Hawaiian Cruise Day 8

This was probably one of the more somber days of the cruise. Our tour took us to the Punch Bowl where over 13000 soldiers and sailors who died during world War II are buried. It is an actual extinct volcano called Pouwaina. I was also able to do something that, growing up, I only read about in history books. I got to see the USS Arizona Memorial and see where the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. Did you know the USS Arizona still leaks oil to this day? It is a phenomenon ofter called the "Black Tears of the Arizona". This oil leak is expected to continue for centuries as it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel remain trapped inside the hull. When the ship was sank, it was fully fueled with about 1.5 million gallons. While on the memorial, you can look down and see the ship beneath the water. On one side of the memorial, part of one the smoke stacks sticks out of the water. The USS Arizona was declared a war grave because many of the bodies remain on the ship. They were unrecoverable because of the explosion and fires. While some bodies were vaporized, some were trapped in inaccessible parts of the wreckage and some were too badly damaged to be recovered. So, there are crew members entombed with the ship, which is sobering to realize as you are standing over crew members graves. At the far end of the memorial, there is a wall with all of the names of those who died. There are over one thousand bodies (1,102 according to Wikipedia) who are entombed on the Arizona.With the total number killed being 1,177 soldier and Marines. It is interesting that we were there on the 6th because next day, the 7th, marked 84 years since the attack. The area was getting ready for the commemoration for the next day.

I also learned that soldiers who die can be buried at Pearl Harbor. They can be buried at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific (Punchbowl) and survivors of the USS Arizona attack can have their ashes interred within the ship's wreckage. I don't believe there are any survivors of the attack left. It would also be interesting to find out how many soldiers died later and were buried with their shipmates. While looking at all those names, I thought about the song "war" by Edwin Starr. "War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing. It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker, friends only to the undertaker."

Hawaiian Cruise Day 7

So today is packing day. We have to get off the ship tomorrow at 7:45am for our 6 hour tour. We did go back to the small shopping area up the street on the free shuttle bus. We were able to walk around and get a few more souvenirs before walking back to the bus. We had dinner with the friends and made promises to keep in touch. 

Hawaiian Cruise Day 6

I could not sleep last night. Not sure if it was anticipation for today or what. So I got up early and got ready while hubby was still asleep. I also made sure I rubbed magnesium on my aching legs. I heard it helps with sore muscles, so I might as well try it out. Make sure when you visit you have good walking shoes. I will have to check my average steps, but each day has been between 6,000-11,000 steps. So, if you are not used to walking that much, like me, bring something for sore muscles!

I am sitting in the Hollywood Theatre waiting to board the bus for our 8 hour tour! Yep, 8 hours. They better take me everywhere during these 8 hours! So, as we go, I will photo document the journey.

Living here is expensive. Homes with 2 bedroom and one bath is in the $600k. Renting a one-bedroom studio $2k month. 3 bedrooms homes go for $800k and up.

Gas, regular unleaded $4.97 a gallon.

Macadamian nut trees take 9-12 years to produce nuts.

Just saw some $5.26 for a gallon of gas.

Bus driver Janna.

There is a forbidden island just off the coast. There are 70 people on the island and there are no visitors allowed! There is a weekly barge that supplies basic goods.

We did a lot in the 8 hours on the bus! I will have to go back thru the photos just to tell you everything. We did see a canyon. It was breathtaking. Photos do not do it justice! Before our day was completed, we had seen waterfalls, visited a canyon, been on a boat ride, visited a blow hole, and ate lunch.

When we got back to the ship, we got ready for our mid-week christian meeting. Witnesses from all over the USA and we all were on the same page and had the same information for our meeting. After the meeting, we had dinner together.

Another beautiful day in the books.

Tomorrow we will sleep in and explore the ship after we start packing. We leave this island at 5pm tomorrow headed back to Honolulu. There we will have one more excursion on Saturday before heading home.

Hawaiian Cruise Day 5

Today we are at Kona. Famous for its coffee as well as where the Ironman competition is held. They also have the only seahorse farm in the US. It's 7am here, sunny and bright. The temperature today will be in the low 80's as it has been here every day since arriving here on Saturday. We also met friends from Ottawa, Canada who were not part of our group but found us because of the friends at the cart on Hilo. 

Today we trecked through town like the visitors we were and had an awesome experience. We shopped for souvenirs and had fun with the locals in different shops. 

I had an acai bowl at one of the local shops that was very good. They had 2 ABC stores that were more like variety stores that had a corner with the alcohol in it. The stores had a little of everything. We found some good things to take home for gifts. 

Before dinner, we were in conversation with a sister and more friends came and joined us. We lingered until we had to go to our different dinner reservations. What a wonderful gift our friends are to us. 

Dinner in the main dining room was filled with laughter and true life stories stranger that any fiction from imagination. I was wiping tears from laughing so much! Another sister and I had to agree, as we were finally walking out, that we hadn't laughed that much in a very long time. But, truth be told, she was one of the main ones making us laugh. We had such a fun night that will stay with us for a long time. 

After being at dinner for over 2 hours, it was time to wind down. Tomorrow is a big day. We visit Kauai and have to meet at 8:15am for our excursion. We are nearing the end of our cruise. We will overnight tomorrow and leave Kauai on Friday at 5pm. Then we will be in Oahu on Saturday for our return flight. However, out flight doesn't leave until 6pm, so we will have one last excursion on Saturday before heading home. 

Hawaiian Cruise Day 4

Today we are in Hilo. We have a 6.5 hour tour. We are on a tour bus and will visit the best of the island. This is on the coast of the big island. It is the largest city on the island. Today was so full, I was ready to go to bed at 8:30pm! We had a tour of the island from 9am until after 3:30pm. I had over 8,609 steps for today. But, we stopped at 3 waterfalls, a macadamian nut factory, a chocolate store, a park and a zoo. All in one day. We learned about the history, folklore and people of the islands. We even learned a few Hawaiian words along the way. Albert was an awesome bus driver/tour guide. The tour was called Best of Hilo. And we went all over the island. And when we got back, we had time to sit for a few minutes on the balcony before changing for dinner at Cagney's Steakhouse, a specialty dining option that was a part of our cruise package. Tomorrow is Kona. We don't have an excursion for that island (it is actually on the other side of the island we were on today). We will probably sleep a little later and then go exploring the area. 

Hawaiian Cruise Day 3

Today was our last day in Maui. We set sail after 6pm today. Tomorrow we are at Hilo. We have an excursion so there will be lots of photos! Today we stayed on the ship, ate good, ran into some of the 40 people in our group, and had some good laughs. We had specially dining at la Cuchina, an Italian restaurant.  The food was good and we had Moscato (wine) with our meal. Vaughn had the salmon and I had the beef lasagna. Both were good. We had calamari as our appetizer and Gelato for dessert. After dinner we went to the shore excursion desk and picked out what we were going to do at the rest of the islands as well as a post-cruise excursion. The excursions are (to me) expensive, so make sure you budget accordingly. I would advise getting your excursions before getting on the ship, thru the app. Excursions range from $99 to $399 per person. Make sure you have some cash for spending at the ports too. Try to bring what you think you need with you (like over-the-counter medicines) because everything here costs more than back home. 

Hawaiian Cruise Day 2

This morning, we arrived in Maui. We will overnight here and leave late tomorrow (Monday). I will say that there were lessons learned today as well. Please make sure you get an excursion to see the sites because there is nothing when you get off the ship. Only taxis waiting to take you somewhere. Since we did not book excursions, we chose to walk the quarter mile to the "mall". We were able to get there safely by way of a green fence corridor. Once there, it was not a lot to see or do. There were a few stores open (drug store, supermarket, eateries, UPS, etc.) I was able to get an awesome shot of the mountains though. I was also able to get in over 8k steps. For future travelers, book an excursion unless you love, love, love to walk.