We woke at 6.00am as the pilot joined to guide the ship into the port of Honolulu, the largest city and State capital of Hawaii. We had booked a full day excursion today so after a quick game of table tennis and the now obligatory selfie we readied ourselves for our day out.
Our driver and guide today was Ed who negotiated the early morning city traffic to take us to our first stop the Pali lookout. Here a viewing point at the edge of a cliff gives spectacular views over the north of the island. It was here in 1795 that the Hawaiian King Kamehameha the Great forced some 400 rival warriors off the cliff edge and thus united the Hawaiian Islands.
Driving back through the city we passed the site of Pearl Harbour, still today a major military establishment, before making our way to the middle of the island to the Dole plantation. Pineapples were a major crop on the island and the Dole company had a large plantation and canning factory here. Unfortunately like many agricultural products Hawaii could not compete with the cheap labour in many South East Asian countries and commercial growing ceased in the 1990s. Our driver Ed told us to check our cans of pineapples as if they say “Canned in Hawaii” they must be at least 26 years old. The plantation is now a tourist attraction with a small train line and the largest maze in the world with over 1.5 miles of paths.
Continuing our journey we passed the many surfing beaches of the North Shore, where the winds and currents, especially in winter, give perfect surfing waves. However swimming is not recommended due to the many rip currents that exist in the area. This particular beach features the famous “Jumping Rock” from which Elvis jumped in the movie “Blue Hawaii”.
We were travelling to the village of La’ie where the Polynesian Cultural Centre can be found. The village was founded in the 1860’s by Mormon missionaries and as well as being home to the cultural centre, the Brigham Young University of Hawaii is also located here. The centre is a celebration of Polynesian life, where crafts, dancing and music from seven Pacific nations are demonstrated by students from the university. It comprises “villages” from each of the island nations in a 42 acre educational theme park.
After another “traditional” Hawaiian BBQ of ribs and chicken, Sylvia and I made our way from village to village being entertained by fire dancers…...
…..tree climbers…..
….and many native dancers. This all reached a climax with a spectacular canoe pageant, where each nation performed a traditional dance on the backs of boats. Very colourful and entertaining.
As usual a little reatil therapy was called for with some fridge magnets for our Grandchildren first on the list. We try every holiday to buy a Christmas tree decoration to remind us of the places we have visited. Today’s choice was a nice hand made angel decoration which we discovered was made by a LDS volunteer who was Welsh. The assistant in the shop was so pleased to hear that we lived in Wales that she rushed to get the lady who made it, Sue Evans from Mertyr Tydfil. She was working on a large quilt and had made a study of quilting in the South Pacific. The Christmas decoration will have special significance this year.
Here Sylvia is seen resting next to a statue of Joseph Kekuku the inventor of the Hawaiian steel guitar.
After a very enjoyable but very long day we returned to the ship, but I still had one bit of culture to capture in Honolulu, the headquarters of Hawaii Five-O…...
(Actually the staue of King Kamehameha outside the Hawaiian Supreme Court).
Tomorrow we travel on to the island of Kaua’i.
