Trekkin

Day 10 Thursday 6 November

This morning we watched the ship enter the port of Nawiliwili on the island of Kauai. It is a really difficult narrow twisting entrance & I was very impressed yet again with the boat handling skills of the crew being able to negotiate such a large ship through such a difficult entrance. We had an early breakfast & were the first two passengers off the ship at 8am to catch our “Heaven & Earth Quest” tour. This time our bus driver was Kanen & he took us on a very interesting & informative tour. We stopped first at a nearby waterfall & explained the why & wherefore of all the wild chooks running around free everywhere. Apparently the chooks are Portugese fighting chooks & were brought to the islands for fighting & the subsequent gambling. During hurricanes they escaped during the storms & over hundreds of years, with no predators, have become the apex wild animal on Kauai. They are feral & a pest & apparently not too good to eat, the meat tastes too gamey.

We continued on, looking at different types of trees Kanen pointed out to us, including eucalyptus & macadamia (again), taro being cultivated, before stopping at a scenic lookout over Hanamaulu Bay. We even saw some bison grazing in a paddock in the distance below. Here Kanen pointed out the features of the dragon from the song “Puff, the Magic Dragon”. Apparently the songwriter drew his inspiration from this landform. It is very scenic. We continued on & drove into the township of Hanamaulu Bay, driving on the beach & looking at the houses. Any beachfront house cost $20 million, no matter how daggy it was, with any house across the street costing $10 million, again no matter how daggy. Apparently it is the playground of the rich & famous with movie stars, musicians, film directors, etc having houses there. Kanen did point out a woman he said was famous, she just looked like any other young woman to me. On the way back out Kanen stopped next to an old church that charges $10,000 for any type of reception held there. It did have some nice stained glass windows.

Kanen then drove us to another public beach park where we stopped for lunch under the shade of a huge tree. There were some Australian Casuarina trees hugging the shoreline. The view was very nice here & the beach was protected by a reef system about 200 metres out from the shore. The Venezuelan group from our bus tour all went for a short swim after lunch.

Our next stop was a seabird sanctuary on a high Kilauea Point with a restored disused lighthouse dominating the site. Kanen told us that this small sanctuary attracts over 5 million visitors a year, averaging $5 per visitor they can afford to run their seabird protection program very well. We saw a lot of blue footed boobys perched in trees on the hill opposite, with some frigate birds soaring above us. There are a lot of the rare Nene Geese here, not shy at all, plus a lot of baby Grey Shearwaters (muttonbirds) sunning themselves outside the nesting burrows.

Blue Hawaiian Helicopters at Lihue Airport was next & after the mandatory safety briefing we were allocated our pilots & seating positions. Mark was to be our pilot for our 45 minute flight & he proved to be very competent & informative. There were a lot of other helicopters landing & taking off all the time here & after waiting for a few of them we took off over the south coast, over the harbour & our ship, then following the Kaumualii Highway loosely as we flew. The scenery was amazing, then we reached Waimea Canyon. The canyon was extraordinary, so deep & spectacular. Mark flew us up a lot of the side valleys, then the main Waimea Canyon itself. There is a lot of erosion that Mark explained was caused mainly by the wild goats overgrazing the high ridges & mountain tops. This is truly a rugged & very remote location, accessible only by walking in or by helicopter. Mark showed us the location where a number of different movie scenes were shot.

Our next piece of amazement was the Na Pali Coast. This piece of coastline is only able to be viewed either by walking, boat or air, the area is that rugged. There is a walking trail that hugs the cliff sides for around 20 miles, requiring a permit before being allowed to challenge the hike. The hikers must be extremely fit, self contained & not be afraid of heights, the trail is amazingly rugged. The Na Pali Coast is even more spectacularly beautiful than Waimea Canyon. This piece of coastline is normally very wet & cloudy, however, lucky for us, today it is dry & we are rewarded with some amazing sights. The Na Pali Coast is covered with waterfalls & small green ferns, it is too steep for trees in most locations. Mark shows us a small islet just off the coast, it is covered in a species of palm trees that are unique to the islet, found nowhere else in the world, we were looking at the entire population of these types of palms, maybe 100 in total.

There are not many beaches dotted along the Na Pali Coast, only where a large creek runs into the sea or a large landslip has occurred. Mark told us of a Polynesian tribe that lived only on the Na Pali Coast but disappeared in the 1800s without a trace. Nobody knows what happened to them or where they went. One can only speculate it was either disease or tsunami that took them. The side of the mountains still show some terracing, proof of habitation.

We then flew to the wettest spot on earth & sure enough, it was raining, though not very heavy. This is at the head of a large valley that funnels the moisture laden trade winds up to the base of a large dormant volcano & the clouds have nowhere to go but up, a very long way, cooling & dumping lots of rain as they go. After seeing some very close up views of the continuous over 2,000 foot waterfall we turned back to the airport & left the helicopter with the engine still running for the next group of tourists. We purchased a video taken from our helicopter of our flight.

Our snack from our butler this afternoon was some yummy selection of chocolates, washed down with some nice coffee again. Dinner tonight was at Teppanyaki at 5.30pm as this restaurant is very busy & we were very hungry. The teppanyaki started with Miso soup, followed by a seaweed salad. Then the chefs came on & displayed their flashy tricks with food & cooking implements while cooking up some fried rice, then lobster, scallops & calamari. I washed this down with some warm sake. Dessert was a sushi fruit selection that was fresh & very tasty especially the pineapple. Entertainment tonight was a rock & roll tribute put together by a very competent husband & wife team that have been doing this type of thing for years.

All these exquisite sites we have seen in Hawaii are unforgettable. The attention to small details, the care to please, entertainment & the luxury we are living on the Pride of America will be hard to beat.

Day 9 Wednesday 5 November

Kona, a port on the other side of the island of Hawaii was this morning’s arrival destination & again we watched the ship anchor off Kona before breakfast then departing the ship on a lifeboat tender for our Big Island Spectacular helicopter tour. We left the ship at 9.45am but didn’t get picked up by our helicopter bus until after 11am. The drive out to the Blue Hawaiian Helicopters field was very interesting as it seems that most of the Kona side of the island consists of fresh lava fields with mile after mile of jumbled lava flows everywhere, most of them flowing all the way to the sea from the massive Mauna Loa volcano. Mauna Loa is the largest volcano in the Hawaiian Islands at over 13,000 feet. The driver told us the volcano was long overdue for an eruption & he was living as far from the volcanoes as he could. The helicopter field is in a lava flow field with an area cleared to make room for the fleet of helicopters & the fuel truck & briefing room. There were helicopters flying in & out constantly.

After our weigh-in & safety briefing we boarded one of the new blue “Blue Hawaiian” Eco-Copters with an enclosed tail rotor & piloted by Kane who turned out to be a very competent pilot with a very interesting commentary. Our 2 hour flight started over some old lava flows, past many old cinder cones, past some old dormant volcanoes & then to the active Kilauea volcano that we visited by bus yesterday. This time we were flying at 8,100 feet, 4,000 feet above the ground & Kane flew us over & around the active crater a number of times so that all seven of us on board could get a good look inside the crater. It was fairly exciting being able to look directly at the lava pool & see orange glows along cracks in the surface of the lava.

We then descended & followed the current lava flow down along the rift line & stopped very close to a hole in the active lava tube & saw the flowing hot lava glowing orange through the large hole. There were some scientific instruments pointed into the lava to measure things like temperature & rate of flow. We saw in the distance some smoke & flew down to that & it turned out to be the current lava flowing out & burning some trees in its path, so there was smoke, fire & more orange lava. We were not allowed to fly near the town that is currently threatened by the lava flow so saw that from a distance. From there we flew on to Hilo, our port from yesterday & refuelled the helicopter after about an hour of flying.

After refuelling we flew off from Hilo along the stunning coastline, a little out to sea to enable us to see the full beauty of the sheer cliffs dropping straight into the sea. Now & again there was a break in the cliffs where a small river ran into the sea. We passed a low spot where a small school used to be that was hit by a tsunami & all but 15 kids & teachers killed. Kane told us that this was the trigger that started the introduction of the tsunami early warning system. We then flew up one of the river valleys to the wet side of Hawaii & the rugged steep mountains with lots of waterfalls. It is certainly absolutely beautiful & very spectacular with sheer drops of more than 1,000 feet. The spectacular beauty of this part of the island of Hawaii is amazing & the photos do not come anywhere close to doing it justice.

We turned back & flew over the top of the Parker cattle ranch, than reached the dry side of the island. It is like turning a switch, turning from a lush green to dry yellow & brown in what seemed a defined line. We flew back over cinder cones & more blankets of lava fields, now able to pick out easily the two types of lava flows, before reaching the Blue Hawaiian Heliport all too soon. Two hours of flying well worth it. The drive back to the ship in the pretty port of Kona was even more interesting now we understood more about the lava flows & how it worked with lava tubes. On the way back to Kona we passed a lava tube by the side of the road with an entry the size of a large bus that our driver told us went uphill for more than 1,000 feet & was easy to walk. The imagination can run wild with scenery of lava flows, jumbled up lava rocks & looking into these huge craters seeing the flows, holes, orange glows & cinder cones this could all be on the moon or some distant planet.

Back in Kona we indulged in a pineapple ice cream & a short walk along the waterfront before catching the lifeboat tender back to the ship. A couple of small girls at the front thoroughly enjoyed the ride back as the boat hit swells & splashed water through the open front window onto them, laughing joyfully each time it happened, it was music to our ears. Back in our cabin we shared the treats left by our butler & I indulged in another coffee from the machine in our cabin. It is really good coffee. We watched as the ship pulled up anchor & departed Kona. That night the ship put on some speed, traveling between 18-20 knots to reach our next destination by 8am. Dinner was at the Skyline restaurant again followed by some more of Tim Dion on Guitar until 10pm then bed. A great day again.

Day 8 Tuesday 4 November

This morning we watched the ship dock in Hilo on the big island of Hawaii before a leisurely breakfast, a little bit of ship exploring & a little relaxing on our balcony. The crew provided some entertainment for us by conducting a full lifeboat drill below our balcony. All the lifeboats on our side of the ship were lowered into the water, a life raft was inflated & then the lifeboats were all lifted out again (on our first day safety induction they told us that there are more seats on the life boats than passengers, very reassuring that we won’t be another Titanic). It is reassuring to know that they are so serious about safety. We had a midday start for our tour today & had to have lunch before 12 noon (when the restaurants open for lunch) so we ate for the first time at the “Cadillac Diner”, an American “comfort” (or junk) food experience. We don’t plan on going back there again.

Volcanoes National Park was our destination today & we were picked up in a small tour bus driven by Shane for this adventure. Our first stop was the Thurston Lava Tube just past Volcano Village & it was a good thing we took our rain jackets as it was raining lightly plus the lava tube was dripping lots of water. The access to the lava tube was relatively easy, crossing a small bridge then entering a large tunnel that was well lit. There were a few water puddles that had to be avoided & it was an easy slightly uphill walk of about 150 metres. There were a few steps at the end of the tube to get us back up on the track, than it was a short walk back to the start through a nice ferny forested type of area.

Our next stop was at a crater of the Kilauea Volcano that last erupted in 1974 called Kilauea Iki Crater & is still smoking from various cracks in the crater floor. That didn’t seem to deter the people hiking across the floor of the crater. We then drove to the Kilauea Visitor Centre & had a look at the currently active Halema’uma’u Crater in the Kilauea Caldera still billowing large amounts of smoke & volcanic gases from the molten lava at the base of the crater. Luckily the wind was blowing away from us. The Visitor Centre was interesting & displayed some information on the current volcanic activities plus information on the current lava flow threatening the town downhill from the lava flow.

On the way back to Hilo we stopped at some steam vents at the side of the road then walked over to another steaming crater for a closer look. The crater was mostly obscured by steam, as a compensation there were some nice flowers growing alongside the path.

We arrived back at the ship with another plate of treats waiting for us in our cabin, chocolate dipped fruit, delicious. Again we watched the ship depart the port of Hilo before dinner at the Liberty dining room & more guitar playing & singing from Tim Dion.

Day 7 Monday 3 November

Another beautiful day in Maui & today is our “Best of Maui – Iao Valley, Plantation & Ocean Centre” tour that departs the ship at 8am. We stopped at the Maui multicultural gardens to start with, a collection of different types of gardens reflecting the different six significant cultural groups that make up the current Maui population, including Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese & British etc. After a comfort break & a short wander around the gardens from where we could see some of the magnificent mountains in the distance, we continued up the Iao valley. We stopped at the Iao Needle, a prominent volcanic dyke that stands out from the steep mountains surrounding it. The Hawaiian warriors used it as a lookout. It would have been an amazing feat for them to be able to climb, it is so dramatically steep. It is very beautiful scenery here with the extremely steep mountainsides, the vegetation that clings to it & the greenness of it all. Apparently we were very fortunate to be there when it was dry as it rains most of the time. We took a nice walk down to the fast running creeks, reading stories about the tribal wars that took place & the many warriors killed there. Apparently in one battle when the tribe from Oahu were battling the local Maui tribe during the 1800s the creek was dammed by the sheer quantity of bodies blocking the flow.

Our next stop was at a tropical garden plantation that had been set up to entertain & feed tourists. We had a look through the visitor centre that also had a very large collection of antique coffee grinders right around the inside walls. There was also a very nicely restored antique Ford truck on display. Outside they are in the process of rejuvenating the garden & have done a magnificent job of incorporating old sugar mill machinery into the water garden design, it is really quite innovative. Another quirky thing they are doing in the new bar is displaying a collection of antique outboard motors above the new bar. Also in the room is the original steam engine that pulled the sugar wagons plus the railway carriage that was owned by King Kamehameha . Outside near the tram station is another lovely restored Ford “woody” car. The gardens also have a collection of local craftspeople displaying & selling their handicrafts, from glassblowing to jewellery to wood carving to painting, etc. They really are very talented. We met one of the owners & had a chat with him about what he was doing, telling him how impressed by what he had achieved so far. He told us he felt embarrassed about the quality of the tram ride we were about to undertake.

Two young women were the drivers of our trams & they gave a running commentary on the plantation which had different plots of plants, such as bananas, coffee, mangos, etc. They were interesting to listen to & very informative. Half way round they stopped & gave us a demonstration on how to husk then crack a coconut. They made it look ease & simple. We also saw some unusual looking red-headed birds that we had never seen before, including one that was all red. After the tram ride we had cold buffet lunch inside the new visitor’s reception centre that is not yet complete, then another look through the gift shop before our next bus stop.

The Maui Ocean Centre was not too far away & we were impressed by the quality of the display, the information boards explaining what the fish were & the magnificent variety of fish they had on display. There were many fish we had never seen before, ranging from the smallest of coral reef fish to a large tiger shark. Some of the fish were really beautiful with a stunning array of colours & designs. The display culminated in a walk through Perspex tunnel where we were surrounded by all sorts of fish, including giant stingrays & sharks. The American’s are still fascinated by our Steve Irwin’s death, asking/telling the guide about. They still have Bindi’s show on T.V.

Again we lounged on our balcony & rested after the tour & watched the ship depart port. We had another great dinner in the Liberty dining room. While listening to a wonderful guitar player & singer called Tim Dion in the Napa Bar I discovered Fire Rock beer that is a local Hawaiian beer that I like, however the local Maui beer was not that special.

We really don’t know what to do with our butler. We don’t want our shoes polished or breakfast in bed or anything else he supposed to do for us – so we leave him alone. Jose being a good butler makes sure that our coffee machine is always topped up (Ron drinks about 1 cup a day). Brings us canapé, fresh fruit dipped in chocolate, tiny tarts, chocolates & makes sure that our room is tidied up again at night, bed turned down (there is a quirky little fold up towel animal on the bed every night), next day’s news letter, invitations etc. are there for us to see. TV turned on with the different restaurant information. Life is a bugger on this cruise – we have to work out what & where we will eat & which entertainment we want to go to. How will I go back to doing the cooking, washing, gardening, shopping etc.?

Day 6 Sunday 2 November

We woke as the ship was entering the port of Kahului on the island of Maui & we watched the ship dock from our veranda before proceeding to breakfast. Our first tour from the cruise is to the summit of Mt Haleakala, a dormant volcano just over 10,000 feet above sea level. The 8am start bus trip is interesting as it winds up the slopes of the volcano, travelling through different types of vegetation, including Australian eucalypts & casuarinas, not to mention the odd macadamia. We stopped at an information centre at around 7,000 feet, for a comfort break & to get acclimatised a little to the altitude. The cloud band that was hiding the summit of Mt Haleakala we eventually passed through as the road got steeper & more twisted. Then the vegetation almost disappeared as we entered the alpine heights & the rocks dominated the scenery. A very striking unique plant called “Silver Sword” grows up there. The bus stopped at 9740 feet, Tereza felt quite woozy from the high altitude, I wasn’t too bad so I climbed up to the top of a cinder cone next to the visitor centre. Right at the top of Mt Haleakala is an international astronomical observatory with lots of white domes. Haleakala crater is very large with lots of cinder cones scattered around the crater floor. The crater extended well into the distance before disappearing into the clouds, it is very long. In the distance & over the top of the cloud bank can be seen two volcanic peaks on the island of Hawaii, the “big island” as the locals call it. As the clouds clear the other dormant volcano that makes up the other half of the island of Maui appears in the other direction. It is a baby in comparison to Haleakala. We were awe struck by the enormity & to actually be so high to see inside this crater. The different colours & contours of rock formation is something to see. It was a very special experience.

After the mandatory photo shot of the elevation at the visitor centre we headed back downhill, just as windy but the driver excused himself for not doing a commentary as he really had to concentrate on the driving. We got back to the ship in time for a late lunch in Cagney’s. The afternoon was spent relaxing on our balcony recovering from the altitude changes. Jose, the butler came with delicious tiny little tarts for our afternoon treat. Dinner in the Skyline bistro was followed by a great local Maui talent hula show in the Hollywood Theatre.

Day 5 Saturday 1 November

This morning was spent organising ourselves & repacking & we left our apartment by 10.30am & headed off to find where to drop our rental car off to, as well as refilling with fuel. Fortunately it was very simple to find a petrol station across the road from the car rental place. After I worked out what to do regarding paying for the fuel (I needed to have my credit card authorised first) I was very happy that all our driving only used ½ a tank of fuel, $23 worth. After dropping our car off, the rental company had a shuttle bus that took us to the cruise boat terminal, we were the only passengers & had a good chat to the driver along the way. He was very friendly & chatty, telling that 9 of his family lived in a small apartment.

We arrived at Pier 2 around 11.15am & stood in line with our bags for the booking in & boarding process for our cruise on the Norwegian Line ship “Pride of America”. Tereza received a beautiful real orchard lei, I got one made from shells. It took a little time with the sheer number of people boarding the ship. When we got to the ticket counter where we received our ship & cabin pass the attendant told us we had VIP tickets & escorted us to a separate private waiting lounge area with hors d’oeuvres, drinks, coffee & lounge chairs while waiting to be personally escorted onto the ship where we met our concierge, Thomas Meir. The room that Thomas took us to was one of the specialty dining rooms, Cagney’s, where he explained that the sign that said “Closed for private function” was for us, we were the private function & this was to be our private dining room for breakfast & lunch. Cagney’s is the most expensive optional dining room on the ship. We were briefed on different aspects of the ship before heading off to find our cabin on deck 11. We discover this is the same level as the pool & spa, level 11.

Our cabin is very spacious & well appointed. It is WOW, WOW, WOW. We have a large lounge, a dressing room with slippers & fluffy white dressing gowns, a king size bed. A very large balcony complete with table, 4 chairs & 2 lounging deck chairs. In the lounge area on the coffee table a huge bunch of long stemmed red roses, another beautiful Hawaiian native flower arrangement & that’s not all, a bottle of champagne in the ice bucket & hors d’oeuvres to go with it. Wait for it, we have a butler as well. We head back down to Cagney’s Dining Room & indulge in a very nice lunch before heading off to explore the rest of the ship. From the top deck we watch the ship depart the port of Honolulu then watch the lights of Waikiki before heading down to dinner at Cagney’s. The dinner was absolutely delicious, but too much food. Our bags had arrived at our cabin & our young Philippine cleaner insisted in taking it into our cabin. We unpacked & settled in. That night the sea was fairly rough with a strong wind so the ship bounced around a bit, if 80,000 tons can bounce.

Day 4 Friday 31 October

Diamond Head, a volcanic crater dominating the skyline east of Waikiki was this morning’s adventure. The drive was simple & we managed to get one of the last of the available parking spots inside the crater of the volcano, reached by driving through a tunnel through the crater wall. It is very lush & green inside the crater, with lots of acacia trees. The crater used to be a military base with gun emplacements around the crater rim. The walk to the top of the rim started out easy enough with an easy gradient concrete path, however after about 5 minutes walking this turned into an eroded track & got steeper as the many switchbacks up the slope were negotiated. About ¾ the way to the top we climbed up a long steep flight of stairs then entered a long, narrow, uphill tunnel, barely wide enough to pass the people coming the other way. There were lots of tourists walking the track. After exiting the tunnel we were greeted with a choice of an even steeper, longer set of stairs plus another tunnel, then a long spiral staircase or a more relaxed walk with open stairs to the top. Lots of young people chose the hard way. The spiral staircase exited through a concrete gun bunker which had a viewing platform on top at the highest point of the crater.

The view from the top of Diamond Head is spectacular, looking down & past Waikiki to Honolulu & beyond in one direction, down onto Diamond Head lighthouse & out to sea in another, far up the east coast & back up over the inland mountain ranges. It was a lot easier on the way down & a pleasant walk, chatting to others as we walked. The drive back to our apartment was straightforward.

The afternoon we spent walking on the Waikiki beachfront, ate lunch from a “shrimp wagon” on the grass at the Hilton Hotel lagoon. We walked into downtown Waikiki, past lots of very expensive shops, again the Gucci, Fendi, Cartier, Rolex, etc. and some of the old & new elegant hotels. There certainly are a lot of up market shops & high rise hotels & apartment blocks in Waikiki. (so far we haven’t really seen any average peoples shops other than the ABC stores – a mish-mash of groceries & cheap clothing etc.). The beaches at this end of Waikiki were very crowded. After the walk Tereza went for a swim & then back to the apartment where we had a snooze before re-emerging to look at the Friday night fireworks display put on by the Hilton at the lagoon. Both the first fireworks & the last had me jumping as they were so loud, the concussion from the blasts set off a number of car alarms parked in the parking lot behind us. After the fireworks we walked to Ala Moana plaza for dinner. You have all these expensive shops, hotels/apartments & flash boats moored in the bay yet there are many homeless sleeping on the streets. One thing we have found strange is that the price displayed then has tax added when you go to pay & then a tip is expected by the people serving you as their wage rate is very low & they need the additional income from tips to supplement their pay so that they can survive. It feels embarrassing for us to slip money/tip to people, we feel very uncomfortable doing it but understand the need to do so. We are so much more civilised about basic wages etc. in Australia.

So far we found the people friendly & courteous (even drivers), the service is good. The food is excellent whether from food court, road side shrimp shacks or good restaurants. We have been having a great time in Hawaii.

Day 3 Thursday 30 October

Polynesian Cultural Centre on the north-east corner of Oahu was today’s destination so we took the scenic route along the east Oahu coastline through intermittent showers of rain. We arrived around 12.30 & started to explore the very well set out attraction. It is laid out in a series of different Polynesian villages reflecting the different Polynesian cultures around the Pacific Ocean, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Maori, Hawaii, etc. At set times of the day there are special attractions at each of the villages, our first one was Tonga where there was a demonstration of coconut husking & cracking, then extracting the coconut from the nut. We then learnt how to weave the palm fronds & made a small simple fish each. Next was a dancing exhibition from each of the cultures on double canoes on the waterway, it was very entertaining & the performers all seemed to be enjoying themselves. We looked at a reconstruction of a very large Polynesian ocean travelling canoe then listened to a very informative history on the canoe building, navigation methods & distances travelled. Another item of interest was a talk on the history of the hula dancing & what the different hand & foot movements referred to.

After the exhibits closed we then took part in the buffet dinner that is included in the admission fee. The food was superb, especially the fish. The fruit is also very good, the standout being the pineapple, it is just so sweet. After dinner was the special show that was the highlight of the day “Ha – the Breath of Life”. This was a Polynesian story in dance & theatre of the birth of Pele, the god of fire. There were around 100 dancers throughout the show & it was very well produced with a lot of energetic dancing & special effects, culminating in the fire dance. The show ended around 9.30pm & it was a slow drive in the rain back to Waikiki, taking over 1 ½ hours. Once again we lucked it in, every time it rained we were at an indoor activity.

Day 2 Wednesday 29 October

A quick breakfast at one of the many food outlets at street level then it was off to Pearl Harbour Memorial Park for the day, another nerve wracking drive through peak hour traffic. Pearl Harbour has been set out very well & we managed to pick up free tickets to head straight out to the USS Arizona Memorial, a monument built over the wreck of a ship sunk during the Japanese attack that brought the USA into the 2^nd World War. The US Navy provides the boat to take tourists over on the short journey across the bay & we stayed for about 15 minutes looking at the wreck of the massive battleship, still leaking oil after 73 years. The names of all the men that died during the attack are listed on the memorial wall in the monument, another terrible loss of life.

Our next tour was of the WW2 battleship USS Missouri, moored next to the Arizona Memorial, a bus taking us across onto the still active navy base. This battleship is massive, last serving during the Gulf War before being finally decommissioned & displayed at Pearl Harbour. We took an informative guided tour, standing at the spot on the ship where the Japanese Peace Treaty was signed to bring an end to the war against the Japanese whilst the USS Missouri was moored in Tokyo Bay. Then it was a self guided tour through the rest of the ship that we didn’t see on the tour, very interesting & informative. I’m certainly glad it was mapped out as the ship is massive with lots of corridors & rooms. The officers quarters were by far the most spacious & the captain had a massive cabin with lounge, dining room own bath room – the only way to serve on a ship is to be a captain.

A look through the museums back at the information centre took us the rest of the day until closing time & our dinner that night was at the Ala Moana food court, a very large selection of all different types of food stalls, again, great food.

Day 1 Tuesday 28 October

Our good friend & neighbour Anji gave us a lift into Civic so that we could catch the Murray’s bus to Sydney Airport. The bus trip to Sydney was comfortable & uneventful, very pleasant to sit back & let someone else do the driving. We arrived in Sydney at 12.15 with plenty of time for our flight to Hawaii at 5.55pm.

Our flight to Hawaii was smooth with 9 ½ hours flying, then bag pick up & customs checks, we walked out into the Honolulu warmth & humidity before we left Australia, it was 9am, Tuesday 28 October. We decided to get a rental car as our apartment in Waikiki was not available until 3pm. After a bit of uncertainty we found the shuttle bus to the rental car place & we rented a medium size Chrysler with a GPS navigation aid.

We decided to drive through the middle of the island of Oahu to the north shore & took a little while to get used to driving on the right side of the road in a left-hand-drive car, my very first time at this sort of thing & it was a little daunting. We stopped when we reached the north coast & had breakfast at a very eclectic health food shack called the “Beet Box”, full of young surfer types having healthy foods. It was very ramshackle (in Australia the building would have been condemned as unfit for use & pulled down) & friendly, the breakfast menu was different & interesting, but the food was very tasty (Venetia would have been proud of us eating & drinking vegetarian health food such as wheat grass juice etc.) We continued on our way east across the north shore driving close to the sea & stopped at the famous Waimea Bay to look at the surf – flat as a pancake – zero waves. Next was Sunset Beach where they were holding a surfing contest, they had to cancel the day for lack of waves. We continued on & stopped at a “Shrimp Shack” on the side of the road for lunch. The fresh farmed prawns were delicious & we ate lunch under the shade shelter they had set up. It was very popular with lots of tourist buses stopping there for lunch as well.

The drive down the east coast of Oahu was slow & scenic, next to the sea most of the time with very few places to pull off. The mountain ranges are certainly very rugged & beautiful with curtains of clouds continually hugging them. We eventually found our way to Waikiki & lucked it in finding the apartment block “Waikiki Marina” with our apartment on the 37^th floor with magnificent views of the ocean & the famous Waikiki surf break full of surfers. Our apartment block is on the western end of Waikiki, the quiet end, close to the Ala Moana canal & the Ala Moana shopping plaza. After settling in we walked a few hundred metres to the Ala Moana plaza & wandered around this massive shopping complex, full of high end shops like Gucci, Fendi, Rolex, Cartier, etc. We ended up having dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant, all decked out in Forrest Gump (the movie) memorabilia with a souvenir shop there right next door. After a great dinner back to our apartment (we phoned James & he was impressed with our choice of restaurant, talked to Monica & she & family are well too) with glorious views & early bed.

I found out my younger brother Barry died of cancer today, we were both diagnosed with cancer around the same time but his cancer was more advanced than mine & proved to be inoperable. We both went through the hell of chemotherapy together & I last visited him around 2 weeks ago, he was in a bad way with a morphine pump assisting him with the pain. It is a blessing he is not suffering any further, but it still hurt a lot. It could so easily have been me as well. It’s also sad that I couldn’t be there for my family & provide some comfort for my parents.