Two days in Hawaii

It was strange and wonderful to be in Hawaii. Strange because everyone spoke English, we didn't need to change and calculate each time we spent money, not all the American teenagers and young people were Semester at Sea students! Wonderful because although it is part of the United States Hawaii is quite different; exotic, exciting, colourful, tropical, Polynesian, Japanese, and American...all rolled into one.



It also has such diverse scenery; skyscrapers and Waikiki beach where everyone who wants to be visible shows up in a wide variety of skimpy, skimpier and skimpiest bathing suits and eccentric clothing. Then there are the Eastern and North shores with swaying palms, lagoons and beautiful uncluttered stretches of beach, low rise apartment buildings and gorgeous seaside homes and condos with weather beaten cottages crouching in between which have obviously been there since the year dot. The beaches have backdrops of woods and jungle and of course there are the mountains which are so volcanic, looking as if they had just been regurgitated up from the bowels of the earth, all craggy pointed peaks and rippling creases running down their sides and with the most amazing views when you find your way up to scenic points by car.



We rented a car and took off almost as soon as we were cleared to leave the ship. Beth our librarian spent the day with us. After picking up the car we drove up to one of the viewing places which george remembered from our previous visit.....16 years ago! (We were in the process of buying our cottage near Bancroft while we were in Hawaii.) We ooh-ed and aah-ed and snapped pictures and then we drove up the East coast, past lots of beaches until we found a lovely sea side park to sit and read and eat some of our picnic snacks. It was so restful, the weather so gorgeous and we were off the ship! Freedom!



I love the Hawaiian names. We drove past Kanoehe Bay, Walahole, Kualoa, Kaaawa, (yes 3 a's!), Kahana Bay,Punaluu, Hauula beach, Malaekahana State park where we stopped and George went swimming in the sea. We went to a shrimp shack (fresh shrimps cooked in all sorts of ways with rice) near the Kahuku sugar mill (for Karpal's benefit) and absolutely delighted in the food and the local atmosphere. Beth who is strict vegetrian had a wonderful fruit smoothie followed by a bowl of garlic rice. The food was scrumptious. We returned the same route but turnd off to drive round Diamond Head park into Kaikiki.



We finally checked into our hotel which turned out to be not the one I had thought but was right in the middle of the Waikiki main drag. I had thought we would be nearer the beach but actually it workd out well; we were able to wander around the crowded streets looking in shop windows and for the perfect restaurant in which to have our first non shipboard sit-down meal for some time.... believe it or not we went Japanese! We found a perfect little, very Japanese place in which we were the only westerners (always a good sign) and had another chopsticks meal. Somoene had remarked earlier 'Hey we don't have to use chopsticks any more!'....and where do we choose....?!



We took Beth to the ship later, easy because the Explorer was berthed at Pier 10, Aloha Towers right in the middle of Honolulu. Our room in the Sheraton was lovely; all white, very light, airy and tropical. We fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow-s. Although we had all felt that we were still walking on a rocking ship during the day, we slept soundly because of the very stable floor beneath us!



George and I decided to spend the next day in Waikiki. For me it started with a loong bath. I lay there and thought 'No overhead speaker telling us to get up (immigration the previous morning had been at 6 am and they woke us up with music??!), no schedule to follow, no play to worry about, no ANYTHING we don't feel like doing'. It's amazing how it gets to you after 3 months but fortunately one doesn't realise it until one is away from the ship.

So we made coffee and ate cookies and skipped breakfast. Then George wandered down to the beach, I did last minute shopping (we try to pick up cabin groceries) and then we met up and had lunch in a place we had frequented before right on the beach. Again....what shall we do without views of the ocean? We never tire of it.

We returned the car late afternoon and took a really grand 'taxi' (which was actually a leather seated limousine ordered for us by Enterprise car rental people) back to Aloha Tower. We found it hard to go straight on board so sat having a drink in a restaurant bar with, I have to say, the best looking bunch of waiters that I have ever seen in one place! George (of course) told one of them I had said this and he laughed and said 'the owner is gay and likes to be surrounded by good looking young men'!

We made it back on board by about 5.30 pm, the deadline was 6pm. I love our cabin/home so coming back wasn't all bad. We saw old friends and compared Hawaiian notes. At 8.30 pm it was back to the grind with four fellow drama students to work on our project....making a movie set in apartheid Johannesburg loosely based on Othello.

Almost as soon as we left Hawaii we ran into stormy weather and it has only just calmed down. Nobody slept well last night; we were heaving, pitching and rolling and there was a loud gale blowing outside. Thank goodness I don't ever seem to get sea sick but poor George has been feeling decidedly squeamish. We are hoping for a better night.

I am off now to meet in one of the student cabins to do more work on our project. It has amazed me how little they all know about Apartheid in South Africa although they almost without exception name Cape Town and South Africa as their favourite place to visit and return to. Ah well....they're young..............