(From Sacramento Bee web site, 8/30/98.)
| Bring on maze, battleship, seaplanes and butterflies |
The World's Largest Maze is the new attraction at the Dole Pineapple Pavilion on Oahu. photograph/Robert W. Bone |
Taking a look at Hawaii's new attractions
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| By Robert W. Bone Special to The Bee (Published Aug. 30, 1998) HONOLULU -- Travelers planning a repeat visit to Hawaii will find several attractions and opportunities for exploration that weren't around in the Aloha State last year. Most are on the island of Oahu, but Kauai, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii also weigh in with new features. OahuThe Battleship Missouri: At long last, the ship known as "Mighty Mo" has found a permanent home at Pearl Harbor, anchored near the floating USS Arizona Memorial. The USS Missouri was the stage for the signing of the peace treaty between the United States and Japan in Tokyo Bay 53 years ago. The Arizona and the Missouri have recently been described as "bookends," symbolizing both the beginning and the end of the war in the Pacific. The Arizona is arguably the most popular visitor attraction in the state, and members of the Missouri Memorial Association hope that much of the attention will be extended to her new neighbor. You can get a good look at the Missouri from the Arizona Memorial now, but the formerly mothballed battleship won't be open to the public on a regular basis until January, after considerable sprucing up. Tourist trap: The Dole Pineapple people have razed the riding stables next to their large pavilion in Wahiawa and brought in 11,400 well-trimmed hibiscus bushes and other Hawaiian plants to build what the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records claims is the world's largest maze.
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| Hawaii
Flume ride: Perhaps the most dramatic and original new thrill of 1998 in Hawaii is provided by the Kohala Mountain Kayak Cruise, a legacy of the decline of sugar production on the Big Island. This is no up-the-lazy-river Sunday-afternoon excursion. Instead, it is an often fast-paced, three-hour guided ride along a portion of the historic Kohala Ditch. Kayaks cruise through dark tunnels, along flumes spanning deep ravines, through ditches and under occasional waterfalls. Passengers, who go with the flow, are given paddles (used to push against the sides of the ditch more than for actual paddling), as well as helmets with lights for the tunnel portions. The Kohala Ditch, considered a major engineering feat, was created early in the century and used for 70 years to bring water from the mountains to thirsty sugar-cane fields. Cost for the experience is $75 for adults, $55 for children 5-18.
For more information: (808) 889-6922. Fish Galore: The Valley Isle is proudest of its new Maui Ocean Center. Among other features, the $20 million aquarium and marine park features a walk-through plexiglass tunnel that conceivably could give fish the impression that people are the ones in the cage. The 5-acre park features 60 indoor and outdoor exhibits of marine life native to the Hawaiian Islands. Included are plenty of turtles, sharks, rays, eels, along with many colorful species you might not catch sight of while snorkeling. And, of course, there is Hawaii's famous state fish with the long name, the humuhumunukunukuapua'a. Adult admission is $17.50; children 3-12 get in for $12. For more information: (808) 270-7000.
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The new Ocean Center on Maui, above, includes a clear tunnel for viewing fish in three dimensions. photograph/Robert W. Bone
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