My first full day in, I of course went down to Robin's Nest. It was kinda surreal to stand at the front gate of the house, although there was no security keypad or intercom for me to ask Higgins to let me in.
I then walked around to the beach area. Thanks to various posts on this site, I knew to plan to visit during low tide, and as luck would have it, one of the locals on the beach said that since it happened to be the morning after a full moon, it was rare to see the tide back so low.
Ironically enough, there were two similar dogs by the back gate to the beach. But if they were supposed to be guarding the estate, Higgins would have been very disappointed with their performance - these "lads" could not have cared less that I was approaching Mr. Masters personal property.
Peeking over the fence, I was able to get a couple of pictures of the actual housing. The current majordomo is apparently not mainaining the grounds up to the Higgins standard.
On the way back, I checked out the Island Hoppers peir, which is just down the road from Robin's Nest. Not much to see other than beautiful scenery, but it is great that the pier is open to the public.
The next highlite of my trip was a helicopter tour of the island, in a replica Island Hoppers chopper! One plus was that the pilot was a genuine Magnum fan, and instantly complimented me on my red "jungle bird" shirt. We toured the entire island, and even got a great aerial shot of Robin's Nest. Fortunately, no Hawaiian villans shot a chip out of our windshield during flight.
I eventually made it around to check out some of the King Kamehameha Club locations. First was the Waialae Park location - it was amazing how it could look so different, as an open-air pavillion, yet once you're there, you can totally still see the "look" of the KKC.
While I was there, I walked down the beach to the Kahala Resort to see the other KKC. Obviously, this was a large, fancy resort, so I was at first lost as to where to find the location where the plaque was. I mistakenly went to the beachside bar first, and having no luck there, I walked around to the side banquet hall, and bingo, there it was! They were setting up for a wedding that day - I wonder if the couple realized that they were having their reception at the King Kamehameha Club?
Before I left, I ventured back to Robin's Nest one more time when I was in the area. It didn't happen to be low tide, so I couldn't go all the way to the back gate again - it's amazing how much the water level changes throughout a given day. One positive was that I was able to get up in time to see a sunrise over Magnum Beach, so if anybody had asked me "Did you see the sunrise?", I could have honestly answered "yes".
All in all, just a fantastic dream trip. Thanks to all who provided tips and advice throughout the history of this board - especially the folks responsible for the Rubber Chicken Guide. It would have been a LOT harder to track down all of the Magnum sites without that help.
