Touching the Past Kealiiokamalu Church

As you sit on the white sands under the palm you breath a sigh as the ship sails by. Ah, this is a vacation you think to yourself as the sun smiles down on you.

La Marieanna

That evening you decide to go out for dinner and some drinks. You hear about this restaurant and bar called La Mariana. Everyone tells you it’s like stepping back into old Hawaii. The  owner had collected Hawaiian kitsch from famous restaurants as they closed down and then added them to her place. It is a museum of restaurant history.

As you sit at the bar relaxing you hear the couple next to you talking about how they were sorry to have to leave  the islands for home so quickly as they never really got to see what Hawaii was all about. There tan’s showed they probably spent all their time on the beach.

Many tourist go home thinking that Waikiki is Hawaii. They never venture out past Diamond Head until they take the ride back to the airport along the highway past all the industrial area.

They may have found had they driven around the island past the green velvet mountains full with water falls, and clear views of the ocean with uncrowded beaches, that there are so many things tucked away into the little towns. History that can be touched if only they would reach out.

One such place I found as I drove down some back street in Haleiwa was the Kealii O Kamalu Church.

Kealiiokamalu Church (Prince Of Peace)

The doors were wide open. Not many churches now days have their doors unlocked during the week if there is no service at that time. This structure was from the past and that is what drew  me to park and  take a look inside.

Kahu (minister) Kenneth Segawa

Inside the church there was a lot of construction going on. There was a man standing at the front on the porch with a handful of tools.

He was the Kahu or minister of this little community church. The church was under restoration. Though he was busy Kahu Ken invited me in to look around.

Looking from the front to the back of the Church

The  Kahu said that the congregation is very small and casual. He went on to say that it would not be unusal for a little child to be chasing a ball down the middle of the isle while he was conducting a sermon. He said that this was not a problem as he wanted the congregation to be comfortable and not stifled.

The sermon is given in Hawaiian as it was in the past. Part of the mission of this church is to perpetuate the Hawaiian language. The building is a typical example of a rural missionary church.

It has been in it’s present site since 1937 but was in existence long before that. I’m not quite sure but maybe it had been moved there from another site.

In Hawaiian tradition the front doors face makai (ocean) to welcome the bounty of the sea. The rear doors face Mauka (mountain) to welcome the gifts of the land.

Doors facing out to the Ocean

Back door open to the land

Looking around, even though everything was in disarray there was still a coziness to the structure. A Hawaiian community still existed and worshiped in the disappearing culture of the past. It gave one hope for the future.

Then Kahu Ken took me to the front of the church to show me what I took to be quite a significant piece of history. He removed a white cloth to expose an old bible. It was dated 1868. In the bible was recorded the death of  William Henry Tell’s wife.

Her name was Victoria Tell. Later I was to discover that Mrs. Tell was the daughter of Captain Alexander Harris. Not only did Captain Harris sail Kamehameha the Great‘s  cargo ship to china loaded with sandalwood, he was also noted for his part in the making of the controversial Hawaiian Flag.

Hawaiian Bible dated 1868 still used in the sermons of Kahu Ken

I was elated. Not only had I walked in to the past as I toured the little Hawaiian Church, I had actually touched History. I had touched the bible that had been a part of the life of the daughter who’s father was an intricate part of the highest chief of the land, King Kamehameha The Great. Talk about six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

A little side note if you were a fan of Lost. This was the church that was used in one of the episodes. You might enjoy going to this site to see how it was integrated into the story.  Lost

If you would like to attend the church one Sunday, the doors open at 9:30. If you are so inclined and would like to meet some of the people of the community there is a potluck after the Sunday Sermon on the first Sunday of the month.

The address of Kealii O Ka Malu is: 66-362 Halieiwa Road & Keahipaka St.

( the directions are in the “Lost” website above.)

Haleiwa Hawaii

Labels: Hawaii 0 comments Links to this post Posted by Karen in Honolulu

Double click photos for closer look

I promised Nico that I would take him to the beach. So we left Kunia and headed for Haleiwa on the North shore. The traffic was bad and I could not pull over to take photos so I just stuck my camera in the window as I drove along and snapped. This is us heading into Haleiwa town.

Nico kept watch on the weather out his side of the window on the right of the car. “Grandma it’s not raining on my side, it’s only raining on yours” he said with hopes that it would be clear when we arrived at the beach.

We passed the Golden arches of McDonald’s which was arch-less due to the towns prohibiting them from putting it up so that the fast food joint would not look out of style with the town. That was the only way they would allow the restaurant to open.

We passed the Market place where my favorite clothing store is, Silver Moon and Cholos a good place to have Mexican food. And the sun was still on Nico’s side of the car but just barely.

Then we arrived at the beach. The sun was shining above so Nico and I made it down to the Sand. I did not take my camera down there so use your imagination. I did not want to take the chance that I would get sand in it.

Now Nico was only to walk and collect shells on the beach so I did not bring him a change of cloths and towel. But he begged to just put his feet in the water. My reason for not wanting to take him into the water was, 10 years ago with my son;s boy, Alex we went to the beach when he was just a year old. The water was calm while we let the waves role up and lap around our feet. A rouge wave came up and I had no option but to life Alex up and while in my arms turn my back on the wave so as to not let it hit him in the face. It lifted us both up as I held on to him and just dropped us flat on my rear end. I’ve had a messed up back since then.

I am so afraid of it happening to me with Nico I just won’t take him in. I have to go to a beach where there is no wave action. But this beach does have waves. Well anyway. Nico decide to just jump in the air while we are wading and lands flat into the water and is now all wet.

So I had to let him play in the san in hopes that the sun would dry him off so we could go home. As luck would have it the cloud from my side of the car caught up with us and it rained.

Trudging up the beach with a very unhappy Nico, we headed for the car.

I took one last photo of the boat harbor before the clouds burst and off we went

As you can see my cloud connected with Nico’s cloud and this was the result.

I thought I would go down a road I had never gone down and It was quite nice in a country sort of way.
This was the view from the road.

And this was one of the houses on the raod. The only thing that would make Nico happy was to know that he was going to get a treat. I took him to Zippy’ in Wahiawa, bought him a cream puff and lunch. Of course Lunch was to be eaten first . This was implemented after much arguing.

And here is Nico in the restaurant happily waiting for his macaroni and Cheese while he colored. Thank goodness it rained on both sides of the car on the way home or I would have had him arguing to get back to the beach again.

Just Another Day In Paradise

I’ve been transferring blogs from my blogspot account so this may be familiar to a few of you. But for those of you who have not been to that account I’m sure you will enjoy the trip to the North Shore via some photos.

I took a ride out to the North Shore the other morning with Nico. Checking out another shave Ice stand for my “Holo Holo” blog. It was out in the middle of nowhere and right across the street from the beach area called Sharks Cove.  Nico nocked his shave ice over again. That’s the second time this week he’s done that. I think he is getting tired of testing shave ice stands with me.

I had their Grilled Ahi with Teriyaki Sauce and Pico de Gallo over it. Delicious. We took the food over to the other side of the road to watch the waves.

This is what you see from the shave ice stand

As I sat on a large rock and Nico walked around taking his own set of photos I enjoyed my food. Nico was too busy picking up plants, rocks and the run of the mill treasures on the ground. He was to intrigued to eat.

I started snapping photos from where I sat and could not stop. The beauty of the ocean was like popcorn. Once you take a photo you just can’t stop.

It’s just water but throw in a little foam and it becomes mesmerizing

From blue to blue

As I look at the ocean I ask myself, Why do I find it so hard to do this? I must leave the house more often

The waves just kept coming

It was like a step back in time

Then Nico got into the picture. He was pulling up a long piece of grass

Then you turn around from the ocean and this is what you see. Reality. But if you look on the top of the mountain you can see a big estate. That was once owned by Elvis Presley

Time to go and thankfully we head away from the traffic that is now backing up

We pass the Dole Pineapple Fields as we head to Wahiawa where I am going to go to the egg farm to get some eggs

We drive down the street appropriately named Palm Avenue

We pass a cherry blossom just coming into bloom

And we head down the road that leads to the egg farm

The Egg Farm

Then it’s home again, home again, jiggity jig

Had a grand day, Max was waiting at the door and Nico then went off to his other grandma’s to get the ants out of his pants. I took a long nap.

Of Frigates and Pirates

Birds of Feather

I love Haleiwa and more often than not I will spend any spare time I have on the North Shore of the island visiting the little town. I was looking at a couple of old photos and got to wondering about the name “Haleiwa.”

Some people have told me that it got its name from the fact that the Iwa bird made its home in that area. I wondered why a bird whose Hawaiian name, Iwa, which means pirate would have a town named after it. I’d like to correct this. Actually Iwa means thief. The Frigate bird was named after the Pirate Frigates because of their swift movements and they were also thieves. The Hawaiians called the Frigate Bird Iwa or thief.

The Iwa or Frigate Bird Weather Vane

Here is a great site that I checked out full of little tidbits about the bird. http://www.susanscott.net/OceanWatch2000/oct16-00.html Among the many things she talks about is the tying of the Iwa birds better known name to pirates.

The Iwa is also known as the Great Frigate Bird. This bird does not producing enough oil for his feathers. He also does not have web feet and his legs are very short so he can’t swim well at all. But he has a 7 foot wing span and weighs under 4 pounds which gives him the ability to stay in the air for many, many hours. While soaring he will dive into the water when ever he can see fish or squid floating on top.

But like as not he is also known to steal fish out of the mouths of other birds as they are flying. Hence a Pirate. The word frigate can be connected to the Pirate ships, according to Susan Scott, going back to the 18th century.

Anyway, the Hawaiians did not look on the name, Iwa, as  negative. If you look into this site it states that Kamehameha the Great who united the Hawaiian Islands, was also called the Frigate Bird that hooks the islands together. This is a nice site and you might enjoy it. http://kailahawaii.com/2010/01/06/hawaiian-word-of-the-day-%CA%BBiwa/

You don’t see many of these Iwa birds out in Haleiwa today, though I’ve read they did once nest out there.  You are more likely to see them on the windward side of the island http://www.hawaiianatolls.org/research/NOWRAMP2002/features/frigatebird.php

But for me, robber baron, thief of the Booby Bird catches, or just a weather vane on the top of Liliuokalani Church in Haleiwa, his name means a trip to the country for me. And in that instance we are birds of a feather

The Weather Vane sits atop of Liliuokalani Church in Haleiwa