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Tiki Central / General Tiki

The Punalu'u villiage of Prince David

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M

One of the most fascinating sights/sites in Hawaii, especially for wide-eyed tourist minds looking for the real McCoy, was the more than perfectly idylic setting that lay for decades just inside the hau bush lined hwy. along the beach in Punalu'u, Oahu. These many years since the death of Myrtle, the widow of Prince David, it's frightening to wonder what condition this 'true to tradition' polynesian homestead on steroids must be in today, but it was once a living example of what the most fanciful dreams of old Hawaii are made of.

Here's a few isolated view pix

http://www.carolekaapu.org/friends-and-pictures/family-pictures/6594886

http://www.carolekaapu.org/friends-and-pictures/family-pictures/6594877

I was fortunate to curiously wander onto the water/land property decades ago and become entranced with both the tropical 'rabbit's hole' surroundings and my meeting Myrtle who told me much of the story. Such a sweet lady, who herself had amazing life/travel stories even prior to settling on Oahu.

Essentially the 'tiki' ultimate subject/topic, yet I see no TC archive mention, anyone here know more?

Here's maybe the only print currently available online http://books.google.com/books?id=05rWaT-JJ6YC&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=prince+david+punaluu&source=bl&ots=znmPKCAERj&sig=SV-FcB1SQyu54iH9-goDkkMU7VM&hl=en&ei=O3qOTJ6YIY_2tgOzh8S7BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=prince%20david%20punaluu&f=false See starting Pg. 137

A 1957 Honolulu Advertiser mention -
Work on the Pali Highway, which was a territorial project, began on Aug. 1, 1955. When a vastly improved highway opened on May 11, 1957 — which included two of the four tunnels scheduled for construction — the speedier link to Windward O'ahu was praised as a pathway to a new world that was filled with growing subdivisions. The opening ceremony that day included riders on horseback and a 1901 Oldsmobile in a parade led by Prince David Kaapau Kamehameha of Punalu'u, who smoked a corncob pipe and wore a malo for the occasion.

Myrtle and David did the old ways proud in the face of an ever more modern Hawaii. Their fading legend deserves more exposure.

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