What is it about the Big Island?

Okay, I know I used a similar title in the last post but it is fitting to use it again.  Back in 2004, when we visited the Big Island for a conference, Glen wanted to see the telescopes on the top of the dormant volcano, Maunakea.  The tour was on his birthday so it was a great gift for give him.  It was pouring rain at our resort, the Hilton Waikoloa Village, but the rain was warm and we figured if we didn't see the views from the mountain (13, 803 ft or 4207.3 m), we'd at least have fun learning astronomy from the scientist stationed at the telescopes.  That was not to be as rain at sea level  translates to snow on the mountain peak making the road impassable.  Who knew a Hawaiian tour could be canceled because of snow?

So when we planned this cruise, we immediately signed up for the tour of the summit of Maunakea.  Glen was excited to finally see the telescope but on our last day at sea before reaching Hawaii, we received a note saying the tour would not involve the telescopes.  Glen was devastated.  Apparently, some native Hawaiians protesting the building of the third telescope blocked the road to the summit.  They felt since it is a sacred place, the home of the snow goddess, Pol'ahu, and a burial site for their chiefs, their wishes should be considered.  Tour buses would not cross their barricades.  

We had the option to stay on a modified version of the tour or choose something else.  We decided to stay with the original plan.  It was a small group who headed out.  In fact, except for the tour of Pearl Harbour, we chose tours with few people.  On this bus, was a couple from Alberta so we hung out with them.

Our port of call was Hilo, the oldest port in the state. The Big or Orchid Island is believed to be the first one settled by the Marquesas (French Polynesia) in 700 A.D..  Hilo is America's wettest city with over 120 inches annually.  The locals say it rains every day.  

It was misty when we left the boat and arrived at our first stop, the Queen Lili'uokalani Gardens (you might be interested to know there are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet).  The 24 acre park of Japanese gardens was created on land donated by the last queen of Hawaii and is named after her.  Not only are they beautiful (see above photo) but they do serve as a buffer zone between the town and the sea should a tsunami hit.

After a long drive through Hilo suburbs and into the east coast rainforest, we came to Akaka Falls.  Here we did a half-mile walk through the jungle to view the 442 foot cascade.  If we had wished, there was a short cut to the falls but Glen felt he could handle the longer walk.  All his walks on the promenade deck paid off!

Gradually we drove from the rainforest up into the range lands of the island (our guide played a movie on volcanoes).  Here, cattle roam as well as wild sheep and pigs.  Waimea cowboys are called paniolo and were originally Spanish cowboys from California and Mexico brought to the islands to herd the cattle.  Grasslands blanket the flanks of Maunakea.  We stopped in small town and had a picnic lunch in front of the local mall.  Inside was a Dairy Queen so a few of us enjoyed some ice cream--it was supposed to be better than Dairy Queen ice cream in Canada.  I really didn't taste any difference.

After passing the native Hawaiian protestors on the road to the telescopes (shrouded in cloud so we couldn't see them), we came to a turnout where we walked on stark lava fields.  Our guide told us about the Ohia Lehua tree which is called the first and last tree of the lava.  Their deep roots mean that most lava flows don't kill them and they are quite heat-resistant.  When the lava is cold, new growth pushes through.  Ferns are another first plant of the lava fields and we saw these eking out an existence.

The Ohia Lehua tree has a bright red or yellow blossoms called the Lehua.  Apparently, Ohia was a handsome warrior chief on the island who loved a beautiful woman, Lehua.  Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and fire, felt Ohia would make a good husband for her so asked him to give up his wife.  Ohia refused.  It doesn't pay to offend the gods as Pele turned Ohia into a tree.  Lehua was devastated and the other gods took pity on her.  They changed her into a flower and placed her on the Ohia tree.  If one picks the flower, the skies rain down the tears of the lovers.

The last stop on our tour was Rainbow Falls.  It spills over a lava field falling 80 feet in front of a dark lava tube.  Usually rainbows form over the pool, hence the named best seen in the early morning.  Legend has it the goddess of the moon lives there.  There was a short walk to the top of the falls but Glen and I were pretty tired by this time so chatted with our guide.

We returned to the ship and set sail.  Next stop Vancouver!

See our Big Island photos here.

What is it about Maui?

Our next port of call was Lahaina on the island of Maui.  Glen had a conference here in 2012 and I explored the town then.  This time he wanted to see the sites. so we decided to explore the town before lunch.

Maui is named after the demigod who pulled the 123 Hawaiian islands from the ocean's depths.  Yes, I was surprised there were so many, too.  Apparently, Hawaii is the largest state in the US, the archipelago being about 1600 miles long.  Polynesians arrived on the island around 450 A.D. and after Captain Cook discovered it in 1778, Europeans began growing pineapple there.  Hawaii produces 320,000 tons of pineapple every year.

The cruise ship couldn't dock in Lahaina so moored in the harbour and we took tenders (large lifeboats) ashore.  It took about a half hour so a nice trip to enjoy a closer experience with the ocean.  The town had not changed since I had seen it.  Glen was thrilled to see the famous banyan tree that is draped around the square (planted in 1879).  It was a very hot day, 32ºC, so sitting under the shade of the tree was pleasant.  The main street is wall-to-wall shopping but this was good as Glen wanted to buy some Hawaiian shirts.  He started wearing these wild shirts over 30 years ago and so must constantly replace them as they wear out.  We found a shop that gave us a good deal and bought some T-shirts for the grandsons as well.

I then showed Glen where I had almost been hit by a car in 2012 (see above link).  Little did we know we'd have another close call not an hour later.  This happened as we waited to board the tender.  We stood under a marquee in the shade but I was still sweating.  A lovely breeze came up to cool us until it suddenly became a whirlwind.  One marquee was torn apart and ours almost blew over.  The cement weight keeping ours down hit my leg leaving a nasty bruise.  But I was lucky as one man was knocked to the ground and one of the cross pipes hit a woman in the back.  The wind died immediately and an ambulance was called to care for the injured.

We had lunch on board the ship glad to have survived that ordeal.  However, our time in Maui wasn't over as we had booked a catamaran cruise of the harbour.  It was to leave at 3:00 pm returning two hours later.  However, the last tender departed Lahaina at 4:30.  Glen said not to worry as it was a Princess tour so they would know about our group.  And they did.

I believe the harbour tour (see above photo) would  have been more exciting had there been whales in the vicinity but there weren't.  Lahaina was once a whaling station as humpback whales mate and calve in the area (see my post, Hanakao'o Cemetery).  These marine mammals summer in Alaska (see Juneau, Alaska for our whaling experience there) then head south.  The first one had been spotted the day before we arrived but we didn't see any on our tour.  The crew was very informative and told us all about Maui as they served us tasty canapés and drinks.  Our group didn't seem to be big partiers so the cruise was restful.  We did pass through a rain cloud and saw a lovely rainbow but that was the only excitement.

We arrived back at the dock and a tender waited for us.  Yay!!  Turns out it was the last one and the crew who had aided us on and off the boats were onboard.  Apparently, there were two people who hadn't made the last passenger tender so they were going to be left behind.  Just as we began to push off, a shout went out and two men leapt on board.  They were lucky!

See my photos here.

Kauai, Garden Isle

Our next port of call was Nawiliwili harbour on the island of Kauai, the oldest (geographically) inhabited island in the Hawaiian chain.  As the Pacific Tectonic plate slips over an upwelling of the earth's core, volcanic islands are formed then move northward.  Erosion and wave action wear them away until they disappear beneath the ocean's surface.  As Kauai fades away, another island south of the Big Island is being formed.  It's a circle of life thing.

Until the day Kauai disappears, we can enjoy its jungle beauty.  Before tourism began to dominate the island's economy, it was an island of sugar cane plantations.  One mill still operates but the sugar cane is mostly gone, replaced with other types of farming -- coffee, kava, avocado and other fruits.

The tour we chose was the Jewels of Hawaii --a walk through the wild Allerton and McBryde Gardens owned by the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) institution.   Founded in 1964, their mandate was to protect tropical gardens, do scientific research, and educate people about the diversity of Hawaii's tropical gardens.

Robert Allerton was the son of a wealthy banker but had no head for finances.  After studying art in Europe, he returned to the States, bought some land in Illinois and began 'The Farms'.  He traveled extensively and having a knack for garden design, began buying sculptures from all over the world to decorate his gardens.

In 1922, he met John Gregg, an young architect and they began living together.  Allerton adopted him as his son in 1959.  Kauai offered them a chance to live freely as a couple so Allerton bought land owned by the royal family.   Queen Emma had already begun work on preserving the native plants of the region.  Allerton and Gregg continued this adding their personal stamp to the grounds.

Our tour began first with a stop at The Spouting Horn where waves shoot through a narrow opening in the lava rocks along the shore.  It was our first time seeing a wild Kauai chicken.  The Poylnesians brought chickens from their ancestral lands and these bred with European chickens.  The eggs are tasty if you can find them but don't try eating their meat!

The next stop in the tour was a pond created in the basement of one of the outbuildings. Our guide, Paul, then walked us through the various rooms in the garden.  Allerton's house was small and he loved to entertain so he created open areas in which to dine and dance.  He loved the sound of running water so there are many fountains scattered along the jungle paths.  His statues are everywhere.

Paul told of us of all the movies filmed in the garden including Pirates of the Caribbean and Jurassic Park.  Apparently Michael Crichton loved Kauai and the Allerton gardens so it was fitting the film used this locale as a backdrop for the movie.  Paul had several scenes on his phone and acted out a few of them, including finding a dinosaur egg!

We then drove to the McBryde garden.  Duncan McBryde first leased the land from Queen Emma then bought the property in 1886 for his sugar plantation.  The NTBG bought the land in 1970 and began collecting endangered species of plants and propagated them in crude greenhouses.  As their research continued, the institute expanded into a world class facility.  They are also doing research on bread fruit as it is the only plant with all the nutrients people need to survive.  In 1992, a devastating hurricane hit Kauai and many plant species were lost.  Those working in the NTBG saved as many as they could and continue to search the island for replacement plants.

After a delightful picnic in a gazebo, we walked along the Lawai river until we reached a lovely jungle waterfall.  Paul was a bass player and had met and played with many famous musicians.  However, you don't make much money as a musician so he had a variety of day jobs.  Obviously he was a tour guid but he had also been a wedding photographer so he was very happy to take our picture and often set up the shot for the best result.  He loved my bright orange-pink shirt.  I had chosen it
so I wouldn't get lost in the greenery of the jungle.

My photos of the Garden Isle are here.

Pearl Harbour and the Mighty "Mo"

Our first port of call, once we reached the Hawaiian islands, was Honolulu.  We'd had flown into the Honolulu airport in 2004 but had never seen the city or taken in the sites (Glen attended a meeting on the Big Island).  This time our priority was to see the Pearl Harbour & USS Arizona Memorial but Glen also wanted to explore the USS Missouri where Japan surrendered to end World War II.

Pearl Harbour, Hawaii's largest natural harbour. was named for the pearls once harvested there. It is the only US navel base also declared a National Historic Landmark.  The reason, of course, was the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.  This event destroyed the battleship, the USS Arizona and brought the United States into World War II.

Usually we do mid-morning/afternoon tours as we are on holiday and like to sleep in.  However, to see Pearl Harbour, we had to leave the ship at 8:00 am.  We boarded a bus and drove through the city to the harbour.  The memorial site has very strict rules on purses/bags.  I did not bring my camera bag but soon realized I couldn't take my purse inside either (it had to be the size of a man's wallet to be legal).  So I stuffed my ID and some money into a pocket (I wore Eddie Bauer capris which had cargo pockets) along with my phone and checked my purse.  We wandered around the grounds (see photo above) then entered a theatre to watch a movie about the attack on Pearl Harbour.  It was gripping as they used film footage from Japanese planes.

To control the number visitors to the memorial, a boat ferries you to the site.  The USS Arizona sank the moment it was hit and the memorial straddles it amidship.  1,177 men died during the attack--a torpedo hit the munitions magazine.  Other ships also sank during the attack but were raised to fight in the war's Pacific Theatre.

It was a moving experience to walk over the ship and see its rusting structure alive with coral and fish.  Once in a while, it belches a bubble of oil, called its black tears.  The wall of the memorial lists all those who perished on the Arizona as well as those who have been buried in the ship since (if they served and survived, they can be interred on the site).  Two windows light the wall and their openings represent a 21 gun salute.

After our time on the memorial, we returned to the bus and drove to the battleship, USS Missouri (Mighty Mo) which is moored close by.  Despite it being Sunday, there were not many people visiting the ship.  We had a tour of the top deck then explored the rest of the ship on our own.

The most impressive part of the Missouri are her guns.  They are huge!!  I couldn't imagine their power or the noise they made while firing.  She has 9x406 mm guns, 12x127 mm guns, 32 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 16 Harpoon Anti-ship missiles and 4 20 mm Phalanx CIWS, for those who are counting.

Built in 1941, the Mighty Mo fought in World War II (Pacific Theatre of Iwo Jima and Okinawa) and the Korean war.  She was initially decommissioned in 1955 and sent to the Navy's reserve fleet but was reactivated in 1984.  Her final battle was during the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm).  After being decommissioned in 1991, she became a museum ship in 1998.

Missouri is most remembered as where the Japanese signed the instrument of surrender to end the war on September 2, 1945.  Canada was a member of the party accepting the surrender but mistakenly signed in the wrong place.  You had one job to do, Canada!

Glen and I are big fans of the movie Under Siege where a cook (Steven Seagal) on board the Missouri saves the ship from a group of terrorists (led by Tommy Lee Jones).  It has lots of footage of the ship so we were anxious to go below decks to check out the kitchens where the cook worked. What amazed me were the crew's quarters (1850 people manned the ship).  Not much space to move around and privacy was decidedly lacking.  Although, the fake bread in the bakery looked pretty tasty and Glen was ready to consume the trays of fake doughnuts.  The operation rooms had ancient computers used during the Gulf War so yes, it was a museum.

By this time we were tired and it was a fair walk to where the bus was parked.  As we left, a young Navy man in a golf cart offered us a lift.  I guess he felt Glen's cane meant he had walking issues.  When we boarded the bus, everyone asked what had made us so special as to get a ride back.  Right time, right place, I guess.

After retrieving our purses at the main entrance of the park, we headed back to the ship.  It had been an amazing day!.

To see my photos of this tour, go here.

Crossing the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii

Before we made the move to living full-time in Victoria, we decided to book another cruise.  This time across the Pacific to Hawaii.  We'd be gone 15 days: 11 days on the ship and 4 touring the islands.  Since we love sea days, this suited us to a tee.  The cruise ship, the Star Princess left from Vancouver and returned there to end its season in northern waters.

Two weeks before we boarded her, the Star Princess was in Victoria so we headed to Ogden Point to check her out.  It seems unreal to be in a city where cruise ships dock.  Earlier in the summer we went down to see the Queen Elizabeth, a Cunard ship.

For this trip, we boarded the same BC Ferries Connector bus we had used when we did the Alaska cruise (North to Alaska!).  There were two buses this time and they were packed.  We got the 'milk run' one but knew we had plenty of time to enjoyed the scenic route around Vancouver.  Turns out we were lucky to make the ferry crossing as the second bus 'forgot' to pick up passengers so had to turn back and almost missed the ferry.  Not a great way to start a holiday.

The Vancouver cruise terminal (Canada Place) is very well organized and we zipped through customs and boarding with no problems.  One of our suitcases was at our cabin door when we arrived (the other came while we had lunch).  We unpacked and settled in then headed to the top deck to watch the ship leave Vancouver.  Usually there is a big outdoor party but the weather was rainy so it was cancelled.  It's always fun sailing beneath the Lion's Gate bridge.

The first day out was rough and some suffered from seasickness.  Glen and I were lucky and didn't have any problems but we couldn't walk the promenade deck as it was pretty wet with the splashing waves.  As you know, we always do a walk in the morning while on board.  The Star Princess had a wonderful promenade deck that went from bow to stern.  Two trips around the boat was a mile.  Most days, we walked two miles before attending the enrichment lectures.

There were two lectures given each morning, one by a Hawaiian naturalist and one by a retired physics professor.  Both were knowledgeable and entertaining.  We learned about the formation of the Hawaiian islands, their volcanoes, their history, coral reefs, the attack on Pearl Harbour, and 3 talks on Captain Cook.  We also learned from the on-board hula teacher, the history of the Hawaiian monarchy.  Her husband taught those who wanted to play the ukulele (pronounced in Hawaiian oo-koo-lay-lay).

We often enjoyed the music of a dance band at lunch on the pool deck or the jazz band in our favourite Wheelhouse Bar.  Some afternoons we had coffee in the Atrium and listened to a string trio playing different styles of classical music.  We went to the casino once and I lost $40 in 15 minutes which put a damper on my play time.  We often caught the end of Trivia games that seemed to happen at all hours of the day and night.  There were oodles of craft and culinary demos to enjoy so no one on board was bored.

For some reason, we never seem to make the evening variety shows but one night we did catch comedian, Steve Caouette and he was very funny.  It was nice seeing comedy and not have to worry about swear words.  While in Hawaii, a local Hula School (Halau Hula Olana) entertained us with song and dance.  The little girls doing the hula reminded me of Meg when she was a young dancer.

AMA, our travel agency, treated us to two meals in the specialty dining rooms, one was Italian, the other a steak house.  Normally, you pay about $30 US/person to reserve a table in these restaurants.  We treated ourselves to a meal in the Crown Grill to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Little did we know that most of the ship's passengers were Canadian and the dining rooms hosted a traditional Thanksgiving meal.  Usually most people on a ship are from the States so this was an unusual cruise.

Rumour had it there was no Clamato juice on board so Canadians couldn't have their favourite drink--a Caesar (invented in Calgary).  We did see two flats of Clamato juice bottles being loaded on the ship when we got to Honolulu so that problem was resolved.  Princess must have also underestimated Canadian's love of draught beer as they ran out of Heineken (which Glen was drinking) two days before we disembarked.  Fortunately, they still had Newcastle Brown Ale which was what I was drinking.

One of the best things about cruising is the dining experiences .  We ate a wide variety of food and cooking styles.  I even had cooked vegetables for breakfast.  I think Glen had bacon every day--a treat he never gets at home.  Don't worry about his cholesterol as apparently it doesn't register on any scale.  The buffet lunch featured sushi a couple of times, ramen, tacos, Indian, and Chinese cuisine. as well as wonderful soups and sandwiches.  On formal nights, where you dress up for dinner (a cruising tradition), the dining rooms served lobster.  I ate mostly seafood meals but indulged in a steak once and it was amazing.  Glen had dessert every night and they were always a feast for his eyes as well as his stomach.

Glen's happiest moments, other than when he scanned the horizon for other ships, was charting our latitude and longitude as we headed south.  We had three time changes spaced over five days and gradually the sun got warmer until we were definitely in the tropics.  Seeing flying fish as we walked the promenade was a treat.

See some pictures of our shipboard fun here.

A Year in Flux

Honestly, I can't believe it's been over a year since I wrote a blog post.  Where has the time gone?  I do have an excuse -- this is a travel blog and we didn't travel much.  We had  'Staycations' as we pulled up stakes and moved from Calgary to Victoria.

After our TransAtlantic cruise, we decided to see if I could handle a winter in Victoria.  I find rainy days depressing.  So at the end of October, 2018, we left Calgary to live for three months in Victoria.  I survived!!

Glen, convinced we could live in the condo, felt if we renovated the bathroom and replaced the carpets, I would agree with him.  As with most things in Victoria, everything is done at a slower pace.  The ensuite's floor was tiled the day before Christmas.  Geoff et. al. arrived just after Boxing Day and we had a great visit (see my photos here).  The highlight of the visit was an exhibit about Ancient Egypt at the Royal BC Museum.  We also took the family crabbing and did several beach walks.

My sister, Lynda, arrived mid-January (see my photos here).  We enjoyed some seaside walks and spent time photographing the Government House and Beacon Hill Park gardens.  By this time, we had decided we could live in Victoria so went back to Calgary to begin downsizing.  Big job!!

At the beginning of March, we asked a realtor, Karen, to sell our Calgary townhouse.  She was amazing and brought in a stager to make our home look more like a show home.  Yvonne was brutal but in a good way.  However, it meant getting rid of all our bookcases, the top of our china cabinet, and most of our chairs.  We worked for two weeks boxing stuff up and getting a local moving company, Get a Move On, to lift the heavy furniture downstairs.  Our home was now just a house.  We listed it on March 20th and sold it on the 23rd.  This was very unusual for the market in Calgary but we had a great team of advisors and we heeded their advice.

As we packed up the house, we took breaks and re-visited some of our favourite Calgary haunts like the downtown river walk, the zoo (with the pandas), and Canmore.  We also checked out the new Calgary Central Library (see photos here)

We'd planned on returning to Victoria for an Easter holiday but this time with the intent to buy a townhouse.  Even though we had done a lot of downsizing, we still had too much stuff to live comfortably in the condo.  Karen had found us a great realtor, Beth, who helped us search for a townhouse.  Several we liked sold before we arrived in Victoria but our favourite on-line choice was still on the market (see above photo).  We looked at it and put in an offer.

Then we had to downsize the condo!  With Beth's help, we changed the look of our apartment then headed back to Calgary, putting the condo on the market May 1st.  Then the real work of packing up Calgary began.  I've lost count of the number of times we got boxes and packing paper or made runs to Goodwill.  We also moved our sectional couch to Meg's house as we knew we wouldn't need it in Victoria.

We moved out on June 4th and took possession of our townhouse on June 7th.  Glen became vice-president of our strata council on the 12th so we hit the ground running.  The former owners had left the place too dirty to live in so we stayed in the condo for two weeks while we cleaned and unpacked.  The condo finally sold and we moved the furniture from there to the townhouse on July 26th using another great company, You Move Me.

In the meantime, we played golf, walked some beaches, checked out the cars during Deuce Days, and joined a Probus club.  To see our Victoria Staycation photos, go here.

Now that fall is upon us, we can get back to settling into our 'new' place.  The townhouse is 30 years old so needs some TLC.  The garden is a work-in-progress and today Glen has finally begun painting the inside walls.  We haven't hung any artwork as he wanted to paint first.  We're also in the process of replacing the appliances and will begin renovating the ensuite bathroom after Christmas (Didn't I begin this blog with a bathroom reno?).