Aloha from Honolulu!!!

Apologies dear FF for the absence of posts of late. I am actually typing this at Val’s brother’s house in Beachlands near Auckland on 15th February having now left the Arcadia. So lots to catch up on………

2^nd February, 2020

One phenomenon I don’t think I have mentioned is the effect of sailing west. Every other day or so, we put the clocks back another hour, which means a bit of extra time to gather ourselves together each morning and this was one such morning. Of course it can mess up Val’s meds a bit, but we are coping well. We are now 10 hours behind GMT, and will lose a day when we cross the International Date Line next week, which is going to be seriously confusing!

We arrived in Honolulu harbour (Pier 2) early in the morning, so early we were able to witness the sunrise….

Sunrise over Honolulu

The harbour itself is not as spectacular as many, but it is conveniently close to downtown Honolulu, about which, more later.

As mentioned in the last post, Val and I were here a few years ago for a week, so had done most of the sights (I can really recommend Pearl Harbour, if you are ever thinking of coming this way), so it was going to be a bit more of a gentle ramble round the shops and where better to do that than Waikiki, which is some 3.5 miles eastwards from Honolulu proper. Lots of the usual expensive brand shops (one selling sweaters rather incongruously considering the lovely weather – 27 degrees and soft breeze, I believe), lots of tourists, especially Japanese and lots of people enjoying the famous Waikiki Beach and the lovely looking water off it.

Val and I wandered about the main drag reminiscing about our last trip and having a nostalgic cheesecake (one Tiramisu between two of us) at the Cheesecake Factory. Interestingly (or is that, worryingly), they advise you of the number of calories per slice. The Tiramisu was a mere 900 calories, which, if you think that is bad, pales into insignificance compared to (or is that with – I can never remember) one of the sundaes weighing in at 1,950! I suppose it is OK as long as you don’t eat anything else all day! Some photos….

We then caught the bus back to the ship where I settled Val before setting off to find my usual WiFi coffee or beer. I thought I would explore downtown Honolulu as we had not really seen that last time. I nearly didn’t get there as I had to cross the main road (about 4 lanes each side) and dutifully waited at the crossing for the red hand to change to the light green man, remembering that jaywalking is frowned upon in these parts (they would never survive in London – or Hanoi!). Nothing seemed to be changing colour, so I looked around for one of those buttons that you press, but could locate nothing on my side of the road. There was one on the OTHER side of the road, but I would have had to have crossed the road to press it! In the end I waited for a gap in the traffic and went for it, presuming that my Englishness would see me through any interview with the local constabulary. Nothing happened!

I was setting off in the direction of an old church that was said to be a local sight worth visiting when I heard music, which meant that there might just be a café or bar, which could mean WiFi and indeed, there was an open-air bar, which was in full flow with an excellent live band playing some excellent hits of the Sweet Home Alabama kind and all set up for the Super Bowl that was soon to start. I settled down with a Bikini Blonde (that was the name of the beer) and sorted out the last post to the blog.

The match started after more adverts that you might see in a month on UK TV and a great deal of fanfare, the band stopped playing and I settled into a seat at the bar next to my new mate, Darryl, a supporter of the San Francisco 49ers (who were playing the Kansas City Chiefs), who very kindly explained some of the finer points of the game – and that Kansas City is in Iowa, not Kansas! Apparently it costs about $6 million for a 30 second slot in the adverts, not counting the cost of the advert itself! And they had them all the way through the game as there were lots of stoppages. I made it to half time, but felt I had better get on as the whole game can last 3 hours at least and I wanted to see what Honolulu had to offer before getting back on the ship.

Not surprisingly, it was VERY quiet, partly because it was a Sunday and definitely because it was Super Bowl Sunday. It is a grid pattern of very wide streets, with the buildings set well back from the pavement (or sidewalk). Many of the buildings were government buildings such as the City Hall, the Palace and the State Capitol, but my first stop was Kawaiahao Church, known the Stone Church by some or the Westminster of Hawaii (though I am at a bit of a loss as to why the latter epithet). It was certainly a familiar shape with a nice airy interior, but not particularly Gothic (assuming they mean Westminster Abbey and not Westminster Cathedral – it was not Romanesque either come to that). It was dedicated in 1842 and is built of native coral.

I then wandered past the Honolulu Hale or City Hall, a pleasing art deco building which reminded me of some of those you find in Miami. Nearby is the very impressive Library of Hawaii, which though modern seems to fit in well with the more 19^th Century buildings nearby.

Opposite the Library, through some wonderful trees whose aerial roots grow down to the ground (I think I have got that right) is the Iolani Palace, the royal palace of King Kalakaua and his sister Queen Liliou, built by the king in 1882 in Victorian-Florentine style. It was here that the Hawaiian flag was lowered in 1898 and the Stars and Stripes raised when the islands became part of the USA.

A word about the flag, which you will have noticed contains the Union Flag in one corner. A bit of background history. The islands were first settled in around 500AD by Polynesians who founded several small kingdoms and then proceeded to spend most of their time at war with each other. Modern history began on 18^th January, 1778 when Captain Cook landed and was received as a god. Unfortunately when he returned 8 months later, the attitude had changed and he was killed in a skirmish. This rude introduction to the modern world was exploited by King Kamehameha I of the Big Island who subjugated the other islands and is seen as the founder of modern Hawaii.

Unfortunately along with useful new technology came western diseases and in quarter of a century the population fell from about 250,000 to just 50,000. Christian missionaries arrived in the 1820s with many Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos flooded in to work on the pineapple and sugar plantations and native Hawaiians were becoming an endangered species. The last king, King Kalakaua was overthrown in 1893 by American sugar magnates and the islands were declared a republic in 1894 and an American businessman, Sanford B. Dole became the President.Four years later they became part of the USA, largely because of their strategic position, becoming a state on 21^st August 1959. Only 7 of the 162 islands are inhabited and one of these is privately owned.

OK, John, that is all very interesting, I hear you say, but what about the flag???!!! Ah, yes, sorry about that, got carried away. Well, although the islands did have the name Sandwich Islands, they were never part of the British Empire, but one of the kings felt such an admiration for the British that he decided the flag should have the Union Flag as part of it. Sorry, that seemed to be a very long explanation – assuming you have read this far!

Opposite the Palace are the courts and the Post Office….

Lovely shaded streets and, on this day, quiet and peaceful……

Last port of call was the Aloha Tower, which had one of the slowest lifts I think I have ever been in (the stairs were closed), but the views were quite good out over the harbour.

Back to the ship to watch the rugby (England losing to France, very frustrating) and then it was off we go to our new destination of Tahiti sailing south south east, which means that we have the sun on our balcony during the afternoon and, you guessed it, sunsets every evening! I liked this one as it looks a bit like Dumbo…

And a few more (from a cast of thousands!)

OK, I will post this and then start the next one……