A scenic drive in Oahu

In the tiny, ramshackle Waikane Store, on Oahu's east shore, a cheerful woman in an old-fashioned hair net offered up Hawaiian-style sushi. And that means Spam.

The canned meat has long been a Hawaiian favourite, morphing into all kinds of dishes including Spam musubi - slices of grilled Spam draped on little blocks of rice. At this store, it's made in the back along with hot-dog rolls, slices of hot dog encased in rice.

You could, if you prefer, get traditional Japanese sushi all around Oahu, including at fancy restaurants in high-rise Waikiki. Or try the local version at a little place such as Waikane, part of the essence of "country" that still endures along the island's lush east coast.

Storms roll in from the Pacific, dumping about 250cm of rain a year on some of this windward east coast and helping keep much of it rural and less-touristed. I drove a scenic route out of Waikiki that hugs the coast all the way, ending up at the island's wave-pounded North Shore.

You could easily drive up and back in a day trip (my route from Waikiki to the North Shore was about 100km one way), but why hurry?

Here's a sampling of what to see on this very scenic drive, going east then northward from Waikiki, mostly on Routes 72 and 83.

HANAUMA BAY NATURE PRESERVE

Get going early in the morning to get a parking place and beat the crowds who flock to this protected bay that has some of Hawaii's best snorkeling. There's a bonanza of tropical fish, and sometimes sea turtles, to be seen in the steep-walled, collapsed volcanic crater that's now ocean-filled.

Info: About 18km from Waikiki, just off Route 72. See honolulu.gov/parks/facility/hanaumabay

SANDY BEACH

Stop here to see the daredevil bodysurfers and bodyboarders at this beach just off Route 72. They ride and frolic in the short, steep waves, making it look easy. It isn't. The waves and current are extremely powerful, so don't go into in the water unless you're very experienced. Waves toss and tumble people here, causing frequent injuries or worse.

Info: About 3km from Hanauma Bay, with parking lot right off Route 72.

MAKAPU'U POINT LIGHTHOUSE TRAIL

If you're able to do a gentle hike, don't miss Makapu'u Point. Walk to the top of a bluff on a paved trail with outstanding views of towering headlands and islets, humpback whales and paragliders. Some paragliders soar so close to the end-of-trail lookout platforms that you can say hello as they swoop past.

Info: About 4km from Sandy Beach. See hawaiistateparks.org/hiking/oahu/index.cfm?hike - id23.

HO'OMALUHIA BOTANICAL GARDEN

Going northward from Makapu'u, Route 72 skirts the ocean with sheer headlands looming above. If you want to see President Barack Obama's regular family-vacation destination and lovely white-sand beaches, detour into Kailua, a commuter beach-town (with a fast route over the mountains to Honolulu). I wanted to stick to the more rural side of life, so I drove on northward, stopping instead at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden, a botanical wonderland of tropical rain-forest trees and shrubs.

Info: About 22km from Makapu'u Point. See honolulu.gov/parks/hbg/hmbg.htm.

BYODO-IN TEMPLE

Now for something rather surreal. Hook into Route 83 - the two-lane meandering route to the North Shore, also called the Kamehameha Highway - and veer off it to the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park.

The 80ha cemetery, spreading over rolling green hills, contains a Japanese Buddhist temple nestled at the base of a greenery-cloaked ridge. It's a replica of an ancient Japanese temple, with a pagoda-like roof, a gleaming statue of Buddha inside and a pond in front where big orange koi swim.

Built in 1968 to commemorate a century of Japanese immigration to Hawaii, it's the grandest of the replica temples that dot the cemetery. Many Buddhist Hawaiians are buried near it; busloads of Asian tourists come to see the temple.

Info: About 7km from Ho'omaluhia garden. See byodo-in.com.

WAIKANE

There's nothing much for visitors in Waikane except a glimpse of local life at the little Waikane Store and low wood houses tucked into masses of junglelike greenery. For miles on either side of Waikane, the route skirts the ocean and is dotted with roadside beach parks. Choose the one you like best and pause for a beach stroll or a picnic, perhaps with the store's Spam musubi for a snack.

Info: About 8km from Byodo-In Temple.

POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTRE

Now for something completely different, a Polynesian cultural theme park run by Mormons in small-town Hawaii.

Utah's Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened the Polynesian Cultural Centre in 1963 to highlight Polynesian cultures and provide employment for students at its adjacent Hawaii branch of Brigham Young University.

More than 50 years and 33 million visitors later, the centre, in the tidy Mormon-dominated town of Laie, is going strong and is one of Hawaii's top tourist attractions.

Info: About 25km from Waikane. See polynesia.com.

NORTH SHORE

Beyond the Polynesian Cultural Centre, Route 83 veers inland past small communities and shrimp-farming ponds where a dozen roadside food trucks serve up big plates of shrimp - garlic shrimp, lemon-butter shrimp, curried shrimp.

Soon you'll spot Turtle Bay Resort, the only big resort hotel along the east and north shores of Oahu, with a manicured golf course and fancy villas. But as in all of Hawaii, beaches are public so you can park in the hotel lot and stroll past the right side of the hotel to the lovely little Kulima Bay, one of the few North Shore beaches where it's usually safe to swim in winter when dangerously big waves pound many beaches.

It's worth seeing more of the North Shore, a surfer-lifestyle place of beachside houses, a scattering of funky shops in Haleiwa and 11km of glorious white-sand beaches including Sunset Beach, the surfer mecca of Banzai Pipeline and Waimea Bay, where 15 metre waves sometimes come thundering in. Savor this wilder side of Oahu before backtracking along the east coast, or take the fast and not-nearly-so-scenic 72km interior route, including the H2 freeway, back to big-city Honolulu.

Info: About 12km to Turtle Bay from the Polynesian Cultural Center. See gohawaii.com/oahu/regions-neighborhoods/north-shore.