Oahu -- The Waikiki Trolley Gives Honolulu Good Once-Over

WAIKIKI, Hawaii - It may well be the best bargain in all of Hawaii, particularly for visitors interested in seeing more of Honolulu than surf, sun and beautiful beaches.

Waikiki Trolley Tours was launched just half-a-dozen or so years ago. It's a direct copy of the Sydney Explorer, a system that's been in service in Australia's largest city for many years.

Here, it's been gussied up a bit. Passengers ride on an authentic reproduction of a San Francisco Cable Car, with rubber tires instead of rails and a noisy internal-combustion engine instead of cables. The same gong, however, clangs through Waikiki's concrete canyons.

A fleet of these colorful trolleys departs on two-hour narrated tours through Waikiki and the highlights of Honolulu about every 15 minutes from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. The trip is fascinating. What makes it even better is that you can get off at any one of 20 stops on the route, explore that area, and re-board another trolly later. The cars come by each stop at 15-minute intervals. A ticket is valid all day.

The main boarding area for the Waikiki Trolley is the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, on Kalakaua Avenue at the heart of Waikiki.

First stop, Aquarium

Leaving the shopping mall and Waikiki, the trolley trundles east down the broad boulevard and makes the first stop at the just-renovated Waikiki Aquarium. From there, it proceeds to the base of Diamond Head, the extinct volcano that has become a symbol of Honolulu. It then returns west along the Ali Wai Canal, built to drain the bogs that once made Waikiki a swamp.

Soon after comes a stop at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, with its collection of Pacific arts.

The next stop is the State Capitol, which is closed for asbestos removal. The statue in front commemorates Father Damien Joseph de Veuster, the Belgian priest who dedicated his life to helping those in the Molokai leper colony.

Adjacent to the Capitol is the Iolani Palace, billed as the only royal domicile in the United States. It's open to visitors Wednesdays through Saturdays. King Kamehameha the Great is still a revered figure; the statue of the 19th-century monarch, facing the palace, is one of the grand Hawaiian monuments; each June 11, it's draped with 18-foot-long leis in observance of Kamehameha Day.

The monarchy came to an abrupt end when, in 1893, a small group of American businessmen, including Sanford B. Dole of pineapple fame, with the assistance of 160 armed U.S. Marines, staged a coup d'etat and overthrew the government, establishing the Republic of Hawaii. Five years later, the islands were ceded to the U.S. as a territory.

"There are quite a few descendants of the aristocracy, the ali'i, who would like to see a return of the monarchy and secession from the United States," says Betty Tatar of the Bishop Museum, "but one of the problems is that they can't find many of the commoners, the maka'ainana, anxious to go back to those days."

Pineapple samples

The trolley continues to the Maritime Center and Aloha Tower, at the Honolulu Harbor. The 184-foot high Tower, a landmark of Hawaii since 1926, was the tallest structure in the islands when built. It's still used to control harbor traffic. A 10th-floor observation platform is open to the public-escalators and elevators take you to the top.

A overbearingly sweet aroma fills the air as the Trolley approaches the next stop. High above looms a water tower shaped and painted to resemble a giant pineapple. This is the modern cannery for Dole Pineapples, perhaps the world's largest purveyor of that yellow fruit. Tours of the cannery - and free samples - are available.

The factory occupies a site in the Iwei district, once known fondly by seamen throughout the world as Hell's Half Acre. Formerly the city's bordello area, it was lined with rows of saloons and neat little green houses, each of which was occupied by two women.

Dedicated shoppers have an opportunity at the next stop, Hilo Hattie, the largest fashion factory in the islands.

The next stop, midpoint on the trolley circuit, is the Bishop Museum and Planetarium, formally named the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History.It houses an extensive collection of Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts.

Chinatown

From the Bishop Museum, it's on to the Foster Botanic Garden, and then on the 36-square-block Chinatown district, the original center of downtown Honolulu.

Today, it's is a designated historical area and its structures are carefully maintained and refurbished in the style of a century ago. It's still teeming with shops, restaurants and markets. The oldest restaurant in Hawaii, Wo Fat, which opened in 1882, is still in operation.

Two-hour walking tours are conducted by the Chinatown Historical Society; phone (808) 521-3045.

Closing the loop

From Chinatown, the trolley trundles through downtown Honolulu, en route to Waikiki over a slightly different route, providing stops at the King Kamehameha Statue and Mission Houses Museum, and a relatively new development called Restaurant Row, as well as stops for dedicated shoppers, the Ward Center and the Ala Moana Shopping Center, billed as the world's largest open-air shopping center, with more than 180 shops.

Also included is a stop at the Kewalo Boat Harbor, where Honolulu's sports fishing fleet is docked. The trip continues to the Ilikai and Hilton Hawaiian Village hotels before returning to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center.

(Joe Scholnick is a freelance writer who lives in Long Beach, Calif.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- IF YOU GO

Waikiki Trolley

-- First departure of the Waikiki Trolley from the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center is at 8 a.m.; the last at 4:30 p.m.

Cost iss $15 for an all-day ticket, $5 for children 11 and under.

Time-table brochures are available in Waikiki hotels and shopping areas, or phone (808) 599-2561, or toll-free, (800) 824-8804 for information.