Nuuanu

Lets start here at another favorite chill spot in what some may call Liliha. This area is actually more in the Kou area in which Honolulu is named after, Kou was located at around the Liliha and School intersection and full of taro patches inherited by royalty. This is Kunawai Spring. Now a circular pond with a flood gate under a cute little walkway bridge. A nice place to bring children to catch small fish and craw fish. The street and park its located at share its name.


                                          

Deeper into the valley, two bad ass Haole!

A memorial to Isaac Davis in Oahu Cemetery

John Young's resting place at Mauna Ala, the Royal Mausoleum. I will do another post about the cannons of Nuuanu in the future, four of which stand guard around John Young's grave.

Downstream behind the Royal Mausoleum you can find two petroglyph locations. The first is behind the Nuuanu Cemetery and the second just before the trail leading to Kapena Falls from Nuuanu Cemetery from the ewa side of the stream instead of from the pagoda lookout spot on Pali hwy. Both are covered with iron cages to restrict anymore graffiti from present day "artists" 

Just upstream is Kapena Falls!

Higher up Nuuanu Valley off of Nuuanu Pali Drive across Reservoir 3. You will find a jewel from the past. Kaniakapupu, Kamehameha III's summer palace. Used to keep the King's privacy from foreign influence and "favors," training the future monarchs the old Hawaiian ways, and finally the location for a gallant party celebrating the anniversary of Restoration Day of the Hawaiian Nation from a short British rule.

It was kind of hard to find the first time I visited here. Even after finding this opening to the trail head, I continued too far and it led me to someones backyard. Instead, after about a hundred feet from the road. You'll want to take a left onto the trail leading to Kaniakapupu. Continuing on this trail will take you to a pretty nice waterfall that was once diverted to power Hawaii's first hydroelectric power plant. Crossing the diverted stream st the first point the pipes cross the trail will take to that very backyard I brought up earlier but we'll get to that a little later. This place seems less of a secret now than the first time I was here. I always see tour groups, families, and classes here when I go.

The remains of the west wall as viewed from the inside. Kaniakapupu was constructed with coral from the ocean in the same manner that Kawaiahau Church was. You can see that notch in the wall on the left side of the door marking where the floor once stood.

A plaque set up at the door step explaining some of Kaniakapupu's past.

Here is the detached kitchen.

A few feet to the north east are the remains of a heiau which may have been why Kaniakapupu was decided to be built here, some suggest it was a healing heiau used for travelers that passed from the Windward side to the Leeward side and vice versa. It was also the seating area for the large party on Restoration Day as all of the 12,000 could not have fit in the house. Here is a fire pit from a group that frequents here for reasons I do not know and would not wish to suggest.

Here is a stone that was pointed out from a youtube video I saw with Dr. Baron Kaho`ola Ching. It may have been used for sharpening and he suggests it was from a precontact era. 

The backdoor of the structure looking south to the front door.

These two black and whites are courtesy of the Hawaii State Archives.

Here is another waterfall at the back of the trail through a bamboo forest fronting a very large filled in Taro patch or Lo'i. Some lucky landowner can call this their very own nowadays.

I climbed over the large stone on the right of the last pic and found this very deep section under the waterfall. I vowed to return with board shorts to jump in.

One Sunday I returned and jumped in. Too bad I jumped into a section hiding a very large boulder just under the surface leaving a very large bruise on my right thigh. No broken bones though. Lots more to be said about Nuuanu but I'll have to comeback later!