Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku is an icon in Hawaii and a hero to most Hawaiians. He is often credited as being the father of modern surfing; he won gold and silver medals in Olympic swimming, and acted as an Hawaii ambassador to the world.
It is interesting to note: "The 'Duke', as Kahanamoku would be called, had been named not for Hawaiian royalty, but after his father who had been christened 'Duke' following the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to Hawaii in 1869."source plus more info
Here is a live webcam of this likeness of him.
Just to compliment Dana's beautiful close-up photo above and to give some perspective to this larger than life figure - figuratively and literally speaking, click on the image to the left. While "looking" for Ame and her family in Waikiki, I happened to stumble upon this beautiful family next to the Duke. Papa He'e Nalu =)
Nice post - and wow what a weekend you must have had hehe - If you want to, you can post again tomorrow, otherwise, I'll throw something up if not =)
ReplyDeleteno please by all means, u can post tomorrow hahahaha
ReplyDeleteWohow! That's big! Hehehe sorry the term father of surfing just got me smiling :)
ReplyDeleteWow! Impressive!
ReplyDeleteHe looks pretty hunky. Good post. Fun read.
ReplyDeleteSurreal, it looks from the chat above that the 2 of you have resorted to using your blog to 'talk'to each other, but atleast it's nice & civil!
ReplyDeleteA great story about another great Duke. Me?I'm just sitting here drooling over the colours, atmosphere & lifestyles of Hawaii....MMMM-MMM!
What a great pic - love the story also!
ReplyDeleteCxx
It always fascinates me to see all the leis on his statues. Before going to HI I knew of Duke as a surfer, didn't know all that he'd done (like the life (or is it lives?)saving, etc.), interesting man he was! And then I went to Duke's for a cold one and was delighted to see all those pictures!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed seeing this icon and learning a bit about his contribution to surfing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I loved the previous post, On Top of the World. What a great place to spend a little time.
He is quite a legend. The photo is also quite handsome.
ReplyDeleteGreat and very interesting entry today.
ReplyDeleteThe beach looks like lots of fun, it feels like you're on holiday all the time =)
just checked out the webcam - kinda neat to see how the weather is like but kinda creepy too that webcams are everywhere. =)
ReplyDeleteDana and Kala, you guys are TOO CUTE! Are you sure you aren't related? I really enjoyed both photos and the webcam, but agree it's creepy to be filmed and not know about it.
ReplyDeletejust read ur blog tday and im pretty impressed
ReplyDeleteI love these photos you guys took of Duke! The past two times I was in Honolulu I always tried to get a photo with the statue but I always ended up going towards sunset so the lighting sucked! Oh well. Next time!! :)
ReplyDeleteHEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe were just there last nite before heading to the airport!!!
And because Kala never "found" us...I think I'm just gonna have to spank his OKOLE!!!
Anyway, we're hoooooooooome....had an awesome time, even if "Poster Boy" and "Fairy Princess" and I didn't hook up!
There's always next time!
;-)
PS: Great shot...I was standing in that very spot admiring Duke less than 24 hours ago!