True Hawaii

Oahu: A Film Buff’s Quest

Top Six Places To Film Your Own Scene
1. Honolulu. Shop, eat and street walk this capital city, which has served as stand-in for Los Angeles, New York, Iowa, South Korea, Iraq, Nigeria, England and Australia — and that’s for ABC’s Lost alone.

2. Waikiki Beach. The land of Don-Ho, Hawaii Five-O and Elvis, Waikiki lets you play out your kitschy ‘50s fantasies, either by surfing the bunny waves or by shopping at the markets for tikis and worldly tchotchkes.

3. Kapiolani Beach Park. Find a quiet picnic spot near the row of trees made famous in Hawaii Five-O’s opening montage.

4. Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor isn’t just a 2001 movie filmed here. At the newly opened Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor’s Ford Island, you can see artifacts of the real World War II event, including historic planes such as the Japanese Zero and Navy Wildcat. You can also see original film and photos of the December 7^th, 1941 attack.

5. Sea Life Park. This marine park in 50 First Dates is scenically placed between the Koolau Mountains and Makapuu Beach.

6. Waimea Valley. The Audubon Center is home to scenes from George of the Jungle and Lost — a good place to lose yourself in Hawaiian nature.

Epic Picnic
Home to Hollywood’ most epic embrace – Burt Lancaster and Deborah Karr locked together in the waves in From Here to Eternity – the cusp of Halona Cove is still missed by most visitors. At one corner of the parking lot (off the Kalanianole Highway north of Hanauma Bay) there is a viewing point where everyone scurries to see the famed Halona Blowhole. Wander to the opposite corner of the parking lot and you’ll spy the cove where the steamy scene was filmed. A short, steep trail gets you there. Powerful currents often swirl through, so swimming isn’t a good idea, but picnicking is.

Hollywood Tour

Kualoa Ranch Godzilla’s footprint at the the Windtalkers’ battleground and Jurassic Park sets.

Oahu Film Set Tours will take you to the vast Kualoa Ranch, where you can see Godzilla’s footprints, the Windtalkers’ battleground and Jurassic Park sets. Much of the tour takes place off-road and includes both the ranch and the verdant Kaaawa Valley on the island’s east side, once one of the most sacred places on Oahu. Here children of the most powerful chiefs were trained for war and schooled in chants and songs. Today much of the Kaaawa Valley remains largely undeveloped, and the ranch belongs to the same family that purchased it from King Kamehameha III in 1850. www.oahufilmtours.com

Reel Oahu
If you’re eager to see Hawaiian celluloid, time your visit to coincide with the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival, held in late October, which typically screens more than 250 films. The festival gives special play to Hawaiian filmmakers. www.hiff.org

Slide show   The Heart of Hawaii Her warm friendly people, inspiring natural beauty and unique culture draw people to the immaculate shores of Oahu. more photos

Factoid
Long a gathering place for the Honolulu society, the Kahala Hotel has become a favorite spot for movie stars, such as Adam Sandler, Nicolas Cage, Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Insider Tip
This tip comes courtesy of Michael Emerson, aka Ben of Lost: “I love the local acid-jazz collective known as gr00ve.imProV.arTiSts with maestro-trumpeter DeShannon Higa and the mighty Maris Remos on vocals. They’re often at Jazz Minds Art & Café on Kapiolani Boulevard on Thursdays.” www.honolulujazzclub.com

Kauai: A Gardener’s Paradise

Five Best Places to Stop and Smell the Flowers
1. McBryde Garden. Located in the south-shore Lawai Valley, McBryde has the world’s largest collection of Hawaiian flora, including the wiliwili, with branches that resemble sea coral, and the peculiar-looking alula, found only on Kauai.

2. Allerton Garden. Also in Lawai, this garden -- once owned by a Hawaiian queen -- is laid out in a series of “rooms,” such as the aptly named Palmetum, enclosed by native and exotic palms.

3. Limahuli Garden and Preserve. At the base of Mount Makana, Limahuli has agricultural terraces approximately 700 to 1,000 years old that ancient Hawaiians carved to grow taro.

4. Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens. On the north shore its 13 distinct gardens weave around bog, forest, meadow and beach. You might see breeching humpback whales offshore.

5. Iliau Nature Loop in Waimea Canyon. Imagine the Grand Canyon carpeted in green. Look for yellow-blooming iliau; it flowers once, then dies.

Tiny Bubbles
Soap fit for a king. Malie Kauai’s luxe cream bar is made from the oils of palm kerns, coconuts, macadamia and kukui nuts. (Kukuis are crafted into leis and were once worn by Hawaiian royalty.) Malie Kauai combines indigenous ingredients with Hawaiian “Hydrosols” (liquids distilled from flowers that contain healing benefits and aromatherapy fragrances). Choose from the fragrances of coconut-vanilla, gardenia, pikake (jasmine), plumeria or coconut-pineapple. Four ounces for $12. www.maliekauai.com

Wettest Place on Earth?
Kauai’s Mount Waialeale is often referred to as the wettest place on earth, but this extinct volcano in the center of the island takes a back seat to the town of Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, India. Still, it does get an average of 440 inches of yearly rainfall. The summit itself — 5,148 feet — is mostly barren; plant life thrives, however, in the crater. Folks have reached the summit, but that’s rare given the bramble of foliage and lack of discernible trails. But you can get a good look at Waialeale from the Kuilau Ridge Trail. The first mile offers an easy incline through forested hills before reaching a grove of picnic tables with views of the second-wettest spot on earth.

Killer Plants
Banana poka is an invasive weed that threatens Kauai’s native forests, but these pliable vines festooned with pink blossoms can be woven into lovely baskets. On May 27, the Kokee Natural History Museum hosts the Banana Poka RoundUp. West Kauai is cowboy country, and in that spirit, the festival includes bluegrass and Hawaiian music, a human crowing contest (in honor of the island’s wild chickens), basket-weaving workshops and displays of Kauai’s impressive flora. Workshop fee is $15. If you can’t make the poka roundup, the museum also leads Wonder Walks. www.kokee.org

Factoid
Hawaii has one of the highest concentrations of endemic plants anywhere — 90 percent of the approximately 1,200 native plants grow nowhere else on the planet and Kauai is the island chain’s showcase.

Insider Tip
Practical knowledge of Kauai’s botany comes in handy: Ti is said to reduce fevers, while ginger reputedly fights nausea; the kukui nut is an effective laxative; and the liquid from a beach-naupaka leaf also makes a good lens defogger, says David Lorence, director of science at Kauai’s National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Each issue of ISLANDS Magazine explores the most beautiful island destinations in the world, from tropical island outposts to the sophisticated gems of the Mediterranean. Our top-rate photographers and writers discover the quiet beaches, boutique hotels, and unique cultural experiences that make island travel unique.

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