Boxing Day Sail

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It took me forty six years to find paradise, the sort of place that feels as comfortable as home, but is exotic to keep you interested. The big island of Hawaii is the island paradise among the archipelago that is the state of Hawaii, at least as far as I could judge. And who am I to judge? Oahu was crowded and overrun with cars, while the big island had fewer tourists on more space, and with more to do. The big island is a science nerd fest for me: snorkeling on the reef with tropical fish, an active volcano, telescopes on a very tall mountain, and a verdant rainforest, so I'll have to return to paradise sometime soon to take it all in again.



You can only get to paradise by taking chances, and not playing it safe. We got a phone call early in the morning of the day we were to leave for Honolulu from the airline to inform us that we had been bumped from the flight and that we were to travel the day after. Perplexed and already packed we headed off to the airport anyway to find the reason. Our plane from Sacramento to Los Angeles was delayed so we would be unable to make the connection to Honolulu and the airline had automatically phoned us. We took the chance and jumped on that late plane knowing we had to run for the connecting plane in LA. And we did just that. We arrived thirty minutes before the next plane was to take off. In a slight panic, we pushed and shoved our way through LAX and jumped on the next plane. Actually we had plenty of time because both planes were of the same airline and same terminal, in fact even our luggage made the connection. We arrived in Honolulu as if nothing could have gone wrong. Glad we didn't listen to and heed the warning of that early morning phone call from the airline.



We took another big chance later that night because the hotel room we had booked on Priceline had not lived up to expectations. We booked five nights expecting a larger room. Various items in the room were broken, the bed was too small and the location poor, so we phoned Priceline and the hotel management, walked away after one night and booked ourselves into another hotel right on the beach and accordingly more expensive. The chance we took was that the hotel room was prepaid, so would we get our money back from Priceline? We spent the afternoon at the beach at Waikiki. This is a fabulous beach except for the beach erosion and massive crowds. The surf breaks offshore about five hundred meters away so the water next to the beach is very calm and perfect for water sports (except surfing.) Priceline did refund the money for the inadequate hotel citing the first hotel did not live up to its online advertisement. Buyer beware. But if you take a chance, you have the opportunity to find your paradise.



Christmas Eve we took the cross city bus to Pearl Harbor. The bus ride took an eternity to slog its way through the insane Honolulu traffic, stop and go inching forward car by car. Let's roll the eyes and say that the bus trip to Pearl Harbor was From Here to Eternity. Much of Honolulu looks like any other southern city in the USA with traffic, strip malls, car sales, palm trees, and more traffic. We got to Pearl Harbor and immediately found out that no boats were sailing across the harbor to the USS Arizona because of high winds. It was windy that day creating plenty of whitecaps in the protected harbor. So we spent our time walking about the museum and grounds. I entered the USS Bowfin, a decommissioned submarine that is now a museum, and walked along the length and entered various rooms while squeezing through each bulkhead door. I can't imagine how intense life onboard a submarine must have been especially during wartime. The crowds were manageable at Pearl Harbor on this day, but I wonder if this was due to the cancelled boats that cross the harbour to see and pay respects to the sunken USS Arizona, or due to the date, Christmas Eve or both? We were there a few hours before we summoned up the energy to return by bus to Waikiki. Later that evening we walked along the major thoroughfare in Waikiki looking for food. While there was plenty of food there were more people sitting and eating that food leaving no tables vacant for us. We did find a good restaurant as the day was getting long, after 8pm. That this is the USA means many people have started to finish dinner and the queue's start to shorten by 8pm. We walked back along the beach, paradise awaits.



The big day, Christmas Day, was spent on the beach and around the pool. We rented a giant floating tricycle, which looks more like a tractor, and peddled out to the reef and ran aground. The meagre surf lifted us off the reef and we continued on our way. We peddled for an hour. Then we lounged by the pool. I went back to the beach and rented a stand up paddle. I was unable to stand for about the first fifteen minutes, and after a while I learned how to keep my balance while standing. The wind was still blowing, but it blew me out to sea, so after about forty minutes this stand up paddle started to be more effort than fun so I returned my rental with plenty of time left on the clock. All in all we had a relaxing and do nothing day, the perfect way to spend Christmas Day in the sun. We made reservations at a restaurant nearby called Roy's. This place comes with more recommendations than stars in the sky so we thought we couldn't go wrong. But when we sat down at 9pm they sprang a set four course Christmas Day dinner at twice the price than we were expecting. Now I am sure this would have been a tasty and unforgettable culinary experience but we were not that hungry at that time of night and we were already taking a chance with this expensive hotel. We didn't take this chance, we said to the hostess that there was an unexpected emergency and we had to leave. We walked across the street to Denny's. We spent 10% of what would have been the bill at Roy's and had a simple meal. This was paradise averted.



We woke on Boxing Day and had another breakfast at the Shorebird, the restaurant over looking the beach from the hotel. We parted ways and I set off to climb Diamond Head. First I had to get there, so I walked while dodging the thousands of people who still did not have enough shopping before Christmas. I got to the end of the retail district, which is practically all of Waikiki and veered off toward Diamond Head following the road up as it twisted and corkscrewed itself around to the far side of the extinct volcano. Near the top, the road cut through the side of the mountain in a narrow tunnel and emerged into the caldera, a vast bowl about one kilometer in diameter. This was the heart of the extinct volcano, estimated to have last erupted 150 000 years ago, and now it is a parking lot. The road stops and then the trail takes you up to the summit. At first the trail is a gentle paved sidewalk, and people are taking their time, and families are pushing strollers. But this quickly ends, and I, and a few other racers, have left those who try to amble up the mountain behind. The trail becomes rugged with compacted dirt and stone. There are switchbacks to make the route easier but it is still quite a climb in the heat of the afternoon of the tropics. And then it is series of stairs to the top. Finally after about 30 minutes of time climbing I reached the summit and looked out over the commanding view of the southeast tip of Oahu. The western side of the island is far more developed than the eastern side, and the waters more calm for whitecaps can easily been seen near and far off in the distance on the eastern side. The prevailing winds are from east to west. There wasn’t a lot of space at the top and it was very crowded, so I said goodbye to the view of paradise and descended as quickly as I could safely.



I walked back to the hotel and we ate a quick late lunch, and then set off for our Boxing Day sail. We booked a sunset cruise on a catamaran that left just near our hotel right off the beach. There were about forty of us on the boat, and to launch we all had to sit at the front in order to lift off the sand. We left the last of the sunbathers behind with a wave and a wave and sailed out to sea. The waters were very calm so I, who am prone to seasickness, didn’t feel too bad. Indeed, I felt as great as the view. With the sunset behind us, the beach, palm trees, Diamond Head and skyline glowed like a picture postcard. The drinks flowed as freely as the water below, but I stuck to bottled water, too afraid to test my sea worthiness. The two guides sounded as if they were thrilled to be there, and who could blame them? They had quit their rat race jobs on the mainland and bought a boat in Hawaii to take tourists out to sea for an afternoon tour. This takes a lot of courage, and it’s a big chance. And yet to find your paradise, you must take a chance or two.



The day after Boxing Day, we spent on the beach and beside the pool. I snorkeled in the waters off the beach of Waikiki. Most of the reef was badly bleached and dead, but there were a few fish darting about avoiding the snorkelers. The mask and snorkel didn’t fit very well, and my mouth got tired fairly quickly as it was stuffed full of molded plastic with many previous users. I then rented a kayak for an hour. This was simple in the calm waters, so I got to re-trace my snorkeling route and the floating bicycle and stand up paddling that I had done a couple of days previously. It would have been so simple to stay put and continue with these water sports, but we were on the move. We left for the airport in the evening and flew to the big island of Hawaii. A thirty minute flight, and the flight attendant still managed to run down the aisle serving drinks. We walked off the plane and down the steps onto the runway and into a much smaller airport that was a collection of covered sectional roofs over the open air check-in, baggage and security. It looked like an airport in paradise, not the vast steel and glass complexes that airports are now. The airport at Kona was how I would imagine airports were before the days of mass tourism. We picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel on the coast. The hotel looked like a relic of the 70’s and long past its heyday. But don’t underestimate the hotel, it was lovely and the location could not be beat. We were given an unexpected upgrade and walked into a corner room with a wrap around balcony that over looked the ocean, so all we could hear was the surf and the faint clinking of glasses and chatter of the bar and restaurant on the beach. It doesn’t get any better than this. We walked to the open air restaurant just a few meters away along the shoreline and we ended up eating there numerous times through the week. I had a hamburger with no cheese with a salad with no dressing and the waitress replied “You’ll never gain any weight eating like that!” This is true, but I want to be sure I can fit into my bathing suit.



The next morning we rented snorkeling gear and drove down the coast to HonaunauBay, Place of Refuge. While the water was a bit rougher than at Waikiki, the snorkeling was infinitely better because the reef was alive, and full of exotic aquarium fish. Well not technically exotic because these fish are perfectly at home in their own little paradise, it’s only exotic to me and the other tourists. These snorkels we rented fit so much better than the other set I had rented and I could have snorkeled all day. The water was rough enough to fill my snorkel on more than one occasion but it most cases I was able to blow hard enough to expel the choking hazard. The problem with running into trouble is that there is no way to rest out on the reef because you shouldn’t be standing on the reef at any time. While I didn’t stand, I have to admit I did probably kill a couple of coral polyps when I pushed off to regain control in the surf. If I were to return, I would take a floatation device just so I could stay out there longer and enjoy my fish. Whenever the weather is abominable back home and I am feeling cold and blue I can always return in my mind to my happy place among the yellow and blue fish of HonaunauBay, a little piece of paradise in the tropical Pacific Ocean.



The next morning we left our corner room, checked out and drove south and rounded the most southern point in the United States, at 19 degrees north latitude. The landscape changed constantly, and the houses started to look a little more primitive and native, that is, people started to live less like those on the continent and more like islanders. We left the row houses and strip malls behind and drove past sparsely located dilapidated houses covered in lush and green vegetation and run down corner shops that sell everything. We followed the road south and then east, and here the water looked much rougher and the land wind swept with trees growing sideways. Then we started to gain altitude as we entered the land of the volcanoes. Our first stop was the visitor center of Kilauea. We walked through the obligatory shop and excitedly bought my volcano souvenirs. This place was crowded but full of keen tourists, a different kind of tourist you find in Waikiki. We drove off to see the volcano and stopped a short distance away at the Kilauea Iki trailhead and lookout. Here is the start of the walking route down to the crater floor of a dormant and considered safe - for now - vent of Kilauea. I took a few photos from the top and then we drove a few meters on to the Thurston Lava Tube. We walked through this ancient lava tube, which is about 100 meters long, and three meters in diameter. Water dripped along the walls creating a slimy feel to the entire route. It is no longer possible to circle Kilauea because of the current volcanic activity. We retraced our tire tracks for a while and then drove onto the steam vents on the north side of the volcano. Our final stop of the evening was the JaggerMuseum and the plume of noxious gases from the Halema’uma’u Crater. We stayed past sunset because as the sun sets the glow from those gases becomes visible. This was dramatic and fascinating to watch. As the sun went down, the temperature dropped, but I was prepared wearing a toque, gloves and a jacket. The gas plume was a couple of miles off, and completely silent. If you studied it carefully you could tell that the gas clouds did change in time, but it was subtle and even more difficult to observe as it got dark. When the sun did completely disappear the ash cloud glowed a deep red.



We left a few minutes after the bulk of the crowds assembled to watch and then drove off in search of dinner. We stayed in the village of Volcano, which is nestled in the rain forest of the eastern flanks of Kilauea. It is difficult to gauge the size of the village because all the trees are taller than any buildings, so it looks like there is no village there at all. We spent the night in a tree house. And I mean this literally. This is a guest house built for one small group or family at a time. We parked and took out our flash lights, climbed the stairs and ladder up into the canopy of the rain forest. This place was carefully built with all the amenities to live comfortably for a few days, with a small kitchen and living space, a bedroom upstairs, a toilet, and a shower and a hot tub to warm you up after watching the eruption at 1300 m altitude. When we woke the next morning, we could fully appreciate this place, and watch and listen to the birds fly through the canopy of the rain forest. We didn’t have any food to cook breakfast, so we couldn’t hang around too long, which is a shame because the tree house was very unique and beautiful, a piece of paradise 15 meters above the forest floor.



We drove east to the coastal town of Hilo, which looks far more working class than the tourist centers of the west coast. We drove to a mall, and got stuck in mall traffic. In fact this didn’t look any different from the continent. We didn’t linger in Hilo, and then drove west again, but up and over the hump of the big island, a quiet, but fast road called Saddle Road. The contour of the land in this region is a saddle as it finds the low spot between the two largest volcanoes of the island, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. We climbed and climbed, and then took the side road up to the visitor center for the observatories on Mauna Kea. We climbed right out of the clouds and looked across the island at Mauna Loa, a newer volcano that has had eruptions in the 20^th Century, but which appears to be dormant right now. The visitor center is at 2800 meters, and the air was crisp and fresh, a little cool and sparse. Because we had raced to the top in a car, there was no time to acclimatize so we really did feel the altitude. The view across the valley to Mauna Loa was spectacular, simply unlike any view I have seen before. Mauna Loa is a broad sloped and absolutely massive volcano, a mountain in which it is almost possible to drive to the summit, certainly no climbing gear required. These are the kinds of mountains I had never seen before, and this makes the landscape for me delightfully exotic and fascinating, I could have sat and stared for hours. We descended and observed our makeshift barometer in the backseat, an empty but sealed water bottle, begin to crush with every meter closer to sea level. This entire time on the big island was a complete science nerd fest with a rain forest, snorkeling, observatories and a volcano. I was in paradise. We returned to Kona and the same resort hotel we had stayed in the first two nights on the big island.



On the last complete day in Hawaii, New Year’s Eve, we stayed locally in Kona and spent some time soaking in the sun. It was particularly windy, and we had a good time watching the staff in the open air restaurant and bar try to keep everything secured. This was fun until we tried to eat lunch in the strong wind. We gave up and ate in the room. Later that evening we ate dinner at our favorite and frequented restaurant, and then waited for midnight. That evening there were plenty of fireworks and firecrackers set off, and at the precise moment the new year started a barrage of sound and light lit up our view. I can’t think of a better place to ring in the New Year.



Our last day in Hawaii was New Year’s Day. Our flight was much later in the evening, so we took advantage of the day and drove out to the east coast to see the deep valley of Waipi’o Bay and the rain forest. We drove up into the clouds and over to the other coast. It was raining, but it wasn’t cold. This valley is gorgeous, a deep green that extends to the black sand beach and the ocean. I walked down some distance to the valley floor, but this tour really required several hours, or even days to fully appreciate and explore. We returned to the other dryer west coast after an all too brief stop here at Waipi’o Bay. On the drive back we stopped at Starbucks in Waimea for a refueling of caffeine. And for any of you science experts, I would like to hear an explanation of what we observed. We got a plastic cup of water from the tap and took a sip. Kris got an electric shock, and couldn’t believe what had happened. She took another sip and it happened again. I took a sip and got a shock. The top lip stung for an instant. I placed my finger in again and there was no shock. I have no idea how the same plastic container of water can give three quick successive electric shocks, but only by placing my lips to the cup. This was a bit painful, and I wasn’t prepared to damage my lips by performing an entire battery of tests.



Our time was up in Hawaii, it had been a fantastic trip. I will definitely try to return to this island paradise. Without doubt, my favorite place had been the Big Island of Hawaii, with so many things to see and do for this science nerd. We had a great time and it was sad to leave, knowing that what awaited me was rain, cool temperatures, dark evenings, and work stuck inside a building. I can always return to paradise in my mind, in my photos and in my stories.

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Comments

[Alonzo S]

hey great blog
hey Christopher great blog so much reading but great info , you got ideas flowing through my head thank you. so many places to go that havent even been touched yet i going to travel each of my top countrys for at least a month thats my goal before im dead lol planning to get it done before im age 35 . Hey i read in the begining about priceline.com gave you a problem! i have a soultion to help you out even if its been a while since your trip...serious