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Published: June 26th 2017
After slightly over 2098 nautical miles (don't know what this is in proper miles – look it up!) and 4 solid days at sea, the
Sapphire Princessmoored at Honolulu at 7am (6pm UK time) on Monday 27th September 2010.
Honolulu means '
sheltered bay' or
‘place of shelter' in English. It is officially the biggest city in the world. Its municipal boundaries reach across 540,000 square miles of the Pacific, most of which is under water!! That also means that the fish are the officially recognised residents of this city with the human race being the ethnic minority being outnumbered by 1,500,000:1!!!
‘
Aloha' is the Hawaiian word that means ‘greeting' and is similar in use to the Italian ‘Ciao'. The roots of the word ‘Aloha' date back 5000 years when 2 scousers, adrift in the ocean, fell upon the island armed only with a couple of cases of Stella and a copy of the LFC fanzine ‘Red All Over the Land'. They offered the Stella to the first people they met, who were apparently the Chief Elders, with a cry of, ‘Ello la!". It was not long before Hawaii started brewing their own beer and would pass it around the
villages with the same greeting,
‘Ello la'. Over time, this greeting has developed in to the famous greeting you are familiar with –
‘Aloha'!! In fact it wasn't until Mount ‘de-do-do- don't-de-doe' was renamed Mount Haleakala…..!!!
Chris and Roisin's plan was to visit Pearl Harbour, Waikiki Beach and climb to the top of Diamond Head. This is an extinct Volcano and is responsible for some of the most spectacular panoramas of the Island.
As all the tours for Pearl Harbour were setting off between 07:30 and 08:00, Chris and Roisin decided to take the bus to Diamond Head, to the east of Honolulu; back in to Waikiki for a spot of lunch then in the afternoon, head for Pearl Harbour to the west of Honolulu, when it should be quieter.
Disembarking from the vessel was relatively painless. There were a few gangways open so waiting and queuing was kept to a minimum. There is a machine at the exit to the ship that when you stick your card in the appropriate slot, it goes ‘
ping' and a green light shows. Chris and Roisin were looking forward to disembarking to a welcome of Aloha and being given
a warm welcome and presented with a lei garland. Nothing! The best they got was a sleepy border guard leaning against the transit shed. He mumbled ‘
Aloha' trying to fight back a yawn as Chris and Roisin walked past him. Ah well! The best lei'd plans, and all that!!!
The first impression of Honolulu was the volume of traffic. Chris and Roisin had been warned about the roads. There are also many high-rise modern buildings in Honolulu with some weird designs. Probably as a result of being awarded the City of Culture status sometime in the past!!
The ship docked only a few minutes walk to the bus stop that would take Chris and Roisin to Diamond Head. You may have thought that Diamond Head was named after one of the scousers who had a head shaped like a diamond but no. It got its name from passing sailors who, due the rock glistening in the sun, thought they were looking at diamonds shimmering.
Despite only being 6 miles from the centre of Honolulu, the bus took 40 minutes but took Chris and Roisin through some of the residential areas of the city. The bus dropped them
off at the foot of the volcano. The temperature was already touching the mid 80s and it was only 09:30am. They asked a couple about refreshment kiosks and were advised there are kiosks at the gate, about 30 minutes hiking time!!
20 minutes later, Chris and Roisin passed through a road tunnel and into what looked like the crater floor. They found themselves standing in a basin surrounded by a wall of rock. The diameter of the basin must be 2-3 miles.
The hike to the summit of the crater wall was recommended to take 40 minutes and be a round trip of 1.4 miles. During the hike you would ascend to an elevation of 232m and climb 146 stairs before finally ascending a further 52 steps of a spiral staircase and finally step out from a bunker on to the crater rim. IN 86 DEGREE HEAT!! (at least!!)
Roisin, always the voice of reason, decided to sit this one out. Chris, on the other hand had paid his $1 and demanded he get his money worth.
The going was tough and took almost an hour to ascend. There were times when Chris was going to
turn around but he kept going, taking 5 or 6 rest stops at an appropriate place and finally he emerged in to the bunker to be greeted by a man at a desk. "
Aloha”, he said. “ Do you want a certificate of your climb, authenticated by the people's seal of Hawaii for a small donation to the trust??” “A CERTIFICATE?” he thought loudly in capitals. “I want a piggin' medal for what I've endured”, he quipped. The view from the crater rim was certainly worth the toil looking down to Waikiki Beach and across to the far reaching side of the Island.
The journey down was made much easier by the smug look he gave those he passed on the way up!!!
Lunch was taken at Moose McGillycuddy's in Waikiki then it was off to find the number 20 bus that would take then directly to Pearl Harbour.
They asked at a local information kiosk but didn't like what they heard. To visit the Arizona Memorial, a launch is taken to the middle of the bay where you walk across a specially erected platform to see this sunken shrine to those who lost
their lives on this fateful day. Unfortunately on arrival tickets are handed out and you are allocated a specific time. All tickets have usually been handed out by 11am and the last launch is 3pm. It was already 2pm!! The bus would take about 1hour and 20 minutes. While there are still things to see and do in Pearl Harbour, the thought of sitting for a total of 2hours 40 on a bus in 86 degree heat was not appealing to either Chris nor Roisin.
A change of plan. They visited the Royal Palace, known as Iolani Palace.
Built in 1882, this is the only royal palace in the United States and was the official residence to Hawaii's last reigning monarch. Because of the immaculate preservation, special booties had to be worn. No photos allowed and camera's had to be stowed in a bag and finally, no pen should be unsheathed or pencil used!! Unsheathed?? When is the last time you have unsheathed a pen??
At dinner there was yet another surprise. No sooner had Chris and Roisin sat down at
‘their' table than 2 more couples joined them. The first couple came from Brisbane, Australia and
another elderly couple came from Vancouver, Canada. Ah well, bang goes Chris and Roisin's
‘ Posh and Becks' lifestyle. They finally had to share a dining table with subjects from the Commonwealth!!!
The ship set sail at 10:30 on the dot. All was calm.
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Lynne
non-member comment
Lovin' the shirt Chris, are you going to Bermuda next?