THERE REALLY IS A HUKILAU BEACH!

You could have knocked me over with a feather when we drove by a beach and saw its name. Wow!

Hukilau Beach is a short distance from our hotel. After being on the Island for nearly 9 days and driving by this beach as many times, I glanced to my left as we passed it yesterday and said outloud to Candace, "Oh, my gawd, will you look at that!" So we went to a Hukilau, beach that is.
How it all got started...
All together now, we're going to see some hookers now, hookers, hookers, hookers, hookers now. That's not the way the song goes! Shame on you Bob!

Hukilau Beach is pictured below.







As we walked the two miles down the beach yesterday to snorkel in our little private cove Candace said to me, "The beauty of Hawaii nearly makes you forget about the issues of the island and the problems its people have." She's right. We've spoken to more than several native Islanders and found that minimum wage of 7.25 an hour prevails here. Most work two jobs to make ends meet. The average price of a home starts at well over 600k. A living wage in northern California starts at 11.50 an hour. Here in Hawaii everything is at least 25% more expensive than it is on the mainland.

The article I published yesterday regarding the expansion by the hotel we're staying in from 500 units to 5,000 units is a case in point. The financial group that's leading the charge to construct the addition claims that the expansion will benefit the locals because of the jobs it will provide.

Well hello, kick my fanny and call me Bubba! Guess what? For the most part, any new jobs provided by the hotel's expansion will be . . . will be? And the answer is??? You guessed it, minimum wage jobs.

Many locals feel that tourism has their elected officials in the backpockets. Anything related to tourism gets a green light regardless of the impact on the Islands.

The natural beauty of the North Shore that has been basically unspoiled for so many years is now threatened by this new expansion. Many more cars will travel on the small two lane road to get to it. Fields will be demolished to make way for shopping centers, fast food outlets, banks and whatever else comes with this type of growth. Then there's added garbage and sewer not to mention the stress this will place on an already stressed need for water. Have you ever wondered what Hawaii does with all of its garbage? Where does it all go?

The North Shore of Oahu will never be the same.