Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu

Photography by: Emily Nathan, Tyson Wheatley,
Daeja Fallas & Andrew Kearns
Writing by: Charlotte Boates
Script Lettering and Hawaii Illustrations by:
Julianna Goodman

Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu

Oahu, Hawaii

Upon landing in Oahu and driving through boulevards lined with palm trees in downtown Waikiki, it's easy to see why this is one of the world's most famous islands. An electric blue ocean wraps the coast, the warm sun is nearly constant, the faint smell of plumeria blossoms drifts through the air. Modern and dense, resorts and hotels fill Waikiki, with the beaches packed with people stretched across the sand. The smaller, residential neighborhoods extend into the mountains and jungle. This is Oahu - a word that often conjures up the image of a peaceful, tropical escape - but it's also is home to the capital city with one million inhabitants, full of intensity and movement at almost every corner.

One of the best ways to understand the culture of a place is to begin with its people. When Tiny Atlas visited Oahu, we spent time with locals who've carved out a unique life for themselves on the island.

Basing ourselves out of the Alohilani in Honolulu, we set out each day to explore a new corner of the island. We visited nearby Maunalua Bay to go sailing with Austin Kino on his traditional canoe. Then, up in Meleana Estes' historic home in the Manoa Valley - a neighborhood of Honolulu - we were shown how to make traditional haku leis from local flowers and ferns. Away from the city on the North Shore, we saw Kimi Werner's life first hand as she shared her process for spearfishing, freediving, and what it means to live off the land. We also met Jenn Binney at her beautiful home - designed and built by her husband with Lanikai Beach as their backyard - and her shop in the laid-back Kailua, which stocks everything from Indian textiles to tropical print clothes and bags that Jenn designs and produces.

These four individuals come together to truly represent contemporary Hawaiian culture to us - a mixture of the old and the new, and always rooted in a sense of place.

Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu

Jennifer Binney

In the small Oahu beach town of Kailua, the pace of life is slow. The turquoise waters of Lanikai Beach are some of the most beautiful on the island. The town itself itself feels like a true community, with local families hosting big picnics on the weekends and charming homes dotting the streets. It's here, in the middle of sleepy Kailua, that you'll find Aloha Superette - part curated shop and part event space - a concept thought up by owner Jennifer.

"Growing up in Maui, there was a store called Pukanini Superette - and whatever day you popped in would be an unexpected shopping moment, with lots of variety," explains Jennifer. This that inspired her to create Aloha Superette, where visitors can find everything from vibrant kantha blankets sourced right from India, to tropical-print clothing and bags designed by Jennifer's own label - Samudra.

The name Samudra, meaning "gathering of waters" or "gathering of good ideas" in Sanskrit, pays homage to both the ocean and to India, where she first had the idea that started Samudra. Jennifer started by printing her own photography on bags - beginning with a photo near her house in Hawaii - and now sells her clothes and bags all over the world.

Besides running both Aloha Superette and Samudra, Jennifer spends her days with her family, out on the ocean, travelling, canoeing, being outdoors. She's lived in New York and California, but for her, Hawaii is the place that has always felt like home. "There's something special about this place… the genuineness of the people, that nature takes priority, and that values are based around family and food. I've never met anyone who said 'I don't want to visit again.' Hawaii calls people back in this inexplicable way - there's really nowhere else like it."

Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu

Austin Kino

Most of Austin's days are spent out on the Pacific. From the vantage point of his double-hulled canoe, the Holokino, he can see all of southeastern Oahu - from the cerulean shores to the layers of palms and the mountains that rise behind them. Here in Maunalua Bay, just outside of Honolulu, Austin runs Holokino Hawaii - experiential tours on on his traditional canoe, built by craftsman Nakoa Prejean. On other days, Austin teaches local school children how to sail and about Polynesian wayfinding, through his organization, the Huli Movement.

From his canoe, Austin points out the different ahupua'a, the traditional land divisions that mark up the island. He explains the techniques of Polynesian wayfinding and how we can understand where we are going without instruments - by using the rising and setting of stars as a compass, by following the paths of migratory birds, the story the waves tell as they move and swell. "Being able to understand your place and where you are in relation to your environment and within the cosmos, it's really something," he says.

Austin was taught to navigate by Nainoa Thompson - a Honolulu local credited for being the first Hawaiian to practice traditional Polynesian navigation in over 600 years. Austin sailed alongside Thompson and his team, traveling from Hawaii to Tahiti using only traditional wayfinding. These are the same techniques that were used by Polynesians to settle the Hawaiian islands over 1500 years ago.

For Austin, it's clear that while a lot has changed, some things haven't. We're impacted by the same natural phenomena - the stars, the waves, the tides - that people have been for thousands of years. The past, present and future are always intertwined, and the simple things in life can act as a common thread to show us what's truly important.

"Social media and technology can sometimes bring us further away from happiness, like there's always something better you're missing out on," says Austin. "But there's contentment in the simple things - being in nature, surrounded by a community, and seeing the impact that you have in the world."

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Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu

Kimi Werner

Raised in rural Haiku, on the island of Maui, Kimi grew up surrounded by the island's eastern shores and the lush backcountry. In her youngest years, she went diving into the coastal waters with her father, floating behind him as he freedove for local Hawaiian fish and seafood. Whether it was tiny ahole'hole or bigger catch like lobster or crabs, spearfishing was a major food source for Kimi's family.

Later in life, Kimi found herself working as a chef in Honolulu - cooking in a professional kitchen, often with no connection to where the ingredients she was preparing came from. During these years, memories of freediving as a child often resurfaced, and initially she brushed them away as nostalgia. "I knew that I loved cooking food and sharing that with others. But working in restaurants, it felt like something was missing." Soon, the waves of memories became too much to ignore, and Kimi decided to go out freediving.

"Diving into the ocean for the first time in so many years, I felt overwhelmed," explains Kimi. "I bought a spear, went out alone, and felt like I had no idea what I was doing. But, looking down, I saw those same fish I grew up eating right at the bottom of the reef - ahole'hole, crimson-colored āweoweo, yellow-eyed kole. That day, the woman who emerged from the ocean with those six little fish was different than the one who went in."

Kimi's love of the ocean and intent on forging her own path has brought her around the world, from freediving beneath the ice in Antarctica to swimming alongside a great white shark in Mexico's Guadalupe Island. As a US national speardiver champion and prominent environmental activist, Kimi calls on us to question the assumptions that we make about our connection to the world around us.

"There's a magic that happens when we see the source of our own food. And, when we deny ourselves that knowledge, we're denying ourselves some meaning in life, something essential about what it means to be human- part of nature, not separate from it."

Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu

Meleana Estes

Most days, you can find Meleana in her Manoa Valley studio, creating leis with flowers and plants from her backyard garden - palapalai ferns, the classic crimson lehua flowers, vibrant pink ti leaves, among many more.

Leis and "flower crowns" may be making a resurgence, but for Meleana, lei-making is much more than a trend. Her grandmother (or tutu in Hawaiian) was Amelia Ana Kaopua Bailey - a lei-making icon in Hawaii. As a child growing up on neighboring Kauai, Meleana would visit her grandmother on Oahu, sitting alongside her as she braided and wrapped leis, and never leaving Honolulu International Airport without at least three puakenikeni lei adorning her neck. Her tutu would craft leis for just about every occasion, putting in hours of her time and care, then simply giving each away. Lei-making as an act of generosity and love was instilled in Meleana. "She shared her lei in the most giving way with nothing expected in return," she recalls.

Meleana specializes in a particular type of lei-making - haku leis - worn around the crown of one's head. "I love the architecture and color combinations possible in haku leis," she says. Meleana creates according to the wili style, meaning "to wind," which involves the flowers and ferns twisting and winding around one another, as opposed to stitching or braiding.

She now teaches workshops on haku and wili lei-making throughout Oahu, offering up a vibrant selection of flowers and ferns for each student to choose from. Lei-making may have its techniques and form, but at the end of the day there's no wrong way to make a lei. "The practice of sharing lei is Hawaii's ultimate expression of Aloha. When you take the time to make the lei you give, it is all that more special, and flowers are never not beautiful."

Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu
Tiny Atlas Quarterly, Oahu

Resources

Eat:

Morimoto Asia Waikiki

Chef Masaharu Morimoto (of Iron Chef fame) is behind one of Wakiki's newest eateries. Serving both dim sum and new takes on classics like pork belly ramen, spicy mapo tofu, Peking duck.

Arvo Cafe

Airy, Australian-style cafe in Honolulu's Kaka'ako neighborhood with an excellent selection of coffees and toasts. In the same spot as Paiko, a botanical boutique with fresh local flowers and workshops.

Mud Hen Water Restaurant

Created by local chef Ed Kenney, Hawaiian ingredients come together effortlessly in small plates that are perfect to share. Sample dishes like roasted beet poke, smoked macadamia nuts, bananas baked in coconut and bacon.

Over Easy Cafe

A tasty selection of breakfast items, like crispy blueberry cream cheese pancakes and kalua pig hash. In Kailua, on Oahu's east coast.

Roy's Beach House

Overlooking the ocean at Kuilima Cove, Roy's is an easy, casual spot for lunch on the North Shore. Roy's has excellent fresh fish (like their macadamia nut mahi mahi) and Hawaiian classics.

The Pili Group Cooking Classes & Catering

Led by Mark Noguchi, a renowned local Oahu chef, the Pili Group focuses on the connection between food and community. The Pili Group hosts hands-on cooking classes, public workdays each week at a local farm, and catering with an emphasis on hyperlocal cuisine.

Stay:

Alohilani Resort

Centrally-located right in Waikiki, the Alohilani offers expansive ocean views and meticulously-designed rooms. If being blocks from the beach isn't enough, take it easy in the Alohilani's infinity pool or admire the tropical fish in the three-story aquarium

The Laylow

One of Honolulu's newest boutique hotels, with midcentury decor and a sunny lanai in each room. Relax poolside with small plates and a drink, or wander to their onsite restaurant Hideout for fresh, locally-inspired meals.

The Kahala Hotel & Resort

Serene and beautifully-decorated hotel in a secluded location in Honolulu, outside of busy Waikiki. The Kahala also hosts Holokino Hawaii - tours along Oahu's southern coastline to learn about traditional Polynesian navigation, led by local navigator Austin Kino.

Do:

Holokino Canoe Tours

Learn traditional Polynesian wayfinding skills aboard a Hawaiian sailing canoe with navigator and lifelong Maunalua Bay local Austin Kino. Enjoy incredible views of the coast as you learn about the area's history and try your hand at sailing.

Kualoa Ranch Horseback Riding

Tour Oahu's hidden Ka'a'awa Valley by horseback and experience lush views of the Kualoa Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

Aloha Superette

Stop by this Kailua shop for a selection of art and home objects found and carefully curated by local Jennifer Binney. Think handmade ceramics, Indian kantha blankets, and Hawaii-inspired bags and clothing designed by Jennifer's own line, Samudra.

Hungry Ear Records

As Hawaii's oldest record store, Hungry Ear is a landmark in Honolulu. An extensive collection of vinyls and LPs, with a focus on Hawaiian sounds.

Treehouse Analog Shop

A full-service photography shop, stocking all of your analog film needs from darkroom supplies to film cameras. In the same building as Hungry Ear.

Olive & Oliver

Visit this boutique for beautifully-designed and quality goods chosen by husband and wife team Ali McMahon and Parker Moosman. Find it at the Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club.