Noon Position: N 21º 18′ 07.77″ – W 157º 51′ 55.50″
I promise, this is the last sunrise picture (until the next killer sunrise):
During this morning’s Deck Trek we pulled into Honolulu harbor.
Cheryl and I had signed up for the excursion to the Bishop Museum.
Eventually they got things sorted out and they let us in.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was hugely impressed. Our 3 hours were not nearly enough time to examine their collections of artifacts from Hawaii and from across Polynesia. Here are just a few examples:
Canoe Paddle dating from before the Austronesian migration to Hawaii (<1200 CE) 
Double-Hulled conoe used for Austronesian migration 
God figure carved from sweet potato. 
2 fly-whisk handles, Fan from Taro bark, Ceremonial Adz 
Images of Kalaipahoa (Poison God). One on left has human hair 
Mask of Koruru, Guardian of the meeting house 
Ancestor Image (placed in gable of Meeting House for protection 
Na Kini Akua – Family Guardians 
Dagger carved from Swordfish bill – Said to be the one that killed Capt. Cook 
Device for recording chants and songs onto cylinders 
Great White Whale (with a sperm whale behind) 
Note that Sperm Whales have 6 fingers. 
Slit drums from Vanuatu (New Hebrides) 
Ceremonial War Club inlaid with sharks teeth
On our way back to the ship we toured a bit thru Honolulu:
We had just enough time to grab a quick lunch before catching a shuttle bus to the Ala Moana mall. This mall, in the center of downtown, is the largest open air mall and the eighth largest mall in the US. The distance from one end to the other is just under a half-mile. This is interesting because the shuttle bus dropped us off at the ‘other end’ of the mall from the ship (itself 1.5 miles away). We did a bit of shopping, picked up a few bathroom supplies we underestimated our need for, didn’t get a new shirt for Cheryl, found a net bag for washing socks in (so they don’t get eaten by the drier), and had a bit of sustenance for our walk back to the ship.
We staggered in to the living room bar, rewarded ourselves with good stiff drinks and an almond cookies and dropped by the Spa so Cheryl could make an appointment for a massage to sooth her poor sore back/hip.
When she returned we had time for a quick dinner before BBB.
It’s not that Bruce was particularly kind to us. Actually he tried his best. But our score (11 out of 18) tied us for first place! Notable answer: The drink made from gin, benedictine, cherry liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, Angostura bitters, and Club soda is a Singapore Sling. We got it right because yesterday Cheryl had one and I had looked up the recipe.
Resting on our laurels we returned to our room to read and swear at the internet that really doesn’t want to load photos.
That’s day 1 of 2 port days before we hit the high seas again. Tomorrow is Pearl Harbor.
Excitement abounds.
till then, R
Did you run into Steve McGarrett when you were at the statue of King Kamehameha??
No, but we did drive by 5-0 headquarters.
Also, our guide explained that Hawaii was set to get statehood ahead of Alaska, but deferred to that they could be the 5-0 state. But don’t quote me on that.
The museum had lots of information about the spread of the Polynesian people – the outrigger canoes used sails made of woven tapa cloth (from tree bark) – they slowly spread throughout the Pacific (which is TWICE the area of the Atlantic) and after discovering Easter Island, actually made it to South America where they introduced Malaysian chickens and brought back the sweet potato and gourds. Every plant & animal you see on the islands are from somewhere else – at sea we see large ocean birds soaring with wingspans of 4-7 feet easting the flying fish scared up by the passing ship and resting on the ship top at night but on Hawaii I was wondering how the tiny sparrows got to Hawaii. Also at the museum was a painting of lava flowing through snow drifts on the top of 13,000 Moana Kea volcano – as we sailed by the oncoming shore we could see the snow on top so high up in the hazy air that you had to look half way up between the land and the clouds.