Friday, March 30, 2012

Hawaii (Day 4)

I'm NOT writing anything about the food we ate today, although some of it was the best stuff I've ever eaten...EVER!  I'm beginning to become obsessed with the food here, I think.  So, tonight I'm just focusing on everything else we did today.    

This morning, we drove up the Pali Highway (Pali=cliff, in Hawaiian.)  It was an absolutely gorgeous day...the fourth one in a row.  So, we stopped at the Nuuanu Pali State Park to look at the view.   






Spectacular, isn't it?

The Nuʻuanu Pali was the site of the Battle of Nuʻuanu, one of the bloodiest battles in Hawaiian history, in which Kamehameha I conquered the island of Oʻahu, bringing it under his rule. In 1795 Kamehameha I sailed from his home island of Hawaiʻi with an army of 10,000 warriors, including a handful of non-Hawaiian foreigners. After conquering the islands of Maui and Molokaʻi, he moved on to Oʻahu. The pivotal battle for the island occurred in Nuʻuanu Valley, where the defenders of Oʻahu, led by Kalanikūpule, were driven back up into the valley where they were trapped above the cliff. More than 400 of Kalanikūpule's soldiers were driven off the edge of the cliff to their deaths 1,000 feet below.

In 1845 the first road was built over the Nuʻuanu Pali to connect Windward Oʻahu with Honolulu. In 1898 this road was developed into a highway which during construction 800 skulls were found believed to be the remains of the warriors that fell to their deaths from the cliff above.  This road was later replaced by the Pali Highway and the Nuʻuanu Pali Tunnels in 1959 which is the route used today. (copied from Wikipedia)


After the Pali, we went to lunch and then to the cemetery to visit all the relatives.



Another amazing day in Hawaii.  It's a good thing those five people are waiting for me at home, because otherwise, I might have a really hard time leaving this place. 

No comments:

Post a Comment