2007 Lei Bear Day Weekend

Welcome Party

With such a small, close knit gay scene in Honolulu, I didn't know what to expect when I turned up to Hula's Bar for the welcome party. All of the Aloha Bears working the check-in table were super nice and the crowd in the bar was just as friendly and welcoming. I was surprised to see some guys from Palm Springs as I had just met them at the Lazy Bear event a few weeks ago. I seemed to click with a guy at the bar called Patrick Buchanan from Saint Louis who was there visiting friends. We hung out and chatted until jet lag caught up with me but we made arrangements to meet again on Sunday.

Secret Island Swimming

Saturday was a major outing to the stunningly gorgeous Kualoa Ranch. The ranch has been the site of many Hollywood films such as Jurassic park, Windtalkers, Pearl Harbor, Godzilla, Tears of the Sun and 50 First Dates. TV shows filmed at the ranch include Hawaii Five-O, Magnun P.I. and most recently the hit show LOST.

Established in 1850, Kualoa is a 4,000 acre working cattle ranch, spread from the steep mountain cliffs to the sparkling sea. Located on the northeastern side of Oahu in the Hawaiian countryside, it is less than an hour from Honolulu and in ancient times, it was considered one of the most sacred places on the island.

The early Hawaiians built fishponds all around the islands and farmed them to ensure a constant supply of fish. Today, only a few remain on O'ahu, the Moli'i Fishpond at Kualoa Ranch is one of them. We rode a boat across it to reach Secret Island, one of the natural barriers encorporated into the perimeter of the fishpond.

Q on the beach on Secret Island

We spent the day at the beach on Secret Island. The Aloha Bears provided a nice BBQ, complete with vegan treats for me!

It was so amazing to swim in such warm ocean water, especially when it began to rain in the afternoon. The raindrops were so big and cold as they splashed on my skin - the contrast felt strange yet exhilarating.

Q in front of the 'long back' ridge of mountains from which the ranch takes its name.

Kualoa Ranch Gazeebo on the fish pond

Lei Bear Day Luau

Late in the afternoon, we took boats back across the Moli'i Fishpond and rode a bus up to the terraced foothills and the site of our luau. I sat at a table with a group of guys from the Big Island and we had a lot of fun. Since we were nestled near the base of the mountain ridge, the views were amazing and almost everyone seemed as captivated as I was by the sheer beauty of the place.

The food was traditional luau food so I had way more starch than I can ever remember eating at one meal, but it was delicious. The poi was really good as were the blue sweet potatoes. Hula dancers and fire dancers rounded out an amazing evening.

Pub Crawl

I skipped the Sunday boat trip to have some Ohana time at the Iolani Palace. I met up with the bears again Sunday night however when I returned to Hula's for the start of the Pub Craw. The Aloha Bears arranged a little trolly to take us around Waikiki. They set up a game where we had to collect a card from each of the participating bars. The person who ended up with the best poker hand won prizes provided by the event sponsor, GO! Airlines.

Maybe it was the Menehune (Hawaiian style leprechauns) who picked my cards for me, but I ended up with a card for each age of the Keiki - Anu is 5, Kawai is 7 and Kody is 9. It seems too specific to be purely coincidental so I believe its a little more evidence of the magic of paradise...

Patrick Buchanan rang up and I convinced him to join us at the second bar of the Pub Crawl. Later he and I found a drag bar on the way to the dance club and decided to check out the show. I've seen my fare share of drag shows over the years and I've never seen such an ecclectic mix of 'ladies'. Some were super passable, others super scary, most somewhere in between. A couple were really original and creative with their numbers and a couple stumbled or only had two hand gestures and forgot how to mime the words to the songs they picked out. It was good for a laugh and a great way to end a nice night out on the town.

Labor Day BBQ

Queen's Beach in Waikiki was the setting for the Labor Day BBQ.

I got down there in the late afternoon. I had hoped to see Patrick again before he had to fly back to Saint Louis but I got a late start and he was staying on the other side of the airport so we just talked on the phone for awhile.

The park at Queen's Beach was crowded with holiday makers and locals alike but the bear flag billowing from the tent was easy enough to spot. There was such a relaxed vibe and it felt wonderful to sit on the grass and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.

As the afternoon progressed, I noticed a bearish guy on a towel kind of close to the BBQ but not really interacting with anyone. I hadn't seen him all weekend but I thought he was part of the group and maybe just a bit shy or something so I went over to talk to him. It turns out he's from the UK and had no clue there was a bear event going on all weekend. His name is John and he was in Honolulu with his partner Darren who soon joined us. They were celebrating their 8th anniversary.

The three of us hit it off so well that I ended up having dinner with them at a really bad Chinese food place in Waikiki. It was super touristy and the food was greasy but it was fun to just joke around and reminisce about my life in London. They're such a fun couple that we met up for drinks the next night and ended up hanging out at a burger place around the corner for hours.

All in all, it was a great way to end a really fun weekend.

Q and the view from a terrace at the Kualoa Ranch.

J-D& me at Cheeseburgers in Paradise that more than made up for the lame Chinese place from the previous night...

Enjoying the remnants of the day:
A beautiful Waikiki sunset