Auckland and Devonport

Moved into our new digs in the afternoon after Bruce picked us up. If you read the last post you might remember we looking after John and Merrill’s house while they are in India. You know that travelling isn’t always comfortable and, if you want to see the world on the cheap, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. When you do make those sacrifices you just focus on the good and let the bad drift away. Not every place is up to our standards and John’s place is one of those that really push the limit.

First off the tennis court is not a private one but we have to share it with the other 10 town homes in the gated development. Secondly the damn palm tree in the backyard partially blocks the view of the harbour bridge from the second floor balcony. There aren’t any fruit trees in the backyard and the guy next door is always making splashing noises in the pool. Some times this trip doesn’t seem like it is worth all the trouble.

Just take a look at the pictures and see what I mean. Who can live in a place like this?

On Sunday afternoon we visited the Auckland Museum which is perched in a big classic marble building on a hill overlooking the harbour. It is a great museum with a superb Polynesian collection. One of my personal favourites was a display on volcanoes in New Zealand, which is still one of the world’s most active volcanic centres.

They had built a replica of a living room overlooking the harbour complete with sofas and a big screen TV. On the TV is a newscaster interviewing experts and talking about the fact that Auckland has been evacuated since it is expected that a volcano will be coming up in the middle of the harbour in the next several hours. As you watch the TV you can see water boiling in the harbour through the large window at the end of the room. Suddenly there is an explosion in the harbour, the whole room shakes, power is lost and you can watch the volcano form out of the water. Then there is a massive cloud of gas that sweeps over the window. Very effective display especially when all the displays around it say “Not if but when”.

The next day Lana and I got dropped into the city and made our way to Auckland’s busy wharf. It is a busy commercial shipping centre, a private marina, a home to old sailing ships, a nice maritime museum and the place the ferries dock.

After doing the Maritime museum (B+ on the museum) we wondered around the downtown and eventually walked the three kilometres back. The next day we did a double time walk back into the city to catch the ferry over to Davenport. Davenport had been a separate community until the completion of the harbour bridge at which point if became a quaint and expensive suburb. The shops were very nice, the street side café even better (ordered a BLOT – bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado) and the walk to the old gun emplacements at the tip of the peninsula gave great views. Spent about six hours walking so we grabbed a bus back across town. For those of you wondering – clear skis and about 25C. There was a lot of humidity if that makes you feel any better.

Check out the last picture and see if you can figure out where the newspaper and the mail go. It's not a bad idea. On the other hand the folks in Canada would probably mistake the round hole as a recycling deposit box or as a place to put all those used Tim Horton's cups.

KatiKati to Auckland and area

Still traveling with our friends Bruce and Carolynn. The plan is that we will stay with them until the Monday after New Years and then they will fly back to their home in Christchurch leaving us with their vehicle until we leave New Zealand.

For our first night in Auckland we stay in a hotel in downtown Auckland. It is called a Formula One and the concept is similar to what has been done in Tokyo for years. Give a traveler everything that they want in a space 80% less then they are used to. The first picture shows the width of the building which can't be any wider than an alley.

As you can see from the other pictures there is enough room to step into the room, fall right into the bed or go left into the stainless steel bathroom where the toilet and the shower are separated only by a curtain. To me it feels like a Pullman train stateroom with the two exceptions that they don’t fold up your bed in the morning and you wake up where you started.

That night we have dinner with some friends (John and Merrill) of B&C who are traveling to India the next day. B&C are staying at their place and, once they leave, so will we. I thought it was a great dinner. Every time John or I mentioned something we had it in common. Unfortunately I don’t think the others were as enthusiastic about us reliving every part of our past. We thought it was damn interesting.

Bruce dropped us back at the hotel that night and we made plans to meet him the next morning after he dropped John and Merrill at the airport. We did wander up the street and found the oldest surviving pub in Auckland which now makes it own eight kinds of beer. One type of beer for every table in the place.

Wondered around Auckland the next morning looking at the tourists, seeing the wharf and marvelling (actually I was swearing) at the high price of everything. Even with the Canadian dollar worth $1.25 New Zealand nothing is a real bargain except for cheap bottles of wine.

There are some things that you should known about New Zealand in general as well as several changes since the last time we were here 23 years ago.

First the money is still multicoloured with the bigger the denomination the bigger the bill. Secondly it is now made out of plastic. It even has a little clear window in the bill that you can look through. If you are a total idiot you can look through it at your spouse and make funny comments. (By the way if you do that then don’t expect them to have any sense of humour about it.)

Secondly they have steadily raised the minimum wage to $12/hr. On the other hand a latte at Starbuck’s costs over $5.

Most coffee shops etc in Auckland offer internet but only if you pay $10/hr or more and sign up to one of what seems like three hundred different internet providers. We found only one (Esquires) who offer free internet to their paying customers. They are now our new favourite NZ coffee shop.

They now sell beer and wine in grocery stores (as any civilized society should) and the price of wine in particular has dropped. There are still liquor stores around who sell wine/beer as well as the hard stuff but the price differences are sometimes as much as $15/bottle for the same wine. I am pretty sure that civilization here is not coming to an end any time soon. It is unfortunate that the Canadian provinces are convinced that the world will end if they did the same.
Auckland is a city full of the remains of Empire with many of the same street and building names as Toronto or Victoria. The older buildings were all dedicated by Baron Count Sir Harding of Rivercrest LCM BCN HGF XXX etc etc.

Here and there is a plaque honouring a member of the royal family who was there for the dedication. One of the ferry terminals was dedicated by Prince Edward (hopefully not too early in the morning for him).

There are also lots of tall modern buildings that actually have some style to them. Very few of the unimaginative blocky style we see in Vancouver and Toronto. The city is clustered around the harbour with its bridge crossing the middle and its ferry boats heading to the different suburbs and communities scattered on the shores.

Auckland to Katikati, New Zealand

Picked up at the airport in Auckland by Lana's old friend Bruce Gilbert. Bruce had immigrated to New Zealand from Canada about 20 years ago after he and his wife had visited there and decided it was the place for them. I think Bruce actually has Canadian, US and New Zealand citizenships which give him a wide selection of travel documents.

We travel, on the wrong side of the road mind you, about two hours to the small town of Katikati (Kate-y-Kate-y) on the western shores of the North Island. Bruce normally lives in the city of Christchurch on the south island but this year they had been planning on visiting with some relatives of Carolynn's in Katikati for the Christmas holidays. The Gilberts, and their relatives the Robinsons, had just rolled us up into their plans.

The Robinson's house at Christmas is a very, uh, interesting one. Barb Robinson, the mother, greeted us with “welcome to the zoo”. Normally there is just her and her husband Roy but for the holidays there would also be Lana and I, Bruce and Carolynn, Paula (their daughter), her husband Richard, their daughter Zara and Barb's son Brent. Of course there was a steady stream of visitors as well.

Their place is an interesting one with about 10 acres of Kiwi fruit, some avocado trees (which are much bigger than I expected), a front yard filled with various bearing trees (peach, walnut, apple, lemon, tangellos and macadamia nuts - but I might have missed one) and, did I mention the disabled Land Rovers scattered around the property? Roy Robinson likes Land Rovers and has collected ones that were a little worst for the wear over the years. Now they sit like sentinels guarding the Kiwi vines.

Remember that Christmas in New Zealand is the start of their summer season. There are decorations up on some buildings and White Christmas can be heard in the stores but it is no where near as over whelming as it is in North America.

We spent three days in the Robinson's household and they were very kind to us. Roy took us on tours of the countryside talking about old Maori sites and the difference between the different trees in the forest with equal enthusiasm. Babara spent almost all of her time cooking as it seemed to me that a major meal was planned every two hours or so for the 24th, 25th, and 26th.

To give us room Roy and Barb spent their nights in this sleeping tent perched on top of one of the Land Rovers. Would you do that for someone you didn't know? We even got presents for Christmas. Since they clearly enjoyed our company I offered to stay for the next few weeks but I think they wanted us to see more of New Zealand then their dining room table so they graciously refused. Thank you Robinsons. Thank you very much.

The only thing missing was our children. We did get a hold of David in Finland and Charlotte in Toronto but it just wasn't the same. Charlotte was with her boyfriends families and David was watching his new host Mom light real candles on the their Christmas tree with some trepidation.

Two other things. Thank you to Zara for distributing the Christmas sacks (yes I said sacks) so well. To Paula I can only say “Cheese”. (Inside joke – you had to be there).

The Gilberts, the Robinsons and the Burchetts at a local, what else, cheese factory.

Molokai

Having done the western part of the island yesterday we turned to the east today. A good piece of the island is inaccessible, either because of the land itself or because it is in private ownership. To go east for any distance meant taking the coastal road along the southern edge.

The biggest roads anywhere on the island are two lane blacktops and they are almost all in great condition. In fact almost every major road we were on in all the Islands were in great condition. From reading the local papers we gathered that economic stimulus and infrastructure programs here seem to focus on the roads. Everywhere we went there were small road crews doing something. It wasn't always easy to see what they were doing but at least they were there.

From Kaunakakai we drove along a pleasant shoreline with views of the ocean and a wide variety of house types. Many looked like the owner had a really long to-do list somewhere but had probably misplaced it for the last 20 years or so. Some looked newer and could have been in any North American suburb. The first type vastly outnumbered the second.

None of the houses however were large by NA luxury home standards. We never saw a building on the island over two stories and even the newer ones were modest in their square footage. We were told that these quaint ocean front lots were on the market for a million or more but, in true Molokai fashion, nothing seemed to have sold in a long time and no one appeared to be in any kind of hurry.

Soon the houses on the road became more scattered and the road itself got narrower and narrower and even narrower. Instead of houses and land separating us from the ocean we were on the ocean - about one maybe two feet from the rocks and surf. We had heard the road was narrow but i didn't expect a ten foot wide road with all the curves being blind, cliffs on the land side and frothing seas (or cliffs with frothing seas) on the other plus two way traffic. Cool.

You know those yellow signs that “suggest” a slower speed for a particular corner, the ones that you ignore? Well on this road when they said 5 MPH they meant it. Really.

If you ever find yourself on this road you'll find it is about 30 miles from Kaunakakai to the eastern end of the island. It took me about fifteen minutes to go the first 20 and forty-five to go the next 10.

When you have time to look the scenery is fantastic with the road moving up and down between sea level and riding the cliffs. The mass of Maui looms in the distance, with clouds always crowning the 10,000 ft Haleakala volcano. We looked for humpbacks whales with quick fleeting glances but no luck. Occasionally we'd stop at a small beach or pause to look at another amazing view. When we finally get to the end we decide it is worth the drive.

There is a cove with golden sand and a narrow valley stretching back in between the jungle covered mountains. This had been a preferred site for native settlements for hundreds of years with the area only being abandoned in the 1950's after the last of a couple of tsunamis hit it.

Back down the valley there are two legendary waterfalls hundreds of feet high but we won't see them today. There is some sort of dispute over who has rights to walk on the private lands to get to the falls. There is a “guided” service that will take you in for $75 per person. That's just for the hike. You have to get yourself to the end of the island first. According to some people we talked to it is a rip off with accessible trails in (with the landowners permission) but we didn't want to get in the middle of anything so we took a pass.

Lana and I spent a while in the cove watching some extremely bad surfing (although it was entertaining) and soaking up the sunshine. Then we regretfully headed back.

Our last night on the island we did absolutely nothing except drink island drinks in our little tropical hideaway and talked about how we would be happy to spend another week (or month) on the island. Doing nothing of course.

Molokai

Molokai is a small island and it really doesn't take long to get anywhere on it as long as that area is reachable by car. There are a number of large valleys on the island but only one of those is reachable by road. The others only from the sea..

Today we went west or, as someone here might say, toward the ranch. The western part of the island is owned almost completely by the Molokai Ranch. I know nothing of the Ranch myself but as soon as we arrived we started to see signs saying things like “Save La'au” or “Protect La'au” or just “La'au”. From the people we talked to the Ranch, which is owned by a firm out of Singapore, had planned on taking a remote peninsula and putting in 200 luxury vacation homes. The residents, apparently en mass, had said no. In response the Ranch had shut down all their operations and almost the whole of the west side of the island as well.

Our first stop was the Kalaupapa outlook. The outlook is on the cliffs 1500 feet above the former leper colony. The view is amazing and there are a series of signs that talk about life there when it started and today. From the small parking lot a second trail leads to a sacred site of the original inhabitants. There we ran into a nice guy who was doing a photo shoot for the New York Times. He lives on the big island (that would be Hawaii for those of you who aren't paying attention) but came over for the day to shoot a few of the attractions.

This is a picture of a really impressive phallic rock with him in the background. He took our pictures as we took pictures of the rock. Lana felt that I didn't get the “right” angle on our pictures of this rock but it may have impressed her more than me. I can see why this was a sacred site. Certainly any guy who needs his ego deflated should spend a little time here pondering “things”.

You know I have always loved reading the New York Times and have considered it one of the world;s great papers. To actually have a chance to be in it would be great. To get in it while taking a picture of a sacred site like this one was probably not what I had in mind.

Next we stopped at a place called Coffees of Hawaii. It is a self contained coffee plantation and processing plant with really tasty coffees. Any place that lets you taste them for free before you buy is to be appreciated.

A word on coffee in the islands. If you like coffee, I mean like real strong put hair on your chest type coffee, then make sure you only have Hawaiian coffee while here. Skip all the chains with their latte's and special flavoured Christmas blends etc. The coffee here is amazing. Of course it does have a tendency to coat your tongue and make you have 10 or so cups more then you might otherwise have (each day) but its worth it.

By the way if you like coffee but don't like caffeine then you are mostly out of luck. Many places don't have it at all, some other to look around out back somewhere to see if they can find some and others just look at you with that 'God save us from tourists' look. Bring a small jar of Sanka or something instead.

Our next major stop on the far west of the island was Papohaku Beach. There are not a lot of people near the beach although we did pass one small resort and it was virtually empty. It is the beach that everyone dreams of when they think of Hawaii. Three mile long, with pure white sand, it defies description. After all our time here (this being our fourth island) we really enjoyed the chance to take of our clothes, umm, never mind. It was a nice beach.

On the drive there we saw again mongooses crossing the roads and big signs warning against deer. Both are introduced species. The deer were a present to one of the Kings and the mongooses were brought in to hunt the rats in the sugar cane fields. You also have to watch out for the wild turkeys (maybe they were brought to hunt the mongooses – not sure) and all the damn chickens. For some reason we found, and heard, chickens everywhere on the Islands. On Molokai they start about 3 am and serenade you until dawn.

The last town for the day was Maunaloa. The former pineapple plantation that turned into a ranch that wanted to be a resort developer was headquartered here. There is still a General Store and a post office but the cinema and other services are closed. It is easy to see which buildings are the company housing as opposed to the few luxury homes that were built. Despite the ranch shutdown, the consensus being that it was for spite – who knows) the people there seem determined. As one guy told me “what part of No don't they understand”.

The day we were there some folks were having a Christmas lunch on the veranda of the General Store singing a combination of Christmas carols and religious hymns.

When the sun went down we were sitting in a coconut grove thinking of our friends in Vernon BC (temp -20C), those in Toronto (20 cm of snow) and our daughter in Ottawa (-15C and a transit strike). Oh well.

That night we splurged and actually went to a restaurant. The Cookhouse is an old frame house with picnic tables outside and folding chairs inside. Its bring your own wine and the sign above the kitchen says “we can do anything that you want”. Of course when travelling you always get the specials.

Lana had the crab stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon and I had the Mahi-Mahi in a wine and butter sauce. They were both better then great. To top it off they brought, without asking or charging for it, a piece of chocolate macadamia pie. It was so good I offered to marry the guy on the spot. Lana told them that if they let us take their picture we would make them famous through our travel blog. So here they are. Next time you are in the neighbourhood stop in.

Maui to Molokai

Flew from Maui to Molokai today. Sad to leave most of the island behind and happy that the cruise ships don't dock at our next port of call.

Interestingly enough the plane and the pilot were the same as last time from Hawaii to Maui. What was different was that we had almost a full plane (8 passengers) and a co-pilot. It took us twice as long to get off the runway but the flight was smooth. I spent the time looking for humpback whales (which we had seen off the coast of Maui but no luck.) This was a short flight with the highlight being the view of the Molokai sea cliffs as we approached the island.

I am told that these are the biggest sea cliffs in the world at over 3,000 feet and I have no reason to disagree. They were amazing. On the way we flew over Kalaupapa which was until the 1960's a restricted lepers colony. No one in or out without permission.

In the 1800's, the King of Hawaii was desperate to stop an outbreak of Hansen's disease (leprosy) and decreed that anyone who had the disease was to be forcefully relocated to the colony. It was located on an isolated peninsula with the sea on three sides and huge cliffs on the other. There are still about 30 patients (as they call themselves) still living on the peninsula even though they are all cured of the disease. It is the only home that they know and they will stay there until they die.

The flight came in at Molokai Intentional Airport with its one runway and open terminal building. Molokai is know as the island that time forgot and it is really true. The residents have made a conscious choice not to be a resort island and it is very apparent that it is not. Personally I am delighted but for those wishing for a resort experience they will be disappointed.

We picked up a rental car and headed for the main town of Kaunakakai. There are only about 6,000 people on the whole island so the shops are a little “dated”. Lets just say that they haven't changed much since before the Great Depression.

This is a town where people are interested in living their lives and they don't really care if you are a tourist or not. Unlike the other islands there is no tourist culture with many of the shops having “out to lunch” signs or just closed until the owner gets back. Since it is almost Christmas there is a small older man dressed in what has to be a very uncomfortable Santa hat outside the Friendly Market Centre. The cashiers inside frequently stop what they are doing to talk to relatives and friends in the other lines. “Happy Holidays” is the catch phrase with not a “Merry Christmas” to be heard.

Later that day we go to the Molokai Hotel to see a Friday tradition. Many of the local elders gather (along with some obvious imports) to play whatever they want at one long table in the dining room on the water. This is the kind of hotel I can remember from the old days along the Florida coast. The tables are only 20 feet from the water across a sandy beach and the ocean and their isn't a condominium tower to be seen. (To be honest I haven't seen anything yet over two stories – maybe they have a bylaw or something)

One of the women at the table gets up, when the mood takes her, and does hula to whatever song is playing. It reminds me of a Prince Edward Island Cieldah that I had once seen. The players couldn't care less about the audience except that they wanted to share their music.

We booked into the Aahi B&B (the hostel being full) and were delighted to find ourselves in a nice tropical guest house with no windows just screens and wooden shutters. We had a little kitchen and a tangerine tree in the front. We went to sleep that night with the beautiful but inescapable sound of a dozen different species of birds and, of course, the local roaming roosters started to crow about 3 am or so.

Maui - without the Swedish guys

Today, without the Swedish guys in tow we went to Lahaina on the other side of the island. Lahaina was the capital of Hawaii for awhile until one of the kings moved it to Honolulu. Since the first western ships started to trade with the islands it has been an important port. Up until the WWII the US Pacific Fleet used to call at Lahaina for for shore leave which I am sure the locals found relaxing.

The town is now a 100% percent tourist trap but a charming one. The main waterfront street is still full of 1900's western style storefronts housing an impressive array of art galleries, shops, jewellers, restaurants and upscale souvenir shops. This is not a town where you will find 2/$5 T-shirts.

You can however find 6 ft tall statutes made of marble or jade or something expensive that the store would be happy to ship back to your waterfront villa for a small additional fee. I don't know about anyone else but the damn things always keep ripping a hole in the side of my backpack so I don't buy them anymore.

We decided to visit the town on the Thursday because we wanted to attend a Rotary luncheon meeting. Our thanks to the Rotary Club of Lahaina for the warm welcome and especially for the Hula dancers that performed both traditional and Christmas hulas for everyone. It gave White Christmas a whole new meaning for me.

As a member of the Vernon Silver Star Rotary I would like to formally recommend that we consider adding Hula to our meetings. That is assuming that Club members themselves are banned from actually performing it.

On that Thursday we were also extremely fortunate to be joined in the streets of Lahaina by everyone off of the mammoth cruise ship docked off shore. It certainly took me back in time to when the Pacific fleet would have taken over the town. The only difference being of course that most of those sailors didn't wear black knee high socks with their plaid shorts.

Next we turned up the coast to see the seemingly endless string of concrete resorts and gated communities that have taken over this side of the big island. We wondered if any of the people coming to these even knew there was an unspoiled up-country not too far away. On the other hand if they really did enjoy the Hilton or the Fairmont then Grandma's Coffee Cafe would not appeal to them. Just as well.

Did I mention that each night Lana has been making some very tasty dishes at the hostel? Hostel cooking is limited by what you bring or buy and what you can find there. Our Swedish friends for example had been eating huge bowls of oatmeal for over a week for both breakfast and as a night time snack because someone had left what looked like, a 25 lb box of oatmeal with the major word “Free” on the side. (All your food at a hostel is labelled with your name otherwise it is fair game. All leftovers have FREE written on them. If your name is let's say “Tom Free” you should never stay at a hostel)

Somehow Lana had been creating some great rice and chicken things along with some very tasty pasta. Whatever was left over we offered to whomever was sitting around. One gentlemen, after trying one dish was gracious enough to comment that he could see why I would “keep her around”. Hmmm. Obviously the relationship dynamic was something that was beyond his power of observation.

Maui Volcanoes and Winery

Headed to another volcano today along with some new friends. Two Swedes have accepted our offer of a ride to the top and we headed out. Daniel Akesson and Andreas Johansson are in their early twenties and are headed around the world. They work at home until they earn enough to keep travelling.

Maui is a beautiful island with a mixture of development, some jungle and the arid higher grasslands. The topography on some parts of the island reminds me of the Okanagan Valley with brown grassy hills.

The summit of the Haleakala volcano is at 10,000 ft and we drove all the way to the top. There are a lot of switchbacks to get to 10,000 ft and the road builders decided to put them in as small an area as possible. Unlike BC however they did put in a fair number of guardrails.

The view from the top is tremendous and you are literally on top of the clouds. Lana and I, along with our Swedish friends decided to hike a mile or so into the crater. The weather was perfect (for the summit anyway) at about 53F (11.5C) and sunny. We hiked in with little difficulty but since the in path was a downhill one that was to be expected. The way up and out of the crater took considerably longer.

The next summit over was the US. Air Force's space tracking installation and wasn't open to the public. Still they say they are tracking over 8,000 pieces of stuff in orbit from that spot so they must be busy.

Next we went cruising the uplands of Maui. We travelled on some great narrow roads which I found challenging and Lana found scary. Sorry I meant that Lana found my driving scary.. I am pretty sure the Swedish guys in the back were enjoying the inateraction between the navigator and the driver since they kept laughing and talking in Swedish.

Eventually we got hungry and stopped at a little hole in the wall cafe which had really excellent food. Turns out they have their own web site (grandmascoffee.com). I had the taro burger which was good but needed cheese. All of us highly recommend this place. It doesn't hurt that the wait staff are not only grandma's great granddaughters but are also cute and friendly. They certainly seemed to impress our Swedish friends.

Continuing on the narrow country roads we ran across a winery. The only one in Maui. Believe it or not they had some good reds made from grapes and some really interesting whites made from pineapples. Really they were quite good if really different. Everyone's personal favourite was the raspberry wine which was absolutely fantastic.

The history of the ranch where the winery was based was really interesting and worth a visit by itself. Ulupalakua Ranch had been around since 1858 and they are currently involved in some really interesting environmental restoration work on some of their lands.

We had a great day and, in return for taking them around, our Swedish friends insisted that I help them kill a case of Budweiser. I didn't want to do it but for the sake of international relations we gave it a shot. At some point in the night we had them send a bizarre message to our son via Facebook. Sorry about that David.

This a picture of me with the crater in the background. Right before this Lana had asked for the car keys. Seems I was a little close to the edge.

Hawaii to Maui

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December 16^th, 2008

Left Hawaii today for Maui. Got to the airport a little early to clear security and found that it is a little more informal on the inter-island flights. We hung around the Pacific Wings desk, which had a sign on it advising us that the pilot would show up before the flight and if we really needed help then we could pick up the phone and bother someone on the other end. We choose to wait.

Eventually a pilot showed up, who looked like he had probably been shaving for at least a couple of years, and weighed our backpacks. He asked us our weights and then led us through “security”. Security, as it turned out was really just getting through the fence next to the building and to the plane which stood about 20 feet away. Being the only passengers loading the luggage was easy. He opened the hold and we threw it in.

The plane could hold at least 8, maybe ten, people but in order to balance the load he had us sit in the back two seats. Once we had attached not only the seat belt, but also the shoulder belt, he gave us the standard safety talk standing on the runway and talking through the hatch. Since we had flown a lot of planes lately I thought I would help by doing the same motions that the stewards do on the larger planes but he didn't seem to think that would be helpful.

Once he got in he fired it up and taxied us out to the runway. Actually taxi is not the right word. It was more like a teenager taking the car out of his own neighbourhood and then gunning it when he hit the open highway. I don't know if the airport wasn't that busy or what but it didn't seem as though he had to bother with all those tedious things like asking for permission to use the runway etc. He just saw an opening and took it.

Once in the air the flight was smooth until we hit Maui and there was a little bit of bouncing over the island. I did enjoy the the pre-landing standard announcement about not leaving the seats until the plane had landed etc. The best part was when he said “this is your captain speaking”. Since there was only him and us on the plane it would have been quite astonishing if it had been anyone else.

Landed in Maui, picked up another rental car, and headed to the Northshore Hostel in Wailuku . The hostel is in a run down neighbourhood but is clean and nice inside. The second floor porch on the front is great and the people are quite friendly and talkative. We really liked the four large private bathrooms instead of one or two large communal ones.

Hawaii - Capt Cook and Hilo

December 15 & 16, 2008

We left the highlands where Captain Cook is located and started the trek around the north end of the island. As we drove up highway 19 along the coast we saw not only endless black lava fields but lots of what is called eco-friendly Hawaiian graffiti. On the black lava fields people have taken pieces of shell and coral from the coast and have written messages. Sometimes it is profound and other times it sinks to the level of graffiti else where in the world. The best thing about it is that all of it can be moved. It is an accepted part of the graffiti that anyone can “borrow” material from someone else to make a new message.

The topography of the island changes dramatically as we travel the coastal road. The lava fields are almost totally barren, their age defined by the amount of grasses and trees that have established a foothold in the black granulated soil scatted among the frozen lava flows. As we hit the north coast we find lush hills and tropical rain forests.

Since Waikiki was apparently devoid of anything but a consumer culture we looked eagerly for something that connects with the “old” Hawaii. We stop at a National Historic site called Pu'ukoholă Heiau which housed a revered site used by the Hawaiians for hundreds of years but noted primarily for a structure that King Kamehameha built just prior to solidifying his position as the first king of all the Hawaiian Islands.

The structure is a huge platform of stones (with no mortar used) that had to be moved (by hand) from 20 miles away. Since the stones couldn't (for religious reasons) touch the ground they formed a human chain, for an entire year, to transport them. The real quirky part is that this was supposed to be a temporary structure. The rest of the site was had been used by Hawaiian royalty for hundreds of years, including a temple structure out in the water, that had been used to offer sacrifices to the shark god.

The second stop was a state park (Lapakahi) that had been in use as a village site for over 600 years. The remains of building foundations were scattered around the grounds as were wells, landing sites and other remnants of their lives. The really weird thing was one of the exhibits was a stone about waist high that supposedly contained the spirit of a fishing god. The fishermen of the village used to make offerings to the stone to ensure that their catches were good. Knowing that it had a special heritage significance I removed a small stone from the top of the big stone. I don't know what it was but there was a “something” that shot through me and made me make a big step back. I told Lana about it and her advice was to touch it again. Afraid that I was tempting some kind of fate I refused. Never piss off the local deities has always been a rule I have tried to live by.

After that we travelled up the coast to visit the Pololu Valley lookout. We came upon lots of ranches and horses and it didn't look at all like the island image that I had in my mind. The road then took us around the top of the island through a sparsely populated area and through areas that looked like the uplands of BC. For those of you from there it looked a lot like the land around Merritt. In the distance there is the bulk of the 13,700 ft Mauna Kea. On the very top you can just see the observatories that are there as well as the snow. Yes snow in Hawaii. From the picture in the local paper it seems that some hardy souls even get their snowboards out and slide down the slopes. No lift lines but then again there are no lifts either.

We stayed the next two nights in the hostel in downtown Hilo on the other side of the island from Kona. Downtown Hilo is not exactly the best looking place but the hostel itself is an old (1920s) second floor office area with 12 foot ceilings, lots of windows and creaky wooden floors. Other than being too quiet, (imagine living in a library) it was a pretty cool place. Apparently there are no bugs in Hilo since there were no screens over windows. The real highlight, and I mean that literally, was the street light that came shining through the window once it got dark.

The first day in Hilo we went up to the most active volcano in the world Mauna Loa – the legendary home of Pele – the Hawaiian goddess of fire. On that day however her fires were quenched and we had a taste of Hinakuluiau the Hawaiian god of rain. It rained steadily, at times in a real tropical downpour, as we made the 30 mile drive to the summit. There are lots of steam vents in the national park surrounding the crater at the top but many of the best lookout points were off limits because of some recent explosions. We did make the (very) roundabout trip to try to view where the latest lava flow is hitting the sea. For safety sakes they keep everyone a long way back and mostly all you see is a long plume of steam where the lava hits the ocean.

Just is case you are ever asked during the game of trivial pursuit which is the most massive mountain on earth it is Mauna Loa. When measured from its base on the ocean floor it is 27,000 feet higher than Mt. Everest. Or at least what they say in the park Visitor's Centre.

On the road there we had to drive over a fairly recent flow which already had people living on it. At least they don’t have to cut the grass.

I guess the old saying about not them not making any more land is true everywhere but the island of Hawaii.

Leaving Vernon and on to Hawaii

Tuesday December 9^th

Vernon BC

As of 1:00 pm today we became officially homeless. If you don't think that that is a feeling to give you pause then you have never tried it. A night's stay at the Kiki Village motel in Vernon with a rental car in the parking lot sets us up for tomorrow.

Wednesday December 10^th

Vernon – Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

Worried about missing the start of the journey, and not having every thing down to a science yet, we asked for a 6:00 am wakeup call, set an alarm on my watch and an alarm on the computer. Kinda scares you when they all start to go off about the same time. We head down the road relieved that the snow, which was forecast, had turned into rain instead. Checked in at the Air Canada counter and they, once again, proved that they have some of the worst customer service around. The women at the counter not only didn't give us our boarding passes before she sent us to security but, when we came back after being refused admission, she denied it. Fortunately one of the other staff found the passes sitting on the top of her counter. We looked longingly at the Westjet counter as we went past.

Finally we were on the plane. At least the first one to Vancouver. That was only 35 minutes. The next one, after clearing customs with some very impolite US customs folks in Vancouver, was about 3 hours to LA. Noticed that, as we came in over LA, that is has to be the flattest big city around. Do they have some kind of by-law that outlaws most buildings over five stories or is it that many people there are afraid of heights?

Spent a lovely two hours in LA's airport where I found a vending machine that would sell me an IPhone (really). Next came the five hour flight to Honolulu where we arrived about 8 pm local time. It was warm and breezy as we got into a shuttle to take us to the famous Waikiki beach area. On the ride out it reminded me more of Toronto then a tropical paradise, lots of industrial units, but we were looking forward to some real beach atmosphere.

We were dropped off at the inexpensive hotel we had chosen. 44 stories of small dated rooms “only” seven blocks from the beach. We had a chance to wander the fabled Waikiki area. Instead of the tropical tacky tourist trap we expected what we found was a mecca of shopping for those who like Cartier, Armani and other similar shops. They even had a Ferrari and a Harley store. The beach, unfortunately was a little hidden behind a string of huge hotels and condos. We finally got to walk on it in the shadow of the latest Trump project.

Thursday December 11^th.

Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

We woke to the worst storm that Hawaii had had in the last two years. There were widespread blackouts

and flooding and the streets were full of tourists wearing those stupid clear disposable ponchos. Made them all look like they had been covered by someone with a somewhat abnormal attachment to glad wrap. In the trerrible fuzzy picture you might be able to see palm trees behind the rain drops.

The hotel is full of Japanese tourists who are here for the annual marathon on Sunday. Up to 12,000 of them fly in to run in it. Most of them are, apparently, staying at our hotel.

The sky cleared enough for to take a walk around the large local

park, see even more expensive stores, visit the aquarium and prove that my new scandals will make your feet bleed if you walk in them too long.. Determined that the beach seems to have faded into a minor part of the local scene. At least no one seemed to be paying much attention to it.

Friday December 12^th

Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

With the weather clearing took a shuttle to the USS Arizona memorial this morning, saw the battleship Missouri next to it and then clambered through the submarine Bowfin. My hope was that all the WWII submariners that served aboard her were small -very small. I had a hard time with the various hatches and I am hardly tall. Lana, on the other hand, looked right at home.

When we motored out to the Arizonia memorial I found it hard to imagine that there were over 1,000 men still entombed below our feet.

We then spent a boring two hours at the taxi stand waiting for our shuttle to show up. There are a lot of shuttle vans serving the hotels, airports and attractions. All the drivers seem to know each other and they frequently stop to say hi, particulary if someone in the van is late for a plane. They drive like taxi drivers while they answer the various cell phones and radios they have stashed around them. In this particular case we had paid for a round trip and the first driver forgot to mention that the company actually operates under two diferent names (that we know of anyway). Our ride was there when it should have been but we, and he, didn't know it. He really didn't care but was nice enough anyway. He did mention that the owner of the company had made so much money that he was building an apartment building somewhere. That made us feel better. He also knew exactly where Vernon BC was. The "pot capital of BC" was his description. That made us feel even better then before.

Back to the hotel and then off to find anything that wasn't too expensive. An hours walk later we found a bar with really bad nachos and dated decor but pints of Stienlager were only $3 all day and the seats were very comfortable. And, even more importantly, it was not populated by tourists.

Saturday December 13^th

Kona, Hawaii, Hawaii

Quite relieved to leave the city of Honolulu and be on our way to the Big Island (Hawaii – the island, not the state). Got off the plane and immediately felt that this was the Hawaii that we were looking for. Picked up a rental car at the small airport and headed for the town of Kona. Once a fishing village and now home to a fair number of people there certainly weren’t any shops offering Rolexes or Omega’s in their windows. Had lunch at a little bar across the two lane blacktop from the ocean watching the surfers try their luck.

Ended up in the town of Captain Cook staying a hotel straight out of the 1940s. The rates were cheap but the bathrooms were communal and the their wasn’t a computer to be seen at hotel desk. Just a small calculator and sign in book. No air conditioning either but what can you expect for $36 dollars a night.

Did find time to visit a small national park on the coast which housed an old “place of refuge” under the previous management (before the US annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii). Seems that if you had committed a crime and where able to make to this place before the King’s guards killed you then you got a get out of jail free card (or the rough equivalent). All you had to do was stay in this place while the priests made you a better person. When you got out then your crime was forgotten and you were home free. I guess the trick was getting past those King’s guards. The really large fellows with the big clubs and a bad attitude.