Saturday, January 3rd Kualoa Ranch Ocean and Garden tour

This was a Go Oahu card day. I had thought we might go to the Bishop Museum on it in the morning, but it turned out we didn't have enough time. We got there early for our 12:30 check in after a stop at the Coral Kingdom for some coral beads so Harry could finish a project for making earrings out of some carved pearls we were given as an extra when we designed and purchased my pearl necklace. We also stopped at the retail pearl store at Tropical farms where Harry had them reserve some Mobe pearls, pearls that are embedded in the oyster shell. He wanted to return to buy them. I also suggested I would like to buy him a carved koa wood necklace, a stylized fish hook for Christmas. We did return afterwards and purchased those things.

Our excursion for the day at Kualoa ranch was their Ocean and Garden Tour. We had taken a Catamaran ride on New Year's day in Honolulu harbor, but we didn't consider this catamaran ride to be a duplicate since we were going to be sailing the Windward side and seeing different shore. I had hopes we'd see some wildlife this time. 

We had a lovely experience. They put us on a bus and drove us a short way down the road to the Tropical Farms which is in the midst of the Kualoa ranch land and then taken on a simple fiberglass catamaran across a large fish pond, The fish pond was a construction created many hundreds of years ago. They made a stone wall with a lattice in the opening that let small fish in to feed in the rich pond environment. The fish would grow and be unable to leave again and remain in the pond where they could be harvested. Predator fish would be eliminated. Kualoa ranch doesn't harvest or eliminate predators, so they find Barracuda in there that exceed 2 or 3 feet, much larger than they grow in the ocean. 

From that ride we walked through some woods to Hidden beach where the Catamaran was moored.

 It was raining off and on all the time until we got on the boat. We went aboard and got the safety briefing, then got underway. The rain stopped, and although we could see it falling on portions of the land, but we had blue skies the whole sail. 

The trip took us out to the island known whimsically as Chinaman's Hat because of the resemblance of the shape of it to an old time conical Chinese coolie hat. We kept our eyes peeled for wildlife and spotted a couple of large turtles briefly. On the way back we stopped by a reef known as a home for baby turtles and did see several there. Those were the only turtles we saw our entire time in Hawaii this time. 

Coming in to the beach again, we got a preview of our next day's activity which was to be three hours on Secret beach. We could see people kayaking and riding on stand up paddle boards as well as swimming and possibly snorkeling. There were hammocks stretched between the trees. It looked like paradise.

We returned across the fish pond while learning about its ancient origin and present use and condition.

When we returned,we were shown some movie sets, one of which I recognized, got onto another bus that was 'air conditioned' or in other words, had no windows. We were then treated to a ride around the gardens to see a lot of different fruit trees and other trees.

 I did get a sense that there was some disruption to the usual tour, maybe because of the storm damage. We'd heard about the cleanup that took place that morning before the Tropical Farms could open and a temporary shed was tipped over. In addition it seemed that the oyster tubes had blown away and that was something we were supposed to be shown. The tour guide apologized for the 'wonky' tour, but we really enjoyed it. 

After the tour was done and we were back at the ranch, we had grass fed beef burgers. They were huge, with wonderful fries. We were so full we didn't need dinner that night.

While eating, we noticed a beautiful rainbow across the water.

On our way out I got photos of a strange looking palm tree I noticed on our bus ride to where the boat was.

 We stopped off again at the Pearl shop and got our purchases there, and then went to the Tropical farms store for some macadamia nuts. After that we decided to go to a movie in Kaneohe at the shopping center with the Times Market. We saw 'Unbroken'. It was really good.

Back at our room, we watched some TV and Harry polished off most of a bag of Honey Macadamia nuts. 

Friday, January 2nd Epic Windstorm!

In spite of having so few days left, this wasn't a day I could get out and do much. There were warnings of strong winds which arrived early and blew all day, and rains that would be coming in in the evening. The temperature was in the low 70's, and with the wind, it felt quite chilly out. Adding in the effect of the wind all day on the visibility in the water, and it wasn't the day for snorkeling. To top it off, my impending departure and having to waste a day put me a little into the dumps.

I decided to work on making some progress on updating this blog and spent the day uploading photos and creating blog posts. I did enjoy the peace and quiet and the process of writing and creating, however, by the time Harry got home I had gotten so stir crazy I was heading down to the beach to take stormy sunset photos.

I was energized by the waves crashing, the spraying surf crashing against the sea wall that protects the beach by the jetty-walk, and the palm trees thrashing in the wind. A group of like-minded storm watchers were on the jetty too, watching waves and foolhardy surfers and boogie boarders. By the time dusk was falling and I turned for home my blues were gone, and I felt quite bouncy with energy and good spirits.

The rain started later in the evening and rained really hard. The wind had been steady in the 20-25 MPH range, with gusts up in the 30's. We heard the wind was stronger on the windward side, up to 50 MPH. There were a lot of people on the island without power during the night and widespread damage from fallen limbs, toppled trees and other things being blown about.

During the evening I looked out occasionally and saw that water was accumulating in the street in large puddles. A pink blow up swimming tube had been blown in behind the building and various bangs and clatters warned of other items blowing about.

 We saw the aftermath of the storm everywhere on the windward side in the following days and were told by residents that the storm and its damage was unusual, worse even than the most recent hurricanes.

New Year's Day, 2015 Catamaran Sail, Cheesecake FactoryThere

The firecracker guy living in the apartment building across the street from us kept busy setting off strings of firecrackers every ten minutes after midnight until after one in the morning, so we were glad to sleep in just a bit, but we didn't sleep in too late. Harry wanted to take me up to look at the boat he was considering buying, so we grabbed breakfast on the fly from Jack in the Box and headed towards Schofield Barracks which is near where the guy with the boat lived.

Unfortunately, even though the boat was pretty wide for a 22 foot boat, I still couldn't visualize living in a space that small for more than a week or two. We decided not to pursue the idea further. I told Harry I hadn't really wanted to live in Hawaii two months of every year anyway, I would like to have more variety to our travels, and thought we needed to try housekeeping on a small boat we already have before we invest in another, in case we don't end up liking that life after all. I appreciated his efforts to find a way to bring us back to Hawaii, and I will regret it if we can't come back every again, but that still doesn't make me want to jump in and buy the boat he was considering.

We headed back then and got ready for our afternoon adventure using the Go Oahu cards our two youngest sons got us for Christmas. They got the three day version, so our plan was to use New Year's day, Saturday and Sunday to do activities using the cards. Earlier in the week I made the reservations for all the activities, including an afternoon sail on a Catamaran in Honolulu Harbor.

Makani Catamaran

The boat turned out to be first class, good sized and in sparkling shape. We had soda instead of the complimentary alcoholic beverages. As soon as the safety briefing was done we got underway and I went up top and found a spot in a sharp curve of railing at the tip of one hull. I stayed there the whole time, taking photos and enjoying the bounce as we went over the storm generated swells on our way back.

The only disappointment was that we didn't see any whales, dolphins or sea turtles (honu). We saw a school of tiny fish that jumped out of the water like flying fish but that was it. The stormy weather may have been a culprit, though. We could see stormy clouds over part of the land.

When we got back, we went back to the hotel and set right out to walk down the street to the Cheesecake Factory. Kevin and Jessica and kids gave us a generous gift certificate.  We got there close to 4:30 and in spite of there being a number of people waiting, we were able to get seated within about 5 minutes. By that time the line was three deep to the door and was well out the door by the time we left an hour and a half later. Harry had a platter with a few deep fried shrimp, seasoned mashed potatoes and a bit of steak. It was good, but not ample. I, on the other hand, ordered a triple decker BLT with the extra layer being big, fresh, plump grilled local shrimp. Heaven! The tomatoes were ripe, sliced thick and the bacon was as good as any I've had anywhere. The mayo was seasoned with herbs and all was cushioned by finely chopped lettuce on grilled bread. I had a salad with it.

Harry had the raspberry cheesecake for dessert and I had the Godiva chocolate with a base of flour-less chocolate cake and a layer of dark chocolate mousse as well as chocolate cheesecake. There were chunks of Godiva chocolate on top of the cake. It was decadent heaven. I ate it all, but felt stuffed when I was done. It was worth it though.

We cut through between buildings to the beach and walked along as the sun dropped towards the horizon. Harry hadn't been down to the beach with me at any time, let alone at sunset, so it was nice to have him there to see the sunset and listen to the cacophony of birds that come to roost by the hundreds in the Banyan tree nearby.

New Year's Eve in Waikiki-Shopping for swim fins

I didn't take a lot of photos or do much of anything too special on New Year's Eve day. I did a little shopping again, some more cookies from the Cookie Corner and a pineapple charm and some cookies from from the Honolulu Cookie Company.

I wandered over to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center after trying to get the vouchers for our luau on Sunday. (Turned out they needed to be picked up on the day of). I got there just as a pair of singers and some dancers from the Polynesian Cultural Center started their morning show. I considered it a tender mercy that I was there just at that time since Harry flatly refused to use our Go Oahu cards to go to the PCC or to their Luau and dinner show. The cable guy told me they had some great new features, better food, and a new show that was excellent, 'The Breath of Hah'. I was disappointed, so it was really nice to get a little mini show. They always do a great job.

Statue at Royal Hawaiian Center honoring a queen's encouragement of education and literacy

Holiday decorations at Royal Hawaiian center

Singers perform on the stage at the Royal Hawaiian center

 I also made the rounds of several dive shops looking for some shorter fins to go snorkeling with. Another guest at our hotel had some swim fins that were short but not too wide. I did some research on the internet and got an idea of what I wanted. None of the shops had fins in my size and they were all rubber fins, so not very comfortable. My real crave is for some silicone fins I found on Amazon

Silicone fins

These fins are over $70 and that seems like too much for how often I might use them.

These fins are my second choice and more reasonable

Cressi Palau fins

These have good reviews for Snorkeling and run between $35 and $60. At $35 that seems pretty reasonable.

Reading reviews, I also learned about fin tethers used in case the fins come off in the water because they don't float and can be lost. I'm not likely to snorkel in strong surf conditions, but if I'm in deeper water and lose one, I wouldn't likely dive down for it, so tethers might be a good idea just in case. They are inexpensive.

I was able to ask questions in one shop that helped me realize that as tame as I am in my snorkeling I probably don't need fins anyway. They are good mainly for keeping safe in strong currents and can give a little advantage in not scaring away fish as much as using the hands to propel yourself does.  I decided to continue snorkeling wearing my trusty water shoes for this trip and keep the two fins on my Amazon wish list for the time being. I also got information that was helpful for keeping my mask clear. I was already using the technique she described at times, but resolved to get better with it. It involves pressing the mask against the face at the top and blowing hard with the nose to expel extra water. I'm not sure if there might be a better fitting mask for me, but I'm doing ok most of the time once I get a good initial seal. I just sometimes have a hard time getting that initial seal. I feel like the mask could fit a little better on the bottom side.

We had dinner in our little room and then went out for ice cream at Haagen Daz down the street. We returned through the shopping center inside the Hyatt Regency and around the Kings village, buying some fresh pineapple as we browsed the farmer's market set up there. The Kings Village shopping area is so fun and quaint and is on the same block as our hotel.

Since we aren't particularly part folk, we tried to find something to watch on TV and discovered there was no coverage of local fireworks, so Harry went to sleep. I was more restless and as midnight approached I went out on the balcony and saw lots of people, and families with young children hurrying to the beach. I knew there would be fireworks, but assumed they would be closer to Honolulu and not very impressive down as far as we were, so I didn't plan to go try to see them.

I could hear the countdown from a couple of directions and suddenly there was a loud roaring cheer a block away at the beach and the fireworks started with loud booms that echoed and reverberated from the surrounding buildings. After a minute or two I couldn't stand it and decided to head down and see if I could get a glimpse of them. I quickly pulled some clothes and shoes on, grabbed my hotel card and headed down to the beach as quickly as I could.

As soon as I got there I wished I'd brought my camera. The fireworks were every bit as view-able and impressive as other fireworks I've seen that are set off at home from a barge in the bay. This was also set off out in the water of they bay. The following photos are ones I got off the internet that are similar to what I saw and were taken also at Waikiki.

I loved the whole ambiance of that experience. Jubilant, rapt crowds packed the beach, the grass under the trees and the sidewalk to get a view of the show. To add to the exotic feel I was standing right beside a group from India that had instruments, drums and small cymbals, and were singing and chanting rhythmically in accompaniment to the explosions of fireworks. I've heard a lot of music coordinated to fireworks, but I liked this better, it had a feeling of reverent joy in celebrating the dawning of a new year. I so wish I had a recording of it, I loved the melodies and the accompanying instrumental and the spice and feeling it gave to the experience. They were dressed ethnically but not flamboyantly. They finished up after the fireworks and cheering for the  finale died down by chanting a Hare Krishna chorus.

I sat on a nearby bench while the crowds dispersed and just enjoyed the atmosphere. After a few minutes a couple seated on the next bench struck up a conversation. They were from far north in Alaska. We had a wonderful chat for 15 minutes or so. I basked in the multitude of cultures and ethnicities that surrounded me and the feeling of camaraderie with all of them celebrating the coming of the new year together.

This was for sure the most unique new year I ever celebrated!