Island Heritage
Sullivan's book won a Travel Journalism Award
for "Best Hawaii Guidebook."
Back in high school when money was hard to come by and gasoline was cheap, teen-agers would do what every self-respecting teen-ager did for fun -- go cruising. Cruise Waikiki, Diamond Head, up and down Tantalus, over the Pali and through Waianae. L.A. writer maps Oahu’s
simple pleasuresNow that adults don't have money either, it's a good time for cruising again. That doesn't mean getting in your car and burning gas, but simply taking time to enjoy what it means to live in Hawaii.
Because so many of us tend to take our island for granted, it has taken an L.A.-based author and photographer to paint a flattering portrait of an Oahu locals rarely see as we drive to and from work.
Richard Sullivan's "Driving & Discovering Hawaii -- Oahu" (Montgomery Ewing Publishers) is a fully illustrated, 112-page "road map" to, well, driving and discovering Oahu. Sullivan said the idea came to him while working as a free-lance photographer for the Los Angeles Times. He would bring along magazine photos of waterfalls, hoping to find them, but said, "When I asked the HVB 'where are these things?' they couldn't tell me."
Since then, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and American Airlines have given it a Travel Journalism Award as the "Best Hawaii Guidebook."
The book focuses on natural wonders -- beach parks, camping sites and hiking trails -- but you need not be an outdoors type to appreciate the wonders and accessibility of Waimanalo plant nurseries and the barely populated beaches from Mokuleia to Kaena Point.Either way, exploring by eyes or on foot doesn't cost much and we are certainly in need of cheap entertainment these days. You may be surprised that you live in such a beautiful place.
The book is $13.95 in Hawaii book stores. Updated information can be found on the Internet at http://www.discovering hawaii.com. Our online readers can order the book through the web site for $16.95 plus $3 for priority mail.
Nadine Kam, assistant features editor
