Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Huliheʻe Palace
HISTORIC BUILDING
(
329-1877;
www.huliheepalace.net
; 75-5718 Aliʻi Dr; adult/child under 18/senior $6/1/4;
10am-3pm Tue-Sat)
Huliheʻe Palace is a fascinating study in the rapid shift the Hawaiian
royal family made from Polynesian God-kings to Westernized monarchs. Here's the
skinny: Hawaiʻi's second governor, ʻJohn Adams' Kuakini, built a simple two-story,
lava-rock house as his private residence in 1838. After Kuakini's death, it became the fa-
vorite vacation getaway for Hawaiian royalty.
In the mid-1880s Huliheʻe Palace was thoroughly renovated by the globe-trotting King
David Kalakaua, who felt it needed more polish. He stuccoed the lava rock outside,
plastered it inside, and added decorative ceilings, gold-leaf picture moldings and crystal
chandeliers.
Hard times befell the monarchy in the early-20th century, and the house was sold and
the furnishings and artifacts auctioned off by Prince Kuhio. Luckily his wife and other
royalty numbered each piece and recorded the names of bidders. In 1925 the Territory of
Hawaii purchased the house to be a museum run by the Daughters of Hawai'i, a women's
group dedicated to the preservation of Hawaiian culture and language. This group
tracked down the furnishings and royal memorabilia, such as a table inlaid with 25 kinds
of native woods, several of Kamehameha the Great's war spears and the (surprisingly
small) bed of 6ft, 440lb Princess Keʻelikolani.
You'll learn these and other stories on 40-minute guided tours. The free concert series,
held here at 4pm on the 3rd Sunday of each month, is a treat, with Hawaiian music and
hula performed on the grass facing sparkling Kailua Bay.
Ahuʻena Heiau
TEMPLE
(
www.ahuena.com
; 75-5660 Palani Road)
After uniting the Hawaiian islands, Kame-
hameha the Great established his kingdom's royal court in Lahaina on Maui, but he con-
tinued to use Ahuʻena Heiau as his personal retreat and temple. This is where he died in
May 1819, and where his body was prepared for burial, though in keeping with tradition
his bones were secreted elsewhere, hidden so securely no one has ever found them.
Reconstructed with palm-leaf shacks and carved wooden
kiʻi
(statues), the small heiau
(closed to the public) sits next to Kailua Pier, and the adjacent Courtyard King Kame-
hameha Beach Hotel uses it as a backdrop for its luau. The heiau's tiny cove doubles as a
placid saltwater pool where locals fish, children swim and seniors lounge on its comma
of sand at
Kamakahonu Beach
.
