The Leeward Side, An Admirer Of Canada, The End Of The Road, And Return

Today was the day I had set aside to explore the Leeward Side of Oahu. That's the west coast, on the other side of the Wai'anae Mountain Range. Essentially it's about 25 or so miles from Waikiki, but it's almost a world away from the world of Waikiki.
I pick up my rental car over an hour later than I had planned, which turned out to be a good thing as I was just catching the tail of morning rush hour heading west on the H1 Freeway. Budget has to my good fortune, given me a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. It's almost identical to the one I bought at home a month or so ago. This saves me a lot of the fumbling associated with a new car, I already know where the stereo buttons are.
With only one wrong turn I head north on the Farrington Hwy. I'm going to start at the north end of the road at Yokohama Bay, and work my way south.
I have forgotten a few things this morning. One is breakfast, and one is fresh batteries for my digital voice recorder that I use to record thoughts and impressions while driving.
Stopping at a Radio Shack in the small town of Wai'anae I meet the store owner who spent a lot of years on submarines and then as a police officer in Maui County. He tells me the Leeward Side "is the last frontier", and that it's rough and tumble "law unto itself" reputation from the 60's and 70's no longer applies. That surprises me since articles I have been reading have led me to believe otherwise. He says he's a big admirer of Canada, and that while on deployments he would stop in Victoria and that he loved it there. He has also heard of the Underground Railroad and is understandably someone who appreciates it. I'll leave it to you to understand why.
Forty five minutes or so later I arrive at the end of the road. Literally there is no road left. Yokohama Bay is a beautiful expanse of golden sand and rock with a steep mountain behind it.

I watch the surf play on the rocks before heading a few hundred metres further south to the beach end. On my way I pass a small memorial.

I spend almost 30 minutes watching, taping, and photographing a group of surfers.

And some who didn't quite make it.

South of Yokohama Bay I pull off the road onto a very small pullout so that I can take few minutes to view the Wai'anae Mountain Range and it's fabulous shadings of browns, greens, and sere grass.

Makaha was one of the places I favoured before coming here. Mostly because one of the pictures I saw had an apartment building on the beach. And that's about all that's there.

In the other direction there is more beach, and a lifeguard tower. That's it. In fact through most of the drive there isn't a lot of development except around the town of Wai'anae. Many of the houses are older but not in great stages of dis-repair. Some were very nice. Only a few front yards had derelict cars and scrap metal. I was pleased to see this because a lot of the articles I had read before coming had stressed the run down nature of the area. There was a beachfront encampment of what seemed to be homeless people between  Makua and Makaha, but I chose not to stop at any of these areas. Not out of any fear, but out of respect. I have read that the school buses stop here before and after school to pick up the children who live in these communities. Many of these people have jobs, but the high cost of housing keeps them from having places of their own. Or so I have read.
I pull off the highway at the planned resort of Ko Olina. A few newish big hotels, including a brand new Disney Family Resort (opened a month or so back), and golf courses plus fairway side condos. I have stopped here to see the resorts three man made lagoons. In order to create them the local governments allowed the resorts construction, and the importation of tons of sand, only as long as the resort developers allowed the general public access to the lagoons.
When I stopped by there was a big wedding production going on. Bride, Groom, still photographer, videographer, and I have no idea what the fourth guy was doing.

An hour later I'm back in Waikiki parking the car, and heading to my room for a nap.
I missed breakfast, ignored lunch, and am loosely concentrating on what to do for dinner. And tonight's laundry night.