really enjoyed it and when we said goodbye, my friend Mary hung one of her leis (flower necklaces) around my neck and it touched me very much. 💕 Leis have a variety of meanings in Hawaii and I could probably write a whole post about it, but I'll spare you that, because others have already covered it much better than I could. So here's just a quote from another travel blog about it and the link if you want to read it in more detail. 😉

“The closed lei symbolizes deep love and the embrace of a loved one.”

https://www.kultreiseblog.de/bedeutung-der-lei-blumenkette-auf-hawaii-kultding-des-monats/

That's Tani.

I'm slowly realizing that it's not that easy to summarize the past few days. I've probably taken a little too much time before writing everything down.

We spent Sunday comfortably in our vacation apartment and took the opportunity to chat with our hosts outside by the water. Bernd ventured out on a stand-up paddle board and I looked for a shady spot to chat with Reece, Thom's wife, who moved from the mainland to Hawaii just a few years ago and then met and fell in love with Thom here.

On Monday we saw a lot and were out and about practically all day. Starting with the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden here in Kane’ohe, which I love very much. We were there for the second time and it is and remains simply impressive. This rich plant world is incredibly remarkable; especially against the backdrop of the island’s indescribably beautiful green mountains. Ho’omaluhia means protected, by the way. In this 160 hectare park there is a lake called Loko Waimaluhia. This means “peaceful lake” and that hits the nail on the head. Entry to the park is free and when you drive in, you are told at the gate that you are not allowed to take photos or videos from your car. At first we were surprised and did not understand this instruction. You must not take a lot of things here too literally - in the truest sense - but rather make an effort to understand the context. You should not film or take photos from your car so as not to endanger traffic! As soon as you stop and get out, you can record everything. There are tons of parking spaces on site, which also have free restrooms. There are picnic areas and benches throughout the park that invite you to linger. We also saw many families taking advantage of these opportunities. With special permits, you can even camp with a tent in this park.

In the late afternoon, we decided to end the day with a sunset from Tantalus Drive and headed to Honolulu. If you are a little interested in Oahu and Hawaii, you may have heard or read about it. Tantalus is a mountain above Honolulu and there is the “Round Top Drive”, an 8-mile long historic road that winds around the mountain and leads up. In many places you have a wonderful view down to Honolulu, Waikiki, Diamond Head and some other districts. 😍 It is a popular place to watch the sunset. If you want to find out more about it, you can follow this link.

https://tantalusoahu.com/about/national-historic-road/

Otherwise, I'll let the photos and videos speak for themselves. If you know me a little, you know how much I love sunrises and sunsets. 😉

Adventurous as we are, we finally wanted to swim in the sea on Tuesday, so we put on our swimwear, packed towels, a mat and a bottle of water and set off. It won't surprise you that we don't prefer beaches like Waikiki, so we headed north and soon found a beach that wasn't very busy. We ended up in Ahupuaʻa ʻO Kahana State Park on the North Shore, and while one of us frolicked in the warm water (you can't really call it cooling off in the shallow water at these temperatures!), the other watched the shore crabs, which scurry around there in droves and dig sand out of their holes. I could watch them forever! 🦀

Later, back in Kane'ohe, we both walked a little way out into the bay. Yes, that's right - walked. 😂 The bay is so shallow here that it's not easy to swim. We just started walking from the property and after about 200 meters the water was still only up to my belly button. 

That was quite a lot up to this point, wasn't it? And I'm already two days behind on my reports. I have to admit that I go to bed early in the evening and am really exhausted by then. Interestingly, it gets dark much earlier here than at home. It's already pitch black at 8 p.m., but the day starts much earlier. I know that has something to do with the proximity to the equator, but details? No idea! 😂 It's not that important. People just go to bed earlier here and start the day much earlier. It's actually pretty cool that way, I think. 😎

Aloha! 🤙🏼