Aloha, Hawaii ... I'm back

It’s been a long time, Big Island, and I’m glad to be back visiting you again.  I only wish I had more time.  But that’s not to be this trip.

We docked a bit before our scheduled time on Wednesday, May 3, in Hilo, one of the wettest cities in the world.  Today, though, it was beautiful and Stef and I had planned a bicycle trip around the Kilauea crater rim, billed as the most active volcano in the world.  It is also the longest continuously erupting volcano on the planet.  It wasn’t a long ride, 6-8 miles, but we were excited. 

Before anyone was allowed off the ship, an ambulance pulled in.  I saw this one.  A man with what appeared to be a green soft cast was taken off the ship on a stretcher and put into the ambulance.  There have been lots of casualties this trip, more than any other cruise we’ve been on.

We finally got off and got to the van that would take us to the bicycle area.  But first we stopped at the Jagger Museum to visit and we could see Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, 20 miles away.  Best of all, there was lava bubbling up out in the crater in front of us.  It hadn’t been seen the day before, so we were quite fortunate. 

How cool to see the bubbling lava.

All the bicycles were ready for us.

From there we drove to a parking lot where we were fitted for our bikes, given water, and off we went.  It was a great ride, with a number of stops, including one where they had fresh pineapple and papaya for us.

We were told to take a couple of turns around the parking lot to get used to our bikes.

It was nice to have a chase car.

They told us not to take selfies while we were riding. 

There are a lot of steam vents all over and we stopped to see some of them.

It's beautiful country, this volcano area.

We stopped at the Thurston lava tube, and as I understand they are working to change the name of it.  I’d gone through the tube years ago, maybe in 1976.  So, it was time to do it again.

A lava tube is formed when large rivers of lava flow and while the core is hot, the slower  moving edges cool and thicken.  When the eruption stops the lava often drains from the tube and leaves behind something like this.

Another stop at some lava fields, and I had to go into a hole for a photo.

These red flowers are beautiful, and the lava must be good for them as they're growing quite well.

 Our journey ended all too quickly; we could have gone a lot longer. 
 

 We arrived back at the port and then waited for our sail away as we would be heading to Honolulu.
 

Honolulu is a beautiful port coming in.  We didn’t plan an excursion for today, Thursday, May 4, because I only have one mission … to ride in Hawaii, so I can notch state No. 50 on my belt.  Finally, that mission will be completed … to ride in all 50.  I don’t know why I waited so long to get the last one.

Honolulu ... and we'll be down in the middle of it.

This King Kamehameha the Great statue was beautiful and glistened in the sun.  The man was a great warrior, diplomat and leader.  He united the Hawaiian islands into one kingdom in 1810. 

Sometimes things aren’t quite so easy.  We were going to take a city bus, but didn’t know which one.  A guy said where are you going?  We aren’t sure.  He said, “The island is small; get lost.”  So we did.  We took the next bus and stayed on it til we got off. 

We wandered around, and found the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  It’s a beautiful one, stunning in pink architecture. 

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach has been a landmark since 1927.

The inside of the hotel is no less extraordinary, although I could have lodged a complaint, if I’d been staying there.  We used the ladies room.  Part of the stall handle came off in my hand and I was trapped.  Stef was already outside in the lobby, and there was no one else in there.  Finally, after much movement of the silly thing, I was able to get it open.  I flew into the lobby and said, “Let’s get out of here.”  Off we went. 

We wandered out to the beach front of the hotel.  It was quite the place with a great view of Diamond Head, named by British sailors in the 1800s when they mistook glittering calcite crystals in the lava rocks for diamonds.

There were lots of surfers waiting for the right wave.

We found Chase Cycle Rentals, and got our paperwork taken care of.  He had mapped a route for us, but when we took off it appeared it might take us into the mountains and rain.  Nope.  Not going there.  Not riding in the rain.  We instead did our own route that included the some winding roads and some pretty beaches. 

We're off.

From the hills ...

to the beaches.

There's gotta be a bird photo somewhere.

The bikes got back with no damage and no tipping over.  Not even a close call here.  And my mission was complete.  We got on another bus and got back to the port. 

We walked around a bit, and had something cold to drink.  It was a great day, and a kind of relaxing one with no excursions we had to get to or back from. 

Lunalilo was the kingdom's sixth monarch and was quite popular, although he only ruled for a little more than a year, dying at age 39.  His wish was to be laid to rest near his people, and that's why his tomb stands here near the entrance to Kawaiaha'o Church rather than at the Royal Mausoleum. 

Kawaiaha'o Church.

We walked near the Aloha Tower where we found a number of statues.

Aloha Tower.

 

There's always some action here.

While we didn’t get to my old stomping grounds, I realized I still love Hawaii.  However, I wouldn’t want to live there anymore, and that’s okay.  I can visit any time.

Back to the ship, and now as we continue on back to California, we will have a new ship captain, Captain Bill Kent.  We sure liked the other, but we’ll give this guy a chance.