5. Hawai'i

Friday, 5 OCT 2012

Yesterday we docked in Hilo on the east side of the Big Island of Hawai'i. We visited the largest traditional Japanese garden in the US, the Liliuokalani Garden. Started by one of the beloved queens of the short-lived kingdom of Hawai'i, the garden was extensively remodeled and expanded after WW2 by a crew of experts from Kyoto as a gift to the US from the citizens of Japan who were grateful for our liberating them from the cruel tyranny and deception of the militaristic ruling class - - and, I suppose, for not eating their children as they had been assured we would if we invaded their sacred homeland.

 

This morning we pulled into Honolulu and have until 11:00 pm to explore. For time reference, Hawai'i does not observe Daylight Savings Time, so their time is GMT-10 hours, whereas EDT is GMT-4, so we are 6 hours earlier than Michigan.

 

Here is the iconic Aloha Tower, which is adjacent to the cruise ship pier. As we approached the harbor, the Aloha Tower was completely dwarfed by the modern skyscrapers behind it, so I was not able to pick it out until we actually entered the Harbor.

 

 

The Bishop Museum in Honolulu is one of the major attractions, and we had neglected to visit it during our only previous visit to Hawai'i, so that is where we spent our time today. I recommend it highly.

 

This is their whale, Moby Hueilo.

This evening we had dinner with Eileen Thom, sister of my brother Kerry's wife Marlene. It is always good to see Eileen. Several years ago she hosted our visit to Hong Kong when she was living there. And if you read our New Zealand blog from March 2010 you will see that we ran into her in Christchurch while we were each independently visiting, quite by serendipity. Unfortunately we neglected to take a photo this time.

Next stop is Pago Pago, American Samoa. We arrive Thursday, 11 OCT 2012 after another 5 days at sea. I am eager to discover what kind of Internet connection we can find when we get there. My iPad has Verizon cellular capability, so if Verizon serves Pago Pago we are all set. If not, maybe there will be an Internet cafe - perhaps even a McDonald's with wifi!

 

Posted from Tyler's iPad