Before publishing the first pages of the yet unnamed website with Webseed back in 1999, my youngest child (then 7 years old) said "How about Coconut Roads.com?" Being a lover of language, he said he liked the way it sounded and that it had alliteration (yep, that's the word he used). This specific name probably emerged from experiences he had living in Waimanalo. When he was just going on 3, we lived a couple blocks from Waimanalo Bay, a beach on the "Country Roads" side of Oahu. Just about everyday we'd walk from the room I rented to the sandy shore (this was the stretch near the Ironwood grove ("Sherwood Forest" to the locals.) The roads we walked to the beach though were lined with, yes, coconut trees...
Now coconut trees are just about everywhere in the islands, but unlike at the parks, beaches and main streets, the trees on these country roads weren't always trimmed, and we'd often see coconuts on the sides of the road (that we walked in to avoid falling ones). To a small child, these "coconut roads" were pretty impressive, not to mention they led to one of the most beautiful beaches in Hawaii - Waimanalo.
I liked the name Coconut Roads.com because not only was it the brainchild of my child and had a nice ring to it, the name seemed quite fitting for a Hawaii ecotourism site that would emphasize the culture and nature of Hawaii. When I was teaching there, I learned that Niu, the coconut plant, was one of the most important plants in pre-Western contact Hawaii. The early Hawaiians used every bit of this plant: for food and drink, oil, shampoo, weaving household items, thatching roofs, carving musical instruments and small canoes, and much more.
The coconut tree is a symbol of sustainable living, and so Coconut Roads.com perpetuates sustainable travel in Hawaii that brings the visitors closer to Hawaiian culture and nature, while leaving a lighter footprint in these beautiful, yet fragile islands..
My connection to Hawaii - I've experienced Hawaii as both visitor and resident on the Big Island (Hawaii Island) and Oahu, and I've spent numerous weekends on Kauai in Kapa'a and visited Maui. I lived mostly on the Big Island, mostly in Hilo and Puna but also in Kona and South Kohala.
In the late 1980's, I taught in Hawaii and got to meet some amazing kids. First I taught At Waiakea High School in Hilo on the Big Island) where my ninth grade English students gave me a sink-or-swim course in Hawaiian Pidgin (bless their hearts LOL), and then as an educational therapist at an erstwhile residential treatment center for adolescents where I taught a variety of subjects including Hawaiian Studies.
While teaching on the Big Island of Hawaii, I had the opportunity to learn with my students from volunteer kupuna (elders) who taught their skills, such as poi making and lei making at the center. And I accompanied my students on a YMCA Wilderness Program three-day survival hike across Volcanoes National Park's Kau Desert on the flanks of Mauna Loa (today I enjoy a wee bit softer eco adventures!).
My experiences living and visiting in Hawaii on a pretty small budget gave me the idea for the "shoestring budget" in my Hawaii Budget Travel Guides. As a single parent of three in one of the most expensive U.S. states, I learned how to make my dollars stretch. This wasn’t too difficult because if you look in the right places, Hawaii offers a great deal for very little: beautiful beaches, great surf, fragrant blossoms year-round, waterfalls, trails, aquariums, live music, arts, hula, festivals and more, and all that which inspire the spirit and provide opportunity for great fun! But it’s the people and their culture as much as the natural beauty and activities that draw me back again and again and again...
The heart-felt connection I feel with Hawaii began with my grandparents, Wilbur Harr and Jeanne Bassett Harr. My grandmother's great-great aunt aunt moved to the islands in the 1940's, and she had cousins who grew up in Hilo. One of them, so the stories go, was married to a fellow who survived the Hilo tsunami by climbing a coconut tree. My grandparents visited and almost moved to the Big Island near Punalu`u (the black sand beach before the lava flow made it impossible to reach without driving Volcano way) but ended up staying in California for family reasons.(ohana was always their priority).
I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California where I spent just about any free time I could at the beaches and hiking in the mountains or at my grandparents home where where I first learned of Hawaii through their stories and photographs. I moved from the Big Island to Big Bear, Calif. in 2010 but am planning a 2012 visit.
I hope you enjoy my online Hawaii Eco Travel Magazine. I'll be adding interactive features soon. If you "Like" Hawaii Eco Travel on Facebook, follow Hawaii Eco Writer on Twitter or join my Google Circles, please share your thoughts on Hawaii, Hawaii eco travel and Coconut Roads.com.
