L
ILINOE,AGEDFIVE,CAN’TDECIDE
ifsheshouldjumpfromherfamily’s
outriggercanoetoherdad,mom
andoldersister,whoaretreadingthelimpid,
aquamarinewatersofKeauhouBay. With
thegreenhighlandsoftheKonacoffeedistrict
asa backdrop, 60 dolphinshavebeenputting
ona showforthepasthalf-hour,splashing,
diving,andresurfacingaroundthebay
andwithinmerefeetofthecanoe.“Jump,
Lili,jump!”shoutsher10-year-oldsister
Anelakai.“Ifyoudo,I’llpaintyournails
tonight.Barbiepink!”Atthat,Lilileaps.
I’monthecanoewiththeBalanga‘ohana,
orfamily– parentsIkoandHolly,andtheir
twodaughters.Ikobuiltthecanoehimself,
twohullslashedtogether,and,inbetween
swims,wetalkstory,laughandshareJapanese
seaweedsnacksandcoldchunksofsweet,
freshpineappledustedwithsalty-sour
Chineseli hingmuipowder.Anebullientmanwithclose-croppedblack
hair,Ikoworkedinconstructionbeforestarting
theoutriggerbusinesstospendmoretime
with his wife and children. “They’re the most
important things in my life, but ‘ohana
in Hawaii includes more than nuclear family.
The guys I worked with for so many years,
the teachers and other parents at the girls’
school, our good friends – I feel connected with
all of them. They’re all ‘ohana and, after hangin’
with you for a couple of hours, so are you.”
Back on the dock, after I say a “hui hou’ –
until we meet again – to Iko, Holly and the girls,
he touches his forehead and nose to mine and
we inhale together. It is honi, a traditional
Polynesian greeting, and, in many years
of visiting Hawaii, I have never experienced it.
‘‘ ‘Ohana isn’t about the blood in your veins,”
says Iko. “It’s about what’s in your hear t.”
Tailored outrigger canoe adventures start
from ` 7, 5 0 0 (www.anelakaiadventures.com).‘Ohana
- Lili and Anelakai Balanga leap
into the waters of Keauhou Bay - The area is a favourite spot
for sighting dolphins
Facing page: - Tobias Koehler, director
of two publics gardens - The Moreton Bay fig trees
in Allerton Garden were
backdrops in Jurassic Park - Brighamia is endemic
to Hawaii and critically
endangered
TRAVEL FOR ISLANDS HAWAII
12