A mixed day in Hawaii...

Quote of the Day: “You should see her up by the pool. She looks like burnt meat.”

The day got off to a shaky start: we were a couple of hours late in getting to Honolulu, plus it was the day I’d scheduled to hop on the scales… not a good result there, so it’s “bye bye” to the wine, the bread rolls, the oatmeal with prunes, the deserts and the whipped cream on the scones. Extreme measures are called for!

Having been to Hawaii four times before, I’d done most of the tourist things. The weather was looking a bit dodgy, so I opted for a leisurely day based around Waikiki, just like thousands of other tourists…

I avoided the crowds trying to get ashore in the first 30 minutes (we’re here until midnight, folks) and took The Bus to Ala Moana shopping centre. Here I had my first Honolulu Coffee Company latte of the day, the only place between the UK and New Zealand I’ve found does coffee the way I like it. Several more followed… Once the caffeine hit the bloodstream, I realized that I didn’t really want to be at a shopping centre, so picked up a trolley to Waikiki Beach. Here I picked up a few basic supplies, and a couple of shirts, before hanging out on the beach for a while. I interspersed this with visits to the main Honolulu Coffee Company café, which is slightly elevated, and a great place to people-watch.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t as crowded as on previous visits – apparently the Japanese aren’t coming in their usual numbers, due to the financial crisis – and that the temperature was lower too, which made for a very pleasant afternoon.

For Japanese only...

I briefly considered taking a hike up to Diamond Head, but no sooner had I had the thought, than it began to bucket down. Fortunately I’d toted the umbrella along, so didn’t get the drenching many others received. Once the rain stopped, I thought it might be easier to get a Trolley up to Diamond Head. I’d asked the driver of the previous Trolley, and he said it would cost $5. Sounded like a good deal to me.

After waiting at the stop for over half an hour, with several “Private Charter” Trolleys going past (you have to be Japanese with an appropriate pass to use these – so how ironic is that given Pearl Harbour and all?) the green line Trolley arrived. As I tried to board, the driver told me I had to have a ticket, and couldn’t pay in cash. He said the only time cash was accepted was if you got on at the top of Diamond Head to come back down… Say, what??? He then proceeded to tell me I needed to go to The Bus stop, get a bus to the entrance, then walk blah, blah, blah… I thanked him, and retreated down the road, to another latte… Maybe next time I’ll have more success.

After dodging another shower or two, I headed back to the ship. After a late dinner, I opted for an early night, with no intention of being on deck for sail away, sometime after midnight. However, as it happened I woke up just as we were pulling away from the pier, so headed up to the top decks. There I was just in time for the maneuvering: a full 180-degree pivot, which is quite something to experience. So that was at 1:30am, in a fine drizzle, and with only 9 other passengers and 5 crewmembers in attendance… a lovely moment as the lights of Honolulu and Waikiki faded into the distance.

We now settle in for 5 sea days before Papeete – and in less than two weeks I’ll be back in New Zealand.