Trying to find the Ancient Halawa-Luluku Terraces

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Halawa-Luluku Terraces  - April 25, 2016

I've imagined finding these hidden terraces for years. Driving on H3, coming out of the Harano tunnel, taking the Likelike exit and its there, hidden somewhere. Where exactly? I don't know. Every time I drive by the area, I seem to think its somewhere around, but I can't pinpoint it. 

I put myself in a body of an ancient Hawaiian. Where would I build the Luluku terraces. Obviously!!! Right through the Luluku stream. My searched narrowed to the Luluku stream. I google earth'd it and felt I had a solid idea of where it was. 

The day came to scout it out. I went to Hoomaluhia Botanical Gardens, the visitors center to park. I walked about a 1/2 mile back towards the entrance to the Luluku stream. I went upstream for only 100 feet so I could get a vantage point of the road and saw that it wasn't there. Shit I thought.

Luluku stream

I walked back to the access road and further up the road to a dirt road. There was no sign, but it was obvious I shouldn't be on the road. But I did. I didn't get very far up the road because there was what appeared to be a house. I turned around and went back to my car. 

My hunch is near the base of the mountain is where the terraces are

Next time the prospect of finding the terraces is greater. I figured that I just have to follow the stream under the H3 and it should be there. We shall see if my hunch is correct. 

The Story of the Halawa-Luluku Terraces

Radio carbon dating has shown the area to be developed between 915 AD and 1200 AD. The terraces are said to be the largest in the Koolau Poko district. The design of the terraces is a four site complex. The book doesn't mention too much about the Ancient Hawaii part. Rather, the controversy surrounding the Luluku terraces. Obviously, when H3 was built there was a problem because it went through the Luluku terraces. The most significant ancient site in the area is the Kukui o Kane Heiau which maybe part of the terraces. 

2005 Honolulu Advertiser pic (11 years ago)

Halawa-Luluku Terraces 2nd Attempt

June 2, 2016

Today was going to be the day. David and I planned to accomplish this goal. Dave invited Nalo Bob and we met at the Hoomaluhia Visitors Center at 9am. 

Just like last time, I headed us towards Luluku Stream. We encountered a semi deep pool and a small waterfall. I tried to take silk but my hand shook. To bypass the pool, there was a ladder and a trail to go around. We went down a not so steep embankment and headed upstream. Shortly ahead of us was hau tangle. This hau engulfed the stream making progress super slow. It took us 30 minutes to go like a 100 feet. We bailed on stream hopping and went left up the embankment. We bushwhacked a bit and found an opening, not a trail but it made progress easier. 

small waterfall

The opening eventually ended and we were bushwhacking again in head high cali grass. Although we took a while, we got to where we needed to get to which was the H3. We went through a tunnel and a manmade waterfall which lead us underneath the H3. The scene here was awesome. We could hear the cars speeding. But the stream drowned out the noise. 

went through tunnel

I took a cool picture of Nalo Bob. Just then I found an open gate and a road. I thought, shit this was it! The road lead us to the terraces. There were so many of them, I lost count.

Nalo Bob in stream

terraces

We kept on going and going. The entire area was filled with terraces. After about 25 minutes, we encountered the Likelike Hwy. We found a tiny tunnel which I was able to go through. David and Nalo Bob stayed back. As I exited the tunnel, I saw the Board of Water Supply station. I thought this must be it. Instead of going on the service road, I saw a ridge and followed it. No surprise here, another terrace. I walked further up and found what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the terraces are overgrown. I should have progressed further, but didn't and decided to turn back. I didn't want the guys to wait too long. We were nearing the 3 hour mark already. 

Luluku Terraces

Excited, I showed the guys my picture. David took a nice group photo and we headed back. Going back was very confusing and I relied heavily on my gps track. There are so many twist and turns. We eventually got to that overgrown section and tried to find the path of least resistance. There wasn't too many options, but we were so close to the road and decided to bushwhack. It only took us 35 minutes to get back to Hoomaluhia. 

I did it. All done. Luluku Terraces checked off. I wouldn't mind going back again in the future. 

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