Hawaii - Hilo

The islands of Hawaii were created by volcanic eruptions that pushed up lava from the ocean floor, over 25 million years ago.  Isolated in the Pacific Ocean, these islands remained uninhabited by humans for millions of years.  It wasn’t until around 500 A.D. that the Polynesians began to come from the Marquesas and Tahitian Islands that Hawaii received its first settlers.  Isolation ended forever when, in 1778, Captain James Cook arrived.  Once contact with the Western world was established, life on the Hawaiian islands underwent a multitude of changes.  Along with plants and animals that these immigrants introduced, sadly, the newcomers also brought diseases with them, and in just 100 years, the population of the islands dropped from 800,000 to just 67,000.  

Along the interior of the island of Hawaii, sits the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  You can explore the crater rim drive area as well as visit the Thurston Lava tubes, and there are some roads that run out towards the ocean that take you through lava field after lava field.  There are several volcanoes on Hawaii.  Probably the most well-known are Kilauea, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  In fact, the highest point on the island, at 13,000 feet, is Mauna Kea.  There is a new volcano forming now, called Loihi.  It is currently on the ocean floor.  You should be able to view it in it’s full splendor, crowning the ocean surf in about 10,000 years, so make sure to mark your calendars!!

A group of 5 of us met up with Rich Smith, a volunteer and member of Pacific C.A.R.E. Missions, an organization in Hilo that works to get medical supplies and other goods to the peoples of the Pacific Islands, and especially Fanning Island, one of our most-looked forward to port stops coming up after Hawaii.

Rich lives on the island and offers tours to the Volcanoes National Park as well as some other highlights around the Hilo area.  He picked us up at the port in a nice comfortable mini van and off we went.  During the day, he told us about the people of Fanning Island, how he became involved, etc.  At the end of the day, we made a stop at Wal-Mart and we all bought a healthy amount of supplies for Fanning Island.  The ship, too, had collection bins for Fanning Island.  Many of the passengers on board brought clothing, first aid supplies, toys, and school supplies for the people of Fanning Island.  We were all very much looking forward to our visit!

After we had toured the National Park and lava tubes, we went out along the lava highways and stopped after a bit and had a bit of a tailgate lunch.  Rich had a variety of snacking type foods for us - sandwiches, fruits, wine, chips, crackers, etc.  It was fun and spontaneous and I enjoyed it.

In the afternoon, before our stop at Wal-Mart, we visited nearby Rainbow Falls.  

Too soon, the day in Hilo was over and we said our goodbyes to Rich, with promises to check out some of the places and people he told us about on Fanning Island.

Lava tubes

Active crater 

Rain forest leading into Lava tubes

Really interesting flora and fauna

Lava fields along the highway

Lava flow from 1970's leading down to the sea

After a long time,  new growth can pop up through this porous lava field

Lava highway

Time for tailgate lunch!  Guy in the middle is Rich Smith, our tour guide for the day

That dark spot that looks like a river running to the sea is the lava flow

Rainbow Falls, near town of Hilo

Such pretty flowers grow in the islands!

Saying goodbye to Hilo

Yum, a Pina Colada for the sail away!

Hawaii - Honolulu - Day 2

On the second full day in Honolulu, I joined a tour that took us out to the East and North coasts, a very scenic part of the island.  Our first stop along the way was at the Byodo-In Temple, a Buddhist temple replica of the one Japan.  It is located in the Valley of the Temples, an area built in the 1960’s to commemorate the Japanese coming and settling in Hawaii.  Just outside the temple, is a giant bell, or gong-like bell.  They say if you ring the bell you will have eternal happiness.  I rang the bell.  

Our next stop was along a beautiful beach called Chinaman’s Hat.  It is so named for the little island that sits just off the beach, and is shaped like that of a Chinaman’s hat.  One story as to how it was named centers around a little boy in China and dreams to be big.  He wakes up a huge boy and his people were scared of him to he walked into the water to cry, he fell asleep and woke up in Hawaii.  The people of Hawaii accepted him and made him a hat.  He falls back asleep and floats all the way back to China, but his hat remained in the water in Hawaii where he had fallen asleep.  

We stopped at a number of other beaches with lovely views, before we ended up at Fumi’s Shrimp Farm for lunch.  There are a lot of freshwater shrimp ponds along the cusp of the east and north shores area of Oahu, and the shrimp is quite good.  The shrimp ponds “grow” freshwater shrimp.  The creators of the ponds maintain that these ponds make the land more fertile - first of all, your land is not ruined by having salt/sea water replace it, making it less invasive.  Also, ocean shrimping is done by casting large nets in the ocean and these nets end up catching lots more than shrimp - they ensnare dolphins, and turtles, for example.

After lunch we stopped at the famous Sunset Beach, the scene of some great surfing contests during certain times of the year, when the waves run very high.  Just down the road is the Bonzai Pipeline, another famous surfing spot.  Our last beach stop was at Hale ‘Iwa Beach Park, where giant sea turtles are known to congregate.  While we didn’t see any out on the beach this day, we did spot a number of them floating in the water just off the beach.  Every minute or so, they’d pop their heads up, but none seemed all that interested in coming onto the beach to say hello.  Pooh.

Our final stop of the day was at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.  While some pineapples grow out behind the main storefront, sadly, pineapples are no longer grown for commercial purposes, as in sending off the islands.  The only ones grown now are for Hawaii’s use only.  I did go see the plants - they are very pretty with the fruit growing on them.  The stop at the plantation is now a shopping stop only.  I must say, if you’re into pineapple, this is the place for you!  Pineapple mementos, pineapple creams, lotions, scents, pineapple candy, pineapple toys, and the very famous whipped pineapple - a sort of ice creamy concoction which is quite delicious.  

The ship sailed a bit after 5 PM, and we headed in the direction of the big island - Hawaii - and Hilo, our first of 2 ports for that island.  

This is the Byodo-In Temple

Gong/Bell at temple

Koi ponds

Buddha and Snort

Chinaman's Hat

Happy feet!

Shrimp ponds

Where we ate lunch.  It was yummy!  I had spicy garlic shrimp and rice.

Some "written" foliage outside the shrimp shack.

Horse ranches along the highway - North Shore

Hawaii - Honolulu Day 1

Honolulu

I had not visited Hawaii, or Honolulu since 2001.  When we pulled into the harbor, I realized that it had been much too long! The islands of Hawaii always make my heart skip a beat - they are so beautiful, and even the ever-growing and bustling Honolulu, with it’s terrible traffic, is still something lovely to behold.

Honolulu is the southernmost major city in the United States.  The skyline boasts more than 400 high rise buildings, which puts it fourth in the nation.  And more are being built!!!  

The first people to arrive and settle in Hawaii can be traced all the way back to the 11th century, when Polynesian immigrants from the Marquesas primarily, journeyed here.  Captain Cook and other American and European explorers showed up in the late 1700’s.  The first missionaries arrived in 1820, from the eastern coast of the United States.  

Since we were overnighting here, I had booked 2 ship’s tours - a short one the first afternoon called Missionaries and Monarchs.  We also drove out to the Pali Lookout where we stopped to take in the views from the mountaintop all the way out to the sea.  It was windy and cold, but that didn’t really matter.  The view made up for it.  Back down the mountain and to the site of the first missionary settlement on Oahu.  Called the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, the site sits down the street from Iolani Palace, home to the Royal Kamehameha families in the mid and late 19th Century.  

The first missionaries brought with them their families, of course, wood for building their homes and church, and a printing press.  Their goal, of course, was to bring Christianity to the islands.  They built their churches and also built schools for the native Hawaiian children.  They adapted the Hawaiian oral language to the English alphabet, published newspapers and printed the first Hawaiian language translation of the Bible by 1826.  I found it very fascinating to learn that, until the missionaries arrived, there was no written form of the Hawaiian language.  

The Hawaiian alphabet has 8 consonants and 5 vowels.  H, K, L, M, N, P, W, ‘ (‘okina), A, E, I, O and U.  In the late 1800’s, the head of the Kamehameha schools announced that instruction would only be given in the English language.  Students were punished if caught speaking Hawaiian in school.  Because of this, the number of native speakers of Hawaiian dropped from 37,000 in 1900 to less than 1,000 by the 1980’s.  Fearful that the language would be lost altogether, in 1984, language immersion preschools were started and other programs followed soon after and continue in existence today.  

Our last stop was Iolani Palace.  I’m not sure what the entire name Iolani means, but “lani” means heavenly in Hawaiian, so maybe it translates to my heaven, or heavenly place.  It was built by King Kalakaua, also known as the “Merry Monarch.”  It is a beautiful multi-story structure with only several rooms per floor, and a central wooden staircase made from koi wood.  Queen Liliuokalani was actually imprisoned in the palace during an overthrow of the government in 1894.  You can blame the sugar plantation owners and American businessmen for her downfall, as they were concerned about protecting their rights and control over the flow of business on the island.  The queen had been attempting to change the law to allow all island citizens to vote, instead of just land owners.  This would have diluted the strength of the businessmen who owned the sugar plantations, so they sort of did an end run around the queen and she lost the throne.

Today, the palace serves as an historical monument/museum.  You can go inside and see the rooms as they were at the end of the 19th century, as well as tour the basement area where many of the royal jewels and other artifacts are on display.  

Sail in - our first view of Honolulu

We docked fairly close to the airport

The Aloha Tower - our docking port area

Downtown skyscrapers

Pali Lookout

Brrr!  It was cold and windy!!

Feral chickens and roosters!!

A mock up layout of the first missionary village

The original mission buildings

Front view of Iolani Palace

The beautiful koa wood staircase

Dining room inside the Palace

Sitting and music room.  Check out the beautiful tusks in the lower left side of the photo

The throne room and where events and ceremonies took place

Some of the jewelry and artifacts saved and donated

"Book 'em, Danno!"  This is the famous TV show Hawaii Five-0 headquarters, with a statue of King Kamehameha out front.

San Diego to Honolulu

Leaving Home for San Diego

My plane touched down in San Diego shortly before 2:30 PM, on this 1st day of April.  Fool’s Day.  It was a beautiful and sunny afternoon, the harbor waters glistening in the mid-afternoon sun.

It was a short taxi ride to the hotel, Embassy Suites.  I chose it both for it’s short walking distance to the Fish House restaurant where 25 or so of our Cruise Critic roll call group would be meeting up for a pre-cruise dinner, and for the fact that I had Hilton points that could be used to pay for the room.  Hotel rooms are a bit on the expensive side in San Diego, so I was happy to be able to use points instead of dollars.  The hotel is also a very quick taxi ride to the cruise port.  

I scored a nice room on the 11th floor, with both a city and a harbor view.  The room was large and comfortable, with a living room at the front, and the bedroom at the back, with the lovely views.

A little after 6:00 PM, I met some fellow roll call members in the lobby area and we headed out for the short walk to the restaurant.  It was nice to put names to faces!  There were Susie and Loren, with whom I’d share a few tours during the cruise, and Susie and I would be on the same trivia team throughout the cruise.  Jacqui and Jose were along for the walk as well.  Jacqui had been our roll call organizer/overseer and it was great to meet her in person after all of these many months of back and forth communication on the boards.  Jacqui and I were also going to be spa “partners”, splitting the couples discount for use of the thermal spa and ceramic lounges and aromatherapy steam rooms.  It’s a bit pricey if you try to go it alone.  It is one of the ways I like to spoil myself if I’m on one of HAL’s ships that has the thermal suite available, as not all the ships do, especially the older, smaller ships.  The thermal suite is open every day, from 8 AM until 10 PM.  It includes a very large mineral water pool, waters bubbling like a jacuzzi on steroids.  There are stainless steel rollers beds at one end where you can lie back and let the bubbling waters massage your entire body in comfort.  In another section of the suite, there are 2 steam rooms, one plain old hot water steam, the other infused with aromatherapy scents.  I love the aromatherapy one.  Outside of the steam rooms are some rain showers, and then there are 6 ceramic tile beds, sort of a flat S shape in design, and heated just enough to lull you off to a splendid little slumber.  Ahhhh…….

We had a very nice and delicious seafood dinner, and I enjoyed my table mates and our conversation.  Angie and John are a really nice couple who live on opposite sides of the country, yet spend most of their time traveling together.  They used to be high school sweethearts, who went their separate ways for a number of years, but I guess you could now call them retired sweethearts.  Angie “lives” in Gilroy, which is close to my old stomping grounds when I lived in Monterey.  John is from Virginia or Maryland, I believe.  

I was also excited to meet Kathy, a fellow world cruise alumni, as I am taking my first world cruise next year and I was full of questions for her, although I haven’t yet asked her all that many.  I don’t want to bombard her and scare her off!   She’s also on our trivia team, so it has been nice getting to know her on a more personal level.

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways - back to the various hotels where we were staying, and I’m sure we all went to sleep, excited for our journey to the South Pacific to begin the next day.

San Diego to Honolulu

The journey from San Diego to Honolulu took 5 days and 5 nights, including embarkation day in San Diego.  We arrived in Honolulu on Day 6, at 10:00 AM.  I can tell you that everyone was anxious to get off the ship by then, even though there were tons of things to do on board every single sea day — I for one, was never bored.  

The first few days I was very much under the weather - a touch of flu, perhaps, I don’t know.  But I didn’t let it stop me from attending lectures and other things that interested me.  I was careful to not touch other people, and washed my hands like a crazy person, and by day 4 I was finally feeling more like my usual self.  I lost 8 pounds the first 5 days on board.  Good thing, because I’m probably going to gain it all back by the time I get home again!

We have a location guide on board who is Hawaiian.  His name is Kainoa and he’s really a fabulous speaker, and a wealth of knowledge not just about Hawaii, but about all of the ports in French Polynesia.  I’ve very much enjoyed his presentations so far.

On sea days, as I mentioned in my earlier blog posts from other cruises, there is a multitude of things to keep you busy….or not.

There are arts and crafts classes where we learned to make leis, fiber bracelets, flower pieces for your hair, etc.  There are computer classes where a Windows expert helps you to navigate your PC, and upload and edit your camera’s photos.  You can also learn and play bridge, Mah Jongg, Checkers and Chess.  There’s also a social card players room set aside during certain hours of the day.

There are lectures about the history of Polynesia, how life began in the oceans, and port talks that delve deeper into the places we are to visit.  There’s a book club, a library, daily trivia contests, happy hours, swimming and sunning.  And food.  Always, there is food.   There’s bingo, dance classes, karaoke, nightclubs, a piano bar, classical strings, and evening shows in the large theatre.  There are daily movies - I watched a documentary the other day called Somm.  It showcased 4 young men attempting to pass the incredibly difficult master sommelier exam, held in the U.S. each year.  The annual pass rate is about 6%.  It was fascinating!

There’s a spa and a gym where you can work out or be pampered to your heart’s content.  There are quiet decks and lounges if you just want to curl up and read a book, play games on your iPad, or just watch the ocean.  There’s also daily Mass, daily Bible devotion and weekly Shabbat service for those religiously and spiritually inclined.  Friends of Bill W. meet daily, as well as a LGBT group each evening.  And then there's always the casino.  I tend to stay away from there.  

So, you see, there’s lots to do.

Snort, my traveling buddy for this trip, is nicely tucked into bed for his first sea journey.