Breakfast With Duke And Thoughts Of Dookie

After crashing and burning last night at around 9PM (12AM circadian time), I was wide awake at 7AM with a Pacific time brain jonesing for some caffeine. I threw-on some clothes and strolled out into the refreshing 88°F Wakiki morning. The idea of a "local" coffee shop is a somewhat foreign notion to Waikiki, what with it's glut of Starbucks and The Coffee Bean stores. I suppose they are locally managed, but I like to support true local coffee shops when I travel. But in this commercial and retail hub of Oahu, it's either the mega-coffee chains or the brownish water passing for coffee at any of the 17 million ABC Stores.

With coffee finally in hand, I made my way down to Kalakaua Avenue to visit Wakiki Beach. One of my favorite Oahu traditions is to also pay a visit and my respects to the memory of surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku. Duke Paoa Kahanamoku was born and raised in Waikiki and was an Olympic swimming champion winning three gold, two silver, and one bronze medal in four Olympics between 1912 and 1922. He is generally recognized as the father of international surfing, most notably having participated in surfing exhibitions in Australia in 1914. He also made surfing popular in mainland America first in Santa Cruz, California.

Readers will remember from previous posts that I have some serious surf envy going on. I've had a desire to learn to surf since I was a child. What's not to love? You're in the ocean, fresh air, wet, sun on your face... does it get any better? I've even got a surfing boss who's happy to show me the ropes. My two big stumbling blocks right now are that I'm still trying to manage my spinal stenosis, so moving or bending with ease is still a work in progress. The other? My potential surfing "classroom" of the SF Bay Area is home to frigid water and more Great White Sharks than anywhere in the world. I know... excuses, excuses.

After saying hello to Duke with a rub of his bronze foot, I crossed onto the sands of Waikiki Beach to watch the early morning surf crowd do their thing. I was only half joking yesterday when I mentioned the E. coli in the sand here. Last year following torrential rains, over 50 million gallons of untreated sewage was discharged into Honolulu's canal system which then was deposited onto Oahu’s south shore beaches. The state is still monitoring the long term impacts of this unprecedented environmental contamination, but I've heard that samples of offshore sediment still show higher than average bacteria levels.

According to the Hawaiian Tourism Authority statistics, as of August 2007 the Island of Oahu has seen approximately 2,263,916 hotel visitors. The vast majority of these guests have stayed in the greater Waikiki area. If you conservatively estimate at least two toilet uses each day, that's 4,527,832 toilet flushes this year alone. All of this is straining an aging and inadequate sewage treatment capacity, even without the added burden a storm season can contribute to the system. Despite warnings that a sewage system overflow can happen again, no recent plans appear to be in the works to retrofit the sewage infrastructure or construct safeguards to protect against a repeat of the 2006 spill.

With thoughts of dookie now swirling in my mind, I finishing my cup of java and waded knee-deep into the warm Waikiki water. With Diamond Head over my left shoulder, the majestic Moana Surfrider Hotel to my right, and a fleet of surfers vying for the next wave just offshore, it's difficult to imagine that there might be problems in paradise. And I suppose that's exactly what local government and city officials are counting on as well.