U.S.A. - Hawaii - Mapcard

HIGHLIGHTS OF HAWAI'I
The Hawaiian islands feature special offerings - a spectacular active volcano, majestic humpback whales,delicious shave ice and cocoa coffee, and countless, enchanting beaches. Each islands has its own unique personality and provides a landscape full of adventure and sightseeing opportunities.

Sent by Steven from Hawaii, U.S.A.

USA - Hawai'i - Haleakalā National Park

Haleakalā National Park

Sent by David, a postcrosser from Indiana, USA.

Haleakalā National Park is a United States national park located on the island of Maui in the state of Hawaiʻi. The park covers an area of 33,265 acres (134.62 km²), of which 19,270 acres (77.98 km²) is a wilderness area. In 2000 the name was changed by the Hawaiian National Park Language Correction Act of 2000 observing the Hawaiian spelling.

It was originally created as part of the Hawaii National Park along with the volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea on the island of Hawaiʻi in 1916. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was made into a separate national park in 1961. The park area was designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1980. The name Haleakalā is Hawaiian for "house of the sun." According to a local legend, the demigod Maui imprisoned the sun here in order to lengthen the day.

The park features the dormant Haleakalā (East Maui) Volcano, which last erupted sometime between 1480 and 1600 AD.The park is divided into two distinct sections: the summit area and the coastal Kipahulu area.

The two sections of the park average 1,450,000 visitors per year. (read further)

USA - Hawaii - State Flower

Red Hibiscus, the Hawaii State Flower.

Sent by Becky from Hawaii, USA.

The hibiscus, all colors and varieties, was the official Territorial Flower, adopted in the early 1920s. At statehood in 1959, the first state legislature adopted many of Hawaii's symbols as part of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS, state laws). It wasn't until 1988, however, that the yellow hibiscus which is native to the islands was selected to represent Hawaii. For this reason, you will see many older photos and postcards with the red hibiscus, or any other color for that matter, as the state flower. These weren't incorrect at the time. (Source)

USA - Hawaii - State Bird

These Nene or Hawaiian geese are rare and not seen by many visitors to Hawaii. They prefer the Rugged mountain sloped and lava flows in Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui and similar terrain found in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii. The Nene Goose is Hawaii's State Bird.

Sent by Becky from Hawaii, USA.

The Nene (pronounced "nay-nay") is a land bird and a variety of Hawaiian Goose. It has adapted itself to life in the harsh lava country by transforming its webbed feet into a claw-like shape and modifying its wing structure for shorter flights. Hunting and wild animals all but destroyed the species until they were protected by law and a restoration project was established in 1949.

The Hawaiian state bird, the Nene, was a bird not known to Audubon in his time, and was therefore not included in the 1840 edition of Birds of America. (Source)

USA - Hawaii - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Kilauea Lava Show
Lava sparks put on a dazzling display at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

Sent by Lauren, a postcrosser from Hawaii, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : Kīlauea is a volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and one of five shield volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaiʻi. Kīlauea means "spewing" or "much spreading" in the Hawaiian language, referring to its frequent outpouring of lava. The Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone has been continuously erupting in the eastern rift zone since 1983, making it the longest rift-zone eruption of the last 200 years. Thirty-five eruptions have taken place since 1952, not including the current episode. Lava less than 1000 years old covers 90% of Kīlauea, and the volume of erupted material is large enough to pave a road around the world three times.

Kīlauea is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and an invaluable resource for volcanologists who are able to study it up close due to its exclusively non-violent effusive activity. Since 2008, rising emissions of sulphur dioxide from theHalemaʻumaʻu crater at Kīlauea's summit have led to increased levels of volcanic smog and air quality concerns. Located withinHawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, Kīlauea is visited by millions of tourists each year, making it the most visited attraction in Hawaii and the most visited volcano in the world.

Despite its relative safety for researchers and visitors alike, Kīlauea is regarded by the USGS as the most dangerous volcano in the U.S. In 2010-2011, lava destroyed several houses in the Kalapana area. In March 2012, lava from Kīlauea completed the destruction of the Royal Gardens subdivision by burning the last remaining home there. According to the United States Geological Survey, the Volcanic-Alert Level for Kīlauea as of April, 2012 is "Watch". A Watch status is used to designate escalating unrest or a minor eruption underway that poses limited hazards.

USA - Hawaii - University of Hawaii

ABOVE HAWAII - Oahu
The University of Hawaii was founded in 1907 with 5 students and 12 faculty. Today the University has an enrollment of over 20,000 and over 1500 faculty members. Shown here is the 300 acre main campus in Manoa Valley.

Sent by Marie, a postcrosser from Hawaii, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment training center, three university centers, four education centers and various other research facilities distributed across six islands throughout the state of Hawaii in the United States. All schools of the University of Hawaiʻi system are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, founded as a land grant college under the terms of the Morrill Act of 1862 for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts in the United States, is the flagship institution of the University of Hawaiʻi system. It is well respected for its programs in Hawaiian/Pacific Studies, Astronomy, East Asian Languages and Literature, Asian Studies, Comparative Philosophy, Marine Science, Second Language Studies, along with Botany, Engineering, Ethnomusicology, Geophysics, Law, Linguistics, Mathematics, and Medicine. The second-largest institution is the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. It teaches over 3,000 students. The smaller University of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu in Pearl City primarily serves students who reside on Honolulu's western and central suburban communities. The University of Hawaiʻi Community College system comprises four campuses on Oʻahu and one each on Maui, Kauaʻi, and Hawaiʻi. The schools were created to improve accessibility of courses to more Hawaiʻi residents and provide an affordable means of easing the transition from high school to college for many students. University of Hawaiʻi education centers are located in more remote areas of the state, supporting rural communities via distance education.

USA - Hawaii - Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau

Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau
Hide in the past at this ancient city of refuge, that is now a national historic park.

Sent by Glennys from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, USA.

Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located on the west coast of the island of Hawaiʻi in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi. The historical park preserves the site where, up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who broke a kapu (one of the ancient laws) could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge or puʻuhonua. The offender would be absolved by a priest and freed to leave. Defeated warriors and non-combatants could also find refuge here during times of battle. The grounds just outside the Great Wall that encloses the puʻuhonua were home to several generations of powerful chiefs.

The 420 acre (1.7 km²) site was originally established in 1955 as City of Refuge National Historical Park and was renamed on November 10, 1978. In 2000 the name was changed by the Hawaiian National Park Language Correction Act of 2000 observing the Hawaiian spelling. It includes the puʻuhonua and a complex of archeological sites including: temple platforms, royal fishponds, sledding tracks, and some coastal village sites. The Hale o Keawe temple and several thatched structures have been reconstructed.

The park contains a reconstruction of the Hale O Keawe heiau, which was originally built by a Kona chief named Kanuha. After the death of Keawe, a great chief of Kona in the mid 16th century, his bones were entombed within the Heiau. The nobility (ali'i) of Kona continued to be buried here for 250 years. The last person buried here was a son of Kamehameha I in 1818.

It was believed that additional protection to the place of refuge was received from the mana in the bones of the chiefs. it survived several years after other temples were destroyed. It was looted by Lord George Byron (cousin of the distinguished English poet) in 1825. In 1829, High Chiefess Kapiʻolani removed the remaining bones and hid them in the Pali Kapu O Keōua cliffs above nearby Kealakekua Bay. She then ordered this last temple to be destroyed. The bones were later moved to the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii in 1858.

USA - Hawaii - Statue of King Kamehameha The Great

MEMORIES of Hawaii
The statue of King Kamehameha the Great stands overlooking Hilo Bay.

Sent by Wehi, a poscrosser from USA.

This is from Wikipedia : The Kamehameha Statue stands prominently in front of Aliʻiolani Hale in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The statue had its origins in 1878 when Walter M. Gibson, a member of the Hawaiian government at the time, wanted to commemorate the 100 year discovery of Hawaiʻi by Captain Cook. The legislature appropriated $10,000 for the project and made Gibson the director of the project, which originally included native Hawaiians but they soon were off the project and Gibson ran the project by himself.[citation needed] Gibson contacted Thomas R. Gould a Boston sculptor living abroad in Florence, Italy to create the statue.

During this time David Kalākaua had become king and was completing Iolani Palace which was his tribute to King Kamehameha I and to be the destination of the statue. The statue was too late for the 100 year anniversary but in 1883 the statue was placed aboard a ship and headed for Hawaiʻi. In the proximity of Falkland Islands the ship wrecked and with it the statue, however the Hawaiians had insured the statue for $12,000 and Gould rushed to complete a second.

The first casting of the Kamehameha statue, now at Kapaʻau, North Kohala.Before the second statue could be sent the original had been recovered by some Falkland Islanders. They sold it to the Captain of the wrecked ship for $500 and the Captain then sold it to Gibson for $875. Now Hawai'i had two statues. The original stands at the legendary king's birthplace of Kapaʻau in Kohala, on the island of Hawaiʻi. The re-ordered one stands in front of Aliʻiolani Hale.

A third statue was commissioned when Hawaiʻi attained statehood and was unveiled in 1969. It stood in the United States Capitol alongside the Father Damien Statue and was the heaviest statue in Statuary Hall, weighing 15,000 pounds. In 2008, shortly after Hawaii-born Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the presidency, the statue was moved from a dark, back row of Statuary Hall to a prominent position in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol's new visitor center.

Another Kamahameha statue resides on the Big Island. It is standing near downtown Hilo at the north end of the Wailoa State Recreation area, where it enjoys a king's view of Hilo Bay. The 14 ft statue was sculpted by R. Sandrin at the Fracaro Foundry in Vicenza, Italy in 1963 but was not erected on this site and dedicated until June 1997. The statue was originally commissioned for $125,000 by the Princeville Corporation for their resort in Kauai. However, the people of Kauai did not want the statue erected there as Kauai was never conquered by King Kamehameha I. Hilo, however, was one of the political center for King Kamehameha I. So the Princeville Corporation donated to the statue to the Big Island of Hawaii.

The Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa on Maui is the home of the fifth Kamehameha statue. Renowned Hawaiian artist, author and historian Herb Kawainui Kane created the imposing nine-and-a-half-foot work of art, which presides over the entrance of the hotel, facing the porte cochere. It is purported to be the most lifelike representation of the great warrior king.

The statue can be briefly seen in the opening credits of the TV police drama Hawaii Five-O. The statue is also seen multiple times in a 3-part series of Sanford and Son when the duo go on a vacation to Hawaii. The statue is seen on a pedestal outside the Hawaii Police Department Headquarters.

USA - Hawaii - ʻIolani Palace

ʻIolani Palace
The only royal palace on American soil, 'Iolani Palace remains a window to the pomp-filled days when kings and queens ruled Hawai'i.

Sent by Sally, a Swap-Bot partner from Hawaii, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : ʻIolani Palace, in the capitol district of downtown Honolulu in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi, is the only royal palace in the United States used as an official residence by a reigning monarch and is a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Two monarchs governed from ʻIolani Palace: King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani. After the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, the building was used as the capitol building for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory, and State of Hawaiʻi until 1969. The palace was restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1978.

USA - Hawaii - Waimānalo Coast

Waimānalo Coast is located on O'ahu's eastern shore. It is home to the Waimānalo lighthouse and numerous beautiful beaches.

Sent by Glennys from Honolulu in Hawaii.

USA - Hawaii - The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle (Honu)

The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle, or honu, is listed as an endangered species.

Sent by Glennys, a partner in WiP from Honolulu in Hawaii.

More info about this species, please click HERE.

USA - Hawaii - 100% Hawaiian Koa

One of its kind. This card is hand made from two pieces of 1/200" (0.05) thick veneer. Made in Hawaii.

One of the three postcards sent by unknown sender. (I'll publish your name or anonymous once I get to know you).

A big TERIMA KASIH for this special postcard.

USA - Hawaii - Waikiki Beach

Coconut palms, famous hotels, and beautiful turquoise waters make Waikiki Beach uncomparable to others.

Sent by Glennys from Hawaii, a partner in WiP.