The Robin Masters Estate (Pahonu)

[Rembrandt's Girl]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QbseqMEldh5XiR9G3

Welcome ibemanthony and thanks for the pics! Did you or anyone here notice the thing sitting on the ledge of the boathouse lanai? Any guesses?

[perfectlykevin]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QbseqMEldh5XiR9G3

Welcome ibemanthony and thanks for the pics! Did you or anyone here notice the thing sitting on the ledge of the boathouse lanai? Any guesses?

Looks like Magnum left his waffle maker out again!

[robbie308]

Hello everyone,

this is my very first post on this forum. I've been lurking for years, finding this the most valuable resource for information about my favourite TV show. Although this is probably not the correct thread, here's a short introduction of myself. When MPI was first shown on German TV (in 1984, I guess), I was 23 years old and was immediately hooked by the show. To be honest, the choice was very limited back then, with only 3 channels available and german tv shows rather dry and boring. So every US or UK crime series was bound to become a hit, from The Persuaders to the Rockford Files. But Magnum was my absolute favourite: the paradise-like surroundings of Oahu, the red Ferrari (I was and still am a big car nut), the funny dialogues (especially between Thomas and Higgins) – well, you all know too well.

Many years went by, with more important things to think about, like finding a proper job, which at least allowed me to realize my dream of owning a Ferrari 308. The interest in MPI came back maybe 10 or 15 years ago, watching the occasional episode when the series was re-run, mainly in the late hours. I found out that the whole series was available on DVD, so I watched them all, enjoying each episode and soaking in the background information from Magnum Mania and from Larry Manetti's book.

When I met my wife 18 years ago, she jokingly said "If we should get married any time in the future, we have to do it on a beach of Hawaii." To cut a long story short, after a 12 years "trial period" we decided we should get married, since no-one else would take us any more, anyway I immediately remembered our jokes about getting married in Hawaii, so I started to make plans and organize. Finally we decided to get married on Maui in October 2012. I made sure to have a few days on Oahu, too, for obvious reasons. We visited Pahonu, but only peeked through the main gate. Although I read the forum before our trip, I foolishly did not understand that it was possible to access the tidal pool from the public beach. You will understand my frustration, when I saw pictures and videos from people who visited the beach behind Robin's Nest after our return.

In order to celebrate our 5th anniversary, we decided to get back to Maui in October 2017, and again I insisted on staying for 3 days on Oahu, too. This time I had to see the tidal pool. I also arranged a flight with Paradise Helicopters in the Chopper replica, booking the Magnum P.I. tour, of course. Unfortunately during our stay on Oahu the weather was not very good, with rain and heavy winds, but at least on the morning of our helicopter flight the sun was shining. During our stay, we went to Pahonu twice, but it was rather high tide and raining (the low tide was during the night!), so I didn't manage to get to the tidal pool. At least I managed to take some pictures of the estate from the roadside. On the last day of our stay it was also very cloudy and a rather wavy sea, but at least I wanted to give it a third and final try, so we went to Waimanalo Beach Park one more time. Even though it was raining and the sky was cloudy, I packed my camera and mobile phone in a plastic bag and stepped into the water, while my wife waited for me in the car. The water was up to my hips on the first few meters, but a happy Robert managed to get to the tidal pool!

Mahalo if you read through this boring story so far. Although you have seen many similar photos of much better quality in this thread, I thought considering the sad situation, it might be still worthwhile to post some of the pictures I took last October, showing the pre-demolition state. In fact I was just looking at the Pahonu thread last week in order to prepare posting my pictures, and then I read about the demolition of the Main House! It struck me like most of the forum members. Very sad.

Robert

[308GUY]

Welcome...welcome...welcome Robert!

Love your intro story, and when you can, you can share your pics here...

Sort of in a rush at the moment, but I'm sure others will be along to welcome you to the mania.

[Mad Kudu Buck]

That wasn't a boring story. I found it fascinating. Welcome to the forum!

Did you know that you could have rented an 1800sq ft cottage in the property right beside the "Estate" for around $375/night?
https://www.vrbo.com/590011#

[robbie308]

Let's start with some pics from above, taken in October 2017 from "the Chopper". Unfortunately I messed up with my new camera during the helicopter flight, so I ended up without any high resolution photos and just have some pics taken with the mobile phone. Our pilot Josh turned out to be a Magnum P.I. fan himself. He told us that his wish to become a helicopter pilot was ignited when he saw TC in the chopper on the tv screen as a boy!













No, that's not where we took off.



The signatures of Roger and Larry on the Chopper!

[robbie308]

Did you know that you could have rented an 1800sq ft cottage in the property right beside the "Estate" for around $375/night?
https://www.vrbo.com/590011#

Thank you for the warm welcome, 308GUY and Mad Kudu Buck!

No, I did not know about this cottage, and I actually think it was not for rent when we travelled, because I researched VRBO and Airbnb for hours before our trip. This would have been PERFECT! I found the big red house on the other side of the estate, which was much too big (and therefore expensive) for the two of us. And I found some other cottages and apartments close to the beach in direction Waimanalo. We didn't want to stay in Waikiki, so we ended up in the Kahala, home of the KKC beach bar for a few episodes and located very close to the KKC beach bar pavillon at the Waialae public beach park.

[eagle]

Although I read the forum before our trip, I foolishly did not understand that it was possible to access the tidal pool from the public beach. You will understand my frustration, when I saw pictures and videos from people who visited the beach behind Robin's Nest after our return.

GREAT story! And, I can absolutely understand your frustration.

In addition to being a Magnum fan, I am a James Bond fan. I had a life dream to take my wife to Europe before our first child was born. In 2007 she was pregnant with our first, so I planned a trip for the a week into her 2nd trimester. We went to Füssen, Vaduz, Interlaken, Innsbruck, and München. What I did not realize was that the Furka Pass (featured in "Goldfinger") was very near our path, and I did not take it. Back then, Hotel Belvedere (and nearby glacier) and the gas station featured in the movie were both open. Today, Hotel Belvedere and glacier are both closed forever, and the gas station is now a restaurant. I have been kicking myself about that for more than a decade.

Welcome to the forums. In my mind, this is one of the best groups online.

Do you mind if I add your pics to the site I created? mmpics.unixdude.net

[robbie308]

Here are some pictures which I took from the roadside. In fact I went down the embankment, which actually wasn't so easy, because of the wet grass, all the rubbish and shards of glass bottles, and me wearing flip-flops At least the partly cut greenery made it possible to see much more of the buildings than on our first visit, five years earlier.











Funny to see some chicken running around!













Five years earlier we didn't notice homeless people on this side of the island. I read a newspaper article during our stay, which said that a lot of people living under a highway in Honolulu had been "removed" some weeks earlier. Maybe that's the reason? In fact there was one provisional home right across the street from the Main Gate, under the prominent huge tree. Being there, I asked myself how the new owner of Pahonu must feel, having spent more that 8 millions for an estate, and seeing this poor guy living under a tarp, every time he leaves his house.

[robbie308]

And finally the pictures from the sea side of the Estate.







A lot of work waiting here... and if they should get the permit to tear down the boathouse, I fear they will do so.









The sea wall appeared to be much higher than on other photos (and especially during the show), so I guess a lot of sand has been washed away. Even considering it was not low tide, there was much less "beach" compared to pictures from the past. On the recent photos by ibemanthony it looks even worse.





Unfortunately the Main House was still perfectly hidden by trees and bushes in October 2017.

[KENJI]

Fantastic pics there robbie308!!

Welcome aboard!

[ENSHealy]

Thanks ENSHealy! I don't know if you've checked out MM member Pahonu's SketchUp model of Pahonu? The link to download it is here, at the bottom of the "About the Website" section http://magnum-mania.com/About/About_Website.html You also have to download a free version of SketchUp. I've checked it out again recently, but I always end up lost in the walls, or under the model, or out on Kalanianaole Hwy!

I downloaded it and tried it a couple weekends ago. Like you, I had trouble with the "walk" function. I have a tendency to miss doorways and end up stuck up against walls. But it is pretty awesome to play around with, I probably just need practice. I never was any good at video games. My kid (the "kid" is 23 years old) recently bought a vintage NES console, and I had flashbacks of throwing those controllers against the TV screen in frustration (back when a TV screen could take a blow like that!).

I will definitely bust out the SketchUp estate again once I start ordering those Legos in bulk.

[ENSHealy]

Should we contact Mary Worrall to ask if she has higher quality images and would be willing to share them?

I would imagine that poor women contemplated having boiler plate restraining orders printed up with all our magnum-mania user names prefilled and needing only the judges signature.

[ENSHealy]

Mahalo if you read through this boring story so far.

Not boring in the slightest! I really enjoyed reading your "backstory"! Welcome to the forums, and thanks for adding your pics, they really shed some new light on the condition the estate had fallen into. Great pics of the courtyard area where so many shots from the series took place!

And I love the irony of the "provisional home" and the $8.7MM estate across the street from each other. That's America, where the social safety net is a blue tarp!

[Duke of Perth]

I have to say though, if I was going to be homeless there's nowhere else I'd rather be "stuck" than Hawaii

Actually, I have a story about this. A friend that I went to school with ended up homeless on Kauai. He had been there about a year when I reconnected with him on facebook. After talking to him a bit I decided to go over there and visit him for a few days. I spent 8 days there, hitch hiking around the island, sleeping outside under a gazebo behind a church in Kapaa, and meeting all kinds of interesting people. I'm sure being homeless in Kauai is much different than being homeless in a metropolis like Honolulu, but it was eyeopening to experience first hand. So much drug addiction and mental illness. We didn't wandering around much after dark, it just wasn't safe.

I havent' talked to my friend in some time now, but last I heard he had moved to Oahu. I'm wondering if I'll run into him when I go visit the island in a few days.