The neighborhood of Waialae-Kahala, at least from 21st Ave. and beyond toward to the shoreline, is where Muliwai Ditch weaves its way through in left and right angles. The stream is technically a ditch since it is reinforced by lava rock walls, but mostly it is concrete in the classic V-shaped channel common in Honolulu.
The name of this ditch was difficult to find. It's not on any map I've seen, and though it begins in a heavy traffic area — behind Times Supermarket on a busy thoroughfare under the freeway near Kahala Mall, it's mostly ignored and unseen. But the route it takes parallel to Hunakai St. and through the neighborhood calls for a few bridges, and each has a distinct square cross design. Most of them are still obviously metallic, and a few are rusty, but there's other part of Oahu where I've seen this. The metal design connects to vertical, concrete pillars, and none of them are dated and signed, but it makes for a very Kahala look.
Once the waterway — it is mostly bone dry this time of year — reaches Kahala Ave, the bridge there takes on a different design, a wall covered in foliage. The calm and width are accentuated by the foliage, and even a sideways shopping cart 30 feet mauka of the bridge can't kill the charm.
On the makai side of Kahala Ave, a 1930s-style stone wall painted white. Even a lone, sideways shopping wagon in the middle of the ditch can't remove the charm of the imagery. At the mouth, the stream is wide and mostly salt water, though it doesn't quite connect to the ocean this time of year, I suppose. Just sand, the sound of waves and a peaceful late afternoon to soak it all in.
As kids, we once walked here from Ala Wai Park after hearing that this was a mossy, slippery spot good for sliding. But this was summer time, there was no wet weather, and the moss was dry. It was a bust of a day, except for the glorious fact that we were free to roam and have fun without a care in the world. "Cherry Hill" — I don't know how it got this name — didn't live up to the hype, and there's no moss to be seen. Maybe it was cleared out years ago. Could Kahala thrive without this ditch? Waialae Nui and Kapakahi Streams are fairly close by, but the many gulches up in the valleys mean the potential for fast and dangerous flashfloods is always there, and that's when Muliwai Ditch will have meaning.
For me, the square cross design is fun. Repetitively consistent and fun. Maybe they were painted red or black ages ago.
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