POLYNESIAN ADVENTURE – PART 2

 

We spent two full days in Hawaii’s state capital, Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. Many notables were born there, including one of my heroes, Barack Obama. He Made America Great Again! Oahu is the third-largest and most populated of the Hawaiian Islands, home to just under 1 million people, 80% of whom live in the Honolulu urban area. Area-wise, Oahu is slightly smaller than our Prince County, but much of its interior is mountainous and therefore uninhabitable.

On our last visit to Honolulu, we’d spent all of our time in the city, visiting Pearl Harbour and Waikiki Beach. This time, we’d decided to do some exploring, so we boarded a city bus to pick up our rental car, planning to circumnavigate the island. We started our day with a visit to the Dole Plantation, a really nice tourist attraction located about an hour north of the city. We were surprised to be driving on a six-lane highway on our way there but, as we were to learn, Oahu is a very busy place. The site features a train ride through the plantation to see how pineapples are grown, harvested and processed. As with so many tourist attractions we’ve visited, unfortunately, the gift shop ends up being the dominant feature and the most popular place with visitors.

We drove north and followed the coast past an array of beautiful beaches. Since all the parking lots were jam-packed, we didn’t bother stopping. Along the way, it was interesting to see how gas prices have changed since the US declared war on Iran last February 28. When we arrived in Florida on that date, gas there was $2.85 US per gallon. On Oahu, it was exactly double that at $5.70! Heck, it’s even more expensive than gas on Prince Edward Island which, as I write this, is selling at the equivalent of $5.34 US. Even diesel is more expensive here than it is back home. Of course, we’re led to believe the price will plummet soon after the midterm elections on November 3. And land in the Miscouche swamp will soon be worth $1,000,000 an acre! Remember, you read it here first!

After having lunch at the Wiamea waterfall, we drove the coastal road until we finally freed ourselves of heavy traffic and rain along Oahu’s Windward Coast, a wilder and more rugged part of the island I really wanted to see. There, we took a stroll along Waimanalo beach, watching surfers try to catch a wave.

On Day 2 in Honolulu, we took the bus downtown to Waikiki Beach and spent a couple of hours there enjoying the sun and the warm water. The place is lined with resorts of every description, and a host of activities are on offer for those looking for a bit of action or an excuse to do nothing, whatever their heart desires. While it’s a nice beach, it doesn’t compare with my favourites, Greenwich and Basin Head, for sheer beauty. I must say, though, that the urban spaces in the resort area are as beautiful as I’ve seen anywhere in our travels.

On Day 4 of our Hawaiian adventure, the Zaandam tied up at what is surely the ugliest cruise terminal we’ve seen in our many years of travelling. When we visited Maui in 2019, our ship anchored in the small and picturesque harbour of Lahaina and we tendered ashore. The port of Kahalui, on Maui’s northern coast, was the hub of the sugar trade which flourished from 1901 to 2016. Today, it’s nothing more than a collection of abandoned warehouses and barren parking lots. To get to Kahalui’s main drag, we had to walk through a fenced-in maze topped with barbed wire. Not a great welcome!

The only poet I ever really liked was the American, Robert Frost. He wrote these three lines in 1916 at the end of a poem called The Road Not Taken, and I’ve tried to live by them:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

We picked up our rented vehicle and headed southeast toward the village of Hana. To say that the drive is an adventure would be an understatement. It’s 83 km of hairpin turns, switchbacks, one-lane bridges and single-track road, and it took us two and a half hours and a lot of white-knuckling to get there. The road is heavily travelled and one has to stop often to meet and squeeze past other cars, some of them travelling way too fast! Unfortunately, the weather gods were not on our side, as we drove through rain most of the way, catching a few glimpses of waterfalls, the incredibly lush vegetation, and a pretty little chapel. The northeast side of Maui is the rainy side while the southwest side is bone-dry. After stretching our legs at the small dock in Hana, we headed back to Kahalui.

We had fond memories of Lahaina. Tragically, much of its downtown was destroyed in a fire on August 8, 2023: 102 people are known to have died; over 2,000 structures were destroyed; and damage has been estimated at $6 billion US. We drove into the town and found our way to the dock area. Downtown is unrecognizable. Where homes, schools and businesses once stood is now mostly fenced-in barren ground growing up in weeds. The banyan tree that stood proudly beside the old courthouse was thought to have been killed by the fire but it’s recovered miraculously to its former glory. The tree covers two-thirds of an acre, about the size of a football field, and is recognized as the largest one in the US. Of course, there are plans to rebuild but there is as yet little sign of that happening. The photos below show the banyan tree and the courthouse. A sign at the front of the courthouse encourages people to donate for its reconstruction. Sadly, I doubt Lahaina’s downtown will look much better five years from now. But, our day on Maui turned out to be a great one!

On our last day in Hawaii, the Zaandam dropped anchor in the harbour of Kailua-Kona and we tendered ashore. Kona town is about the size of Summerside and has a very welcoming feel to it, unlike some places that are either too industrial or too touristy. We walked along the main street in the morning past buildings like the one in the photo. I found them interesting architecturally because they add to the town’s historical character. I went for a swim near the pier to cool off from the heat while Elva did some shopping. Soon, it was time to sail south toward our next stop, Avatoru, the main town on the island of Rangiroa in French Polynesia. It will take us six days at sea to get there.

The mortality tables tell me I have a 50% chance of making it to 90 or so if I keep doing the right things, and I hope to have at least 10 more good travel years left in me. This Polynesian adventure is off to a fine start, and we have two years’ worth of trips booked ahead.

The one place we don’t intend to return to is the United States. Other than a family trip to Disneyworld next March, one planned before the Trump administration began its latest round of foolishness, we will not return. Trump’s lack of respect for Canada’s sovereignty and for our Prime Minister, Mark Carney, crossed the line for us. We can handle the tariffs, but not the disdain. Knowing that many of the Americans we know voted for him and continue to support his policies would make it difficult for us to spend time with them. Besides, this world is full of interesting places to visit and of people who respect who Canadians are and what Canada stands for.

I celebrated by birthday in Hawaii. I was born at the Prince County Hospital on a Saturday, 73 years ago. My mother was 36 years old then and my father was 47. Since my father left us when I was only about a year old, I have no memory of him. I remember looking through my baby book and asking my mother what it was like when I first came into the family. A photo shows me in my parents’ lap the day of my baptism. It’s the only photo I have with both my parents.

I remember asking her if there was a photo of me when she came home from the hospital. She answered: “The day you were born, we couldn’t find your father”, by which she meant he was drunk somewhere. I could tell it upset her deeply, so I never asked about it again. I would later find out that my father was serving time in the Queens County Jail on October 24, 1953 for passing bad cheques while he served as the MLA for Third Prince. She was trying to protect me from the shame she must have felt.

My life may not have gotten off to the kind of start my parents intended but it has been a very good one. Though I never knew my father, I carry his genes, the good ones and the bad. I’m my mother’s son and very grateful to her for the way she raised me. She recognized early the independent streak I was born with and was wise enough to always let me do my own thing. And she never once questioned my decisions. Wellington was a great place to grow up and I have nothing but fond memories of my childhood there.

Though my body may be slowing down, my mind continues to expand and grow. I find that to be one of the great ironies of life. Today, as I post this blog, I’m thankful for a life well lived and, especially, for the family I am a part of: a life partner who has been by my side since we became best friends fifty-eight years ago; three wonderful children who make me proud every day; and five grandchildren who continue to impress me with everything they do.

 

 

 

POLYNESIAN ADVENTURE – PART 1 

The first time I flew on an airplane was in 1967. My mother and I boarded an Eastern Provincial Airways flight at the Summerside Airport that would take us first to Moncton, where we changed to a bigger plane, and then on to our destination, Montréal, where we’d visit Expo ’67. Those were different times: paper tickets, no boarding passes, a good meal on the plane, and NO SECURITY CHECKS! I was 13 that summer, and had never been to a big city. We stayed with friends, the Thibault family, and I went to the World’s Fair site every day by bus and Métro, even making the trip to and from all by myself before the week was out. This experience marks the beginning of my wanderlust.

We boarded an almost-full Boeing 737-8 at Alexander B. Campbell airport for the early-morning flight. Before doing that, we had to wait in line a good half-hour to get through security. I was even told to remove my open sandals and plastic belt; I suppose to make sure I didn’t blow anybody up! We were treated to stale coffee and a cookie on the way to Toronto where we boarded an Airbus A220 for the flight to San Diego.

The reason I mention the names of the aircraft is to illustrate how times have changed. The plane from Charlottetown to Toronto has a capacity of 210 passengers and was full while the one from Toronto to San Diego held only 120 and had more than a few empty seats. It’s not that long ago that that we’d have flown from Charlottetown on a De Havilland Dash-8 with a passenger capacity of 45 or so! There may be a message there. I’m not sure what it is, and I’ll let readers arrive at their own conclusions.

It was our third visit to San Diego, one of our favourite American cities. It doesn’t have the charm of other favourites like Charleston, Savannah or St. Augustine, but it’s clean, has a very nice downtown and a lovely waterfront. After checking into our hotel in the Little Italy quarter, we took a walk down to the Navy Pier and past the massive USS Midway, a floating museum featuring the retired aircraft carrier and a collection of 60 or so vintage aircraft displayed on its flight deck. The Midway, 1,001 feet long, operated from 1945 until 1992 when she was decommissioned. She’s that big that it’s hard to capture her in a single photo frame.

We visited the nearby elevated plaza called A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military. From a distance, it looks like a small crowd assembled around a man standing at a microphone. It’s a bronze likeness of Bob Hope, the legendary comedian and entertainer, in his prime. Before his death in 2003 at age 100, Hope had entertained US military audiences in far-flung theaters of conflict, from World War II to the Gulf War. The photo captures Hope’s unmistakable profile and his adoring audience.

On Day 2 of our visit to San Diego, we decided to revisit a couple of our favourite attractions, Coronado Island and Old Town. We got a few tips from the hotel receptionist and set out to get around by public transit. I’m not sure why but I just love travelling with the locals. The San Diego Trolleys are an above-ground version of a subway and they’re cheap and very easy to use. The Green Line took us to a transfer station where we boarded the bus to Coronado, stopping at the luxurious Hotel Del Coronado, circa 1888. At $700 to $1,200 per night for a standard room, we couldn’t justify staying there and, with a sushi lunch advertised at $100 CDN, a meal wasn’t an option either. But, as La Sagouine liked to say: “On pouvait quand-même regarder…” The beach is fantastic and, since it was the end of the peak tourist season, we were there on a rather quiet day.

Back in the city, we boarded the Blue Line trolley for a visit to Old Town, the location of the first Spanish settlement when San Diego was founded in 1769. The State Historic Park makes for an interesting stroll and features many Mexican-style restaurants, gift shops and historic buildings. The theme for this time of year was the Festival de los Muertes, the Festival of the Dead, as Hallowe’en is known in Spanish. All in all, it made for a very relaxing day. And we finished it by watching Forrest Gump. We’d forgotten how good a movie it was!

The next morning, we hoofed it down to Pier B to board the MS Zaandam, our home for the next 34 days. Since taking our first cruise on the MS Rotterdam VI in September 2013, we’ve been Holland America fans, and we feel at home on their ships as soon as we step aboard. We found ourselves surrounded by the usual Holland crowd: grey hair, walkers, wheelchairs, motorized chairs, oxygen tanks, canes, the odd facelift, and lots of wrinkles, including ours! The Zaandam may be a bit dated, but she’s got a lot of charm just the same. We watched from the top deck as the ship sailed out of the harbour past the USS Abraham Lincoln, recently returned from its infamous deployment near the Strait of Hormuz.

Five days at sea may sound like a long time, but you soon get into the routine. The food is excellent and you don’t have to wash the dishes, your room is serviced twice a day, there are interesting lectures to attend, entertainment in the evening, a fully-equipped fitness center, and pools and hot tubs to soak in.

Polynesia is one of three major cultural areas of the Pacific Ocean islands, along with Melanesia and Micronesia. The Polynesian triangle extends from Hawaii in the north to Easter Island in the southeast and New Zealand in the southwest. The first humans reached Hawaii through deliberate long-distance ocean voyages by Polynesian navigators using stars, ocean swells, and natural signs. They sailed roughly 2,400 nautical miles across open ocean from Samoa or the Marquesas Islands, arriving around 1,200 AD. I still can’t get my mind around the fact that they travelled that far without any instruments, just handed-down knowledge and observation of natural phenomena. How many of them were lost at sea we’ll never know.

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. The last State to join the Union in 1959, Hawaii is home to 1.4 million people, most of them of Polynesian or Asian descent, and it's the only State with two official languages, Hawaiian and English. Its economy relies heavily on tourism and military defense.

The islands were formed by volcanic activity initiated at an undersea magma source called the Hawaii hotspot, essentially a hole in the earth’s crust. The process continues to build islands because the tectonic plate beneath much of the Pacific Ocean moves northwest continually while the hotspot remains stationary. It works like a conveyor belt; the oldest islands, including Kaua’i, are to the northwest and the newest to the southeast.

Before we knew it, our ship was docked in Nawiliwili on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i. We’d been to Kaua’i before on a cruise in 2019. That time, we’d rented a car and driven west and east to cover most of the island’s roads. This time, we walked to the Enterprise car rental agency, picked up our vehicle and headed up the east coast of the island. While there were a few places on our list, we just drove until we reached the end of the road at a State Park. Along the way, we stopped at this beautiful and almost deserted pocket beach where a creek flowed into the ocean, forming a small pond ideal for children to swim in.

On the way back, we stopped to check out this beautiful United Church in the town of Hanalei, famous for the beach of the same name. Then, we stopped at the Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge overlooking the lighthouse and, finally, at Wailua Falls. All in all, a full and interesting day.

Next, we set sail for Honolulu on the island of Oahu, where we’ll spend two days.