http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard RSS Feed for Hawaii's Back Yard en-us Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:55:48 GMT http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20120401__Waialuas_wonders.html Waialua residents will be the first to admit their town is not a happening place; the biggest event of the week might be an exhibit of local art at the public library. But that's precisely why Kyoko Johnson and her husband, Tor, decided to live and work there. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20120325__Cultural_adviser_aims_to_help_everyone_live_aloha.html Clifford Naeole's life-changing story begins in the kalo loi (taro patches) of his paternal grandfather, whom he lovingly nicknamed "Granddaddy Mauka." http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20111120_What_a_dive.html Nick Fidelibus likens wreck diving to a treasure hunt. "It's thrilling, it's fascinating, it's mysterious," he said. "Seeing a plane or ship underwater makes you want to learn more about it. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20111113__Humpback_whales_are_Maui_festival_s_big_stars.html In the late 1970s, Maui whale activist Greg Kaufman would round up two dozen volunteers to put on annual festivities at Kalama Park in Kihei in honor of Hawaii's most famous winter visitors, the humpback whales. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20111106_Makahiki_celebrates_lifes_blessings.html Kumu Keala Ching hopes kamaaina and visitors will gather at Hawaii island's Makahiki and Healing Garden Festival in the same spirit of peace, gratitude and enjoyment. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20110731__Sweet_and_tart_the_mai_tai_as_art.html Ninety-two-year-old Santa Barbara, Calif., resident Anna Cochran is returning to Hawaii island's Royal Kona Resort in two weeks specifically to attend the third annual Don the Beachcomber Mai Tai Festival. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20110724_Climb_Aloha_offers_tours_and_programs_at_Oahu_cliffs_at_Makapuu_and_Mokuleia.html Twenty-two years have passed, but Mike Richardson, co-owner of Climb Aloha, clearly remembers the adventures that inspired him to become a rock star. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20110717_Star_power_behind_and__in_front_of_ukulele_festival_.html During a career that spans more than 20 years, Emmy, Billboard Music and Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner Ken Martinez Burgmaier has worked with a who's who of gold and platinum singers and musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Wynton Marsalis, B.B. King, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Ritchie, Roberta Flack, James Taylor and Kris Kristofferson. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20110710__Garden_is_jewel_on_way_to_Hana.html Kamaui Aiona, director of Kahanu Garden, was perturbed. On his daily check of the property one afternoon about five years ago, he spotted a young man and an elderly woman walking off a trail, down a slippery slope. Why would they be going off the path into that area? Aiona wondered. http://www.staradvertiser.com/travel/hawaiisbackyard/20110703__Hawaii_island_hootenanny_has_music_and_hula.html When Cyril, Martin and Bla Pahinui took the stage together for the first time, it was not in a prestigious venue. They didn't perform before a horde of reporters, and there wasn't a single TV camera in the house.