Author: Karen

People sometimes get confused  with the island names so I thought I’d explain.  The state is called Hawaii, consisting of several islands. Oahu is the main island, which is where Honolulu is located. Honolulu is the biggest city, which is where my sister, brother-in-law and nephew live, not far from Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head..  The neighbor islands are a plane ride away.  On this trip we are visiting Maui, the Big Island and Kauai.

The Big Island of Hawaii, known as The Big Island,   IS the biggest of the islands and is a fascinating place to visit because of the diversity of its geography. Measuring 93 miles long and 76 miles wide, it is more than twice the size of all the other islands put together.  Hawaii is also the youngest, geologically speaking, and it continues to grow.  Five volcanoes originally created its land mass.  The two largest volcanoes are Mauna Loa, at 13,678 feet and Mauna Kea, at 13,800 feet.  Together these two volcanoes comprise almost 3/4 of the island’s surface.  Mauna Kea, an extinct volcano, is the highest mountain in the Pacific Basin.  Add that to its enormous mass underwater, and it becomes the highest mountain in the world.  Mauna Kea has been inactive for thousands of years but Mauna Loa still erupts from time to time,.  Kilauea, one of Mauna Loa’s neighboring volcanoes, is among the most active in the world, creating “ vog,” or volcanic ash throughout the area.  My sister will say it’s a voggy day when this happens and inhabitants are warned not to venture outdoors   When the volcano is erupting  it is said that Madame Pele, the goddess of fire, creator – and destroyer – of the islands  is angry again!

Other claims to fame on the Big Island: there is skiing on the top of Mauna Kea.   On the Kona side, the Parker ranch is the largest cattle ranch in the United States.

The Big Island has two major cities: Hilo, on the rainy side, and Kona, on the dry side.  We were on the Hilo side today and would be on the Kona side tomorrow.  Kona is where all the big hotels are located.

Craig and I had a tour at noon of Volcanoes National Park so we ventured to his parents’ stateroom after breakfast to see what was happening.  Ed was on duty on the balcony, all excited because a Japanese training vessel was about to leave its dock.

It was fascinating to see the sailors climbing the masts. I’ll try uploading a video but I don’t know if it will work. I flipped it but I wanted you to hear the sounds of the sailors.    Just click on the link.

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Craig and I took the tender – his first experience in tendering – to shore and caught the excursion bus to the park, where we saw craters and walked inside a lava tube.  Imagine lava flowing out from these caverns! I also had the opportunity  to get a steam facial, thanks to the steam coming from the volcano.

Back on the ship, I practiced taking photos of the Photogenic Couple for the yearly Christmas card. We are not together all that often, so it’s a good opportunity to get a shot of the two of them.  You may see one of these photos if you’re on their Christmas card list.

Tonight we sail off again, and tomorrow we go to Kona.

WELCOME TO MAUI!

This wasn’t my first trip to Maui.  I’ve been here three times over the years: a three-day trip from Honolulu with my sister acting as tour guide, a weeklong stay in a beautiful spacious condo with friend Allan, and a stop on a Hawaiian circle cruise  from San Diego a few years ago.  I’d seen most of it so I wasn’t interested in many excursions, and thought I’d just get off and walk around.

First off, though,  after my coffee, Craig and I decided to do a walk around the promenade deck.  The skies were cloudy at first, but then we spied a rainbow, a good omen.

We walked for an hour from 8-9, then went to trivia in the coffee bar in the main atrium from 9-9:30.  Since it is a vacation, I imagine most people were sleeping in, like the other members of our party  – there were only a few other people playing.  Craig and I played as a team, and even though we thought it was very difficult, we won! We only had a score of 14/20 but  other people did much worse  -humbling.  Everyone got a prize “because there are no losers on NCL,” then we  climbed the stairs  up to the Aloha Café for breakfast.  As we were eating, my sister popped in with her bag to take things to Ed, who was still resting.  The café  closes at 10:30 so we had time to eat and decide on our plans for the day.

We decided that the two ladies would go into town and the two gentlemen should explore the ship, so we were off a few hours later.

For some reason, I thought I was in Lahaina, but I wasn’t. I remember taking a tender on the last cruise..hmmm..where WERE we?  According to the daily newsletter we were in Kahului. When we left the ship, I saw the map..we walked to the main road, where we saw a large street and a Whole Foods store!  Looks like we were going to the mall..at least we’d get some local color..we lucked out because there was a local crafts market there, and I scored some nice local hand made products for gifts.

We four had a nice dinner in a New York-themed restaurant with cabaret music and  saw the main show.  We also began our tradition of hanging out at the piano bar on the second floor of the atrium, near the bar.  The piano player was excellent and there were some dancers on the tiny dance floor that were an entertainment as well.  It appeared that about sixteen people from China were all sailing together and they had ALL been to ballroom dancing school!  They were all very practiced and very dramatic – we loved them!

The next day Craig and I continued with our morning routine: a walk around the deck, trivia, which Craig won (he missed one less than I did) , then  breakfast at a different venue, and this time we got off to explore more of the shoreline.

We had dinner at one of the free-to-us suiteholders fancy restaurants that were part of the deal: Jefferson’s Bistro, which had typical French dishes.  The setting was lovely and service was fine.  I had escargots and sole, which was light, and we shared an apple tart for dessert.  We stuck with light sparkling wine for our meal.  Beatrice and Ed had a romantic meal on their own while we made ourselves scarce

We all  saw “Light, Action, Camera,” the main show, which was excellent -music and dance in the movies, appealing to the older demographic on the ship, though Craig enjoyed it as well.  We finished off the evening watching the dancers and listening to the music at the piano bar.

Can you tell we’re settling into a routine?

Tomorrow we spend two days on the Big Island and Craig and I visit Volcanos National Park!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We packed on Saturday and called a taxi for the four of us in the afternoon for our fifteen-minute drive to the Aloha Tower to board Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America, our new home for seven days of cruising.

I’d  actually seen this ship before: a few years ago I sailed from San Diego with Holland America’s Veendam,  on a Hawaii circle cruise, landing in Hawaii, where we docked in Honolulu, Maui, the Big Island and Kauai before heading back to San Diego.  We were parked next to this ship during our journey, and our little 1,200 passenger ship looked like a baby next to this monster,  which  holds 2,600 people  I’d never been on such a big ship and was curious to see the difference. It was thrilling to sail across the Pacific on the Veendam, and I enjoyed the tranquility of the sea days, though I understand some people don’t enjoy them.  We were very busy when we were in port.  This will be a different experience as  this ship only sails at night. We will have no sea days .

We were to spend two days each on Maui, the Big Island of Hawaii and Kauai, and arrive back in Honolulu Saturday morning. My sister and brother-in-law have taken this cruise several times, but for Craig and me, this was a first. It was also Craig’s first time cruising on a big ship.

We got at the port at about 1:30, a little later than the first rush of passengers, so there was no line. My sister and brother-in-law had a cabin with a balcony, and nephew Craig and I had a suite with an obstructed view.  My sister made all the arrangements. When we checked in, we discovered that along with the suite, we also got a butler!  We also got a package of other goodies, which I’ll explain later

The first thing we did when we got on board was check out the views from the balcony in Beatrice and Ed’s room.

Then we went to the suite and met Jeffrey, our butler. He gave us his card and said to call if we needed anything. Our room opened to two doors. We each had our own self- contained quarters.  Craig chose the twin bedded room with two bunks. He had a TV, phone  and bathroom. My room had the big bed, a couch which could be made into a bed for two, a desk area with mirror and hair dryer, TV, bathroom,  lots of closet space and drawers, and an espresso machine!  Such luxury! There was also a bottle of champagne for us. I’ve been booking inside cabins  on my cruises of late, so this was a real treat.  These cabins usually have eight people sleeping in them.

I also had two large windows so there was a lot of  light coming in, in spite of the two lifeboats.

One of the perks of having a suite is free entry into the extra cost dining venues. We had three such entries, so Craig and I wandered around to see what suited us.  I’d already decided on the French bistro and the Italian restaurant and he was intrigued with the Asian offerings, so all we had to do was make reservations during the week.  We four met up in the buffet for our first dinner, then checked out the views from various as we sailed away.

Next stop:  Maui in the morning.

 

My sojourn in the glorious state of Hawaii ended with a bang, not a whimper.

The family and I were docking in Honolulu, getting ready to leave the ship after a wonderful week’s cruise on the Pride of America, with two-day stops on the Big Island, Maui and Kaui, when the ship’s alarm blasted. At the same time, I received a text alert from the Hawaii civil defense system: A MISSILE IS HEADED FOR HAWAII. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.  My nephew simultaneously  got the same message on his iPhone. We looked at each other as our jaws dropped and people around us displayed a myriad of emotions from disbelief to pure panic.  We climbed two flights of stairs to the cabin of my sister and brother-in-law.  Finally the captain made an announcement that he would investigate the alarm.  Many people were frightened, others were skeptical, and as the precious minutes ticked on, I said that if I had to go, I’d had a pretty good life.  We jokingly decided that the shower was the best place to hide but there were three of us in a small room.  My nephew was nervous. I never really believed it would happen.  I guess I’m a born skeptic.

We didn’t learn until 38 minutes after the warning that it was a false alarm.

People continued to disembark and as the time went on, we decided that today was not the day that would begin the nuclear war.  It was scary stuff, though.  We were off the ship by 9:00, back in their condo by 9:30, and watched the local news coverage of the event to see how islanders coped with the near-disaster.  We came to the conclusion that the civil defense system in Hawaii and the people who run it are inept, never a good feeling. Let’s hope up this is a wake up call for civil defense systems in all parts of the country to investigate their systems, so no more foolish mistakes are made.

I cleared my cell phone messages and sent replies to worried friends.  I was scheduled for a 2:00 pm flight so left at about noon for the airport.  The flight was late but uneventful except that it was the pilot’s last flight in his forty-year career.  We applauded his near-perfect landing into SFO.

I got into my place at about midnight, when the second shock of the day reminded me just how vulnerable we all are:

We’d had a 4.5 earthquake on the Hayward fault January 4, and a picture fell off my mantle – shards of glass were everywhere in my small living room.  Even though the earthquake was not a large one, the epicenter was a mere nine miles away.  I heard the news when I was gone but was shocked to see the damage and once again get evidence of our vulnerability. I spent yesterday unpacking, doing laundry and cleaning up the mess.

I decided not to buy the ship’s internet package last week, as I knew it would be a busy cruise and I wouldn’t have time to write..I was able to check email when we were in port but I kept off the grid for the most part.  I will post information on our cruise and send out some  fantastic photos of flora and fauna. Hawaii is a beautiful state.

So this week I will write about the cruise and post pictures.  It’s  now time to get groceries and meet a friend this afternoon for a movie date.

Yes, life goes on..

 

 

Yesterday we decided to take a drive around the island. We took the road to Kaneohe first, to see nephew Craig, who works in the education department at the marine corps base there. Many of the photos were taken out the window of the car.

Craig is between lodging at the moment and was staying on base for a week while I was visiting. He moves to his new condo when escrow closes February 1 but is with the parents until then, in his old bedroom – except that I’m there now! He’s staying at “the lodge,” a combination hotel room  and efficiency apartment, with a microwave and kitchen utensils. Families can choose to stay here in between postings. It was very adequate for his needs, and he can walk to work! I didn’t take any photos of his place because I didn’t want to invade his privacy too much..

We continued on our way in the H3 highway, also known as Kam highway, named for King Kamahameha, the founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii, LONG before it became a state.  It’s a beautiful two-lane road with gorgeous views of both the mountains and the sea.  We passed Chinaman’s Hat on the way to Turtle Bay at the top of the island, then to the Polynesian Cultural Center and took a short detour to see the campus at BYU on our way to the quaint community  of Haleiwa.

Our destination was a new restaurant we’d wanted to try.  For years, on trips to the north shore, we’d stop at Jameson’s by the Sea, just on the highway, located directly across the grassy Haleiwa Beach Park and boat harbor. It was torn down and replaced by the beautiful and airy Haleiwa Beach House. We were very pleased with our lunch there.

The building is gorgeous, with lovely art scattered throughout, and a bar space punctuated by a model of a sailing ship.

We three were well fed: Ed loved his chopped salad with sherry vinaigrette, and Beatrice and I split a cheeseburger on a taro bun – yes, a purple bun, which was very tasty – and an appetizer with grilled shrimp and lettuce;   the thing to do is to wrap the lettuce around the shrimp.  I’m including this paragraph for  foodie friends like Vickie and La Verne, especially since this also shows a part of Hawaiian culture.  In fact, the cheesecake that we all split had a graham cracker- macadamia nut crust and was festooned with large drops of lilikoa, a Hawaiian fruit that tastes like passion fruit.

We also enjoyed the view across the street, and the art work in the restaurant.

Today we walk Waikiki.

The highlight of our day yesterday was a visit to heiress Doris Duke’s mansion-turned museum, now called the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

We were up and out at about 11:30 and headed to the Honolulu Museum of Art, where we were to pick up our tour for Shangri La. Of course,  we needed a little sustenance before we began our visit, so we stopped at the museum café.  I had a Niçoise salad topped with blackened ahi tuna and my sister had a tasty ham sandwich with avocado. I had a glass of Sauvignon blanc and she had Big Wave Golden Ale from the Kona brewing company, a new favorite. Sorry! I forgot to take photos this time!

The museum itself is lovely and we had time to stroll the exhibits, and, for one of us, make a phone call.

As we got on the bus to drive to the estate, we were given information about her life with a video, which was supplemented later by more details about the art and architecture from our guide Debbie.

Doris Duke was one of the richest little girls in America at age 13 when her father tobacco and hydroelectric power tycoon James Buchanan Duke died. She had the typical childhood and upbringing of one of her class, with a debutant ball in 1930 at age 18 at Rough Point, the family estate at Newport, RI. She married James Cromwell in 1935 and it was on her around-the-world honeymoon that she saw the Taj Mahal and “fell in love” with Islamic art.  They stopped in Honolulu, planning to stay just for two weeks but ended up being there several months. She bought five acres of oceanside property for $100,000 near the back side of Diamond Head, which is where she built  Shangri La.

She loved Hawaii.  She learned to surf under the tutelage of the Kahanamoku brothers and became a family friend. She was a hands-on homeowner, climbing a ladder to a three-story scaffolding to clean the Iranian commissioned murals in the courtyard below:

We were able to see her bedroom and adjoining bathroom, which was assembled in the Middle East and re-assembled In Shangri La. It was jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Each room is a jewel into itself with indoor-outdoor views amid priceless art works.  Here is just a sampling of what we saw.  If you’re planning a trip to Honolulu, this is a place you must visit.

For someone who was famous for her wealth and frolicking, this estate offered her the quiet and meditation time she needed with people who let her have her privacy.

We said goodbye to Doris and got back on the bus, heading back to the museum.

Nephew Craig was here when we got back; he had a light day and was able to spend some time with his father.

We had a quiet evening, watching the sun set from the windows.

Today we visit the North Shore.

 

 

Yesterday morning was one of frustration:  some online documents my sister was trying to get weren’t available without a two-hour call to the tech department -ever had to do that? She then found out that the washer repairman wouldn’t come after all..another glitch ! The next repair date from Sears wouldn’t be until the end of the month, so perhaps she will look elsewhere for someone else who deals in appliance repairs..

At least we had a free afternoon!

We decided to take a drive to Ko Olima, a development on the west end of the island. There’s a golf course there along with several resort hotels and some gated communities.  It’s only sixteen miles from downtown Honolulu, but feels like a world away. We were in between commute hours and thought it would be a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

It was!

We were going to eat lunch at the golf course but we were too late, so we ended up at the Four Seasons Hotel instead.  Many years ago, it was built as a Hyatt Hotel amd my sister and brother-in-law stayed there at a special discount given to the locals, called the “kama’aina special,” before the hotel actually opened  as a test run.  It’s lovely.

And did I mention we had lunch there? One of my readers said mentioning food was overkill, so to speak, whereas another reader enjoyed my foodie sections..so Vicki, this is for you!

We mixed and matched again. I ordered Caesar salad with lobster and my sister ordered steak frites..and we shared. Ed had apple tart dessert. Ed was also happy because he had a good view of the ladies in their bikinis in the pool. There was something for everyone!  The food was DELICIOUS!

After lunch, we admired the flowers and fed the koi carp.  They were hungry..

We had a quiet evening at home – no dinner for me – and are up and ready for a new day.  Our activity for today? Visit heiress Doris Duke’s mansion, Shangri La, now a center for Islamic art and culture and a part of the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Yes, we’ll have lunch at the museum.😎

 

When I’m traveling I’m definitely a tourist, but when I’m visiting friends or family, I become a temporary resident and integrate myself into their lives . We may go to the movies, shop at the grocery store, wait for the repairman, or walk in the neighborhood.  Since they seldom go to the tourist sites, it is a treat for them as well to “play tourist” when I’m here.

Yesterday we went to the Kahala mall to see “The Greatest Showman,” a musical with Hugh Jackman, then strolled the mall.  This is a people’s mall, without the Prada, Tesla and Louis Vuitton stores; it has, among other stores,  Macy’s, Long’s Drugs, and See’s candies.  Some of the smaller stores were closed because it was New Year’s Day..

Ed, the former aviator,  was wearing his classic aviator glasses as he posed next to the sign. At this indoor mall, many of the families used the chairs to rest in between shopping excursions. This is a family place. We stopped at Whole Foods for take out food for dinner, supplemented by a lovely green salad.

We decided to take the scenic route home when  I realized that I hadn’t seen the water yet.  Since we were in the Kahala neighborhood, we drove by some of the fancy gated mansions and to a lookout point to see the ocean.

We headed down to the main part of Waikiki beach, past some charming historical homes that looked like they belonged in the East Coast instead of the middle of the Pacific Ocean..

We drove down Kuhio, then back down to Kalakawa, the main drags of Waikiki, to see the glasss and concrete. Every time I visit,  the area has become more “modernized”, with more stores and less charm. The original open air International Marketplace is gone and has been replaced by white buildings.  I was only able to glance out the window of the car, but it didn’t look very appealing.  We drove by the zoo and listened to the bird sounds, and  I was able to see the white sands and palm trees of world-famous Waikiki beach.

We will return for a stroll sometime in the next four days..but today we need to wait for the washing machine repairman. There will be time..