Honolulu

March 11th Honolulu

ok here’s the story....  Once we got into dock, we decided we might have a chance to grab a cab to take us to Pearl Harbor.....  We met another couple outside who wanted to do the same thing so we agreed to split the cost...  While waiting on a taxi here came this guy with an 8 passenger van who offered to take all of us for $25 per person including tickets for the ferry and Pearl Harbor tour.....   We loaded in and away we went.   Bad mistake, the guy was a mad man and drove like he was possessed....  Once we arrived at the area, he ran ahead to get the tickets and we walked to the entrance gate....   In just a few minutes he was back with no tickets and the announcement that it had been closed for the afternoon...   Needless to say we were disappointed but nothing anyone could do about it so back in the van we got and we returned to where he had picked us up right in front of the ship terminal..  Alive but if you’ve ever been whipped around city streets at 70 mph you will understand what shape we were in......  

Honolulu is everything I’ve ever heard it was and in our eyes it certainly lived up to it’s reputation....  Just a big dirty city, over populated and unless you know your way around it’s a good place to stay away from...   Any of the other tours offered this afternoon were very, very expensive and just didn’t seem worth the money or time.  for instance "an evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center costs $189 per person, the "Paradise Cove Orchid Luau Buffet" costs $149 per person.  

We made the decision to just spend the day on board and let the city be as it is without us....    We went up to the lido deck, had a nice lunch from the buffet and currently are just watching tv in our room.  We might even take a nap later. It's interesting to set on the patio and do some people watching.  We didn’t get a lot of sleep last night because of the tusnami warning and unsettled conditions thru the night waiting on announcements so we are both tired......  It's nice to have just a relaxing day and not feel pushed to do anything.....  If we get bored there is bingo at 4:30.

We're looking forward to tomorrow when we visit Nawiliwilli Kauai...  Our tour there is to "Waimea Canyon",  the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.   Hopefully conditions will have settled down and our tour will go as planned....


While waiting off shore for clearance to dock the following picture will show what the waters looked like at that time.  It was a strange sea, very unsettled though not rough.   Many smaller ships, yacht's, fishing boats and other smaller vessels had gone out to sea in order to protect themselves.

Since we did get at least to the gate of the Pearl Harbor Memorial I was able to take a few pictures there.  Below is the sign at the entrance and the flags flying at half staff in honor of the Japanese who had lost their lives in the tusnami.