The Zuiderdam was docked by 8am, about the same time we headed for breakfast. We said goodbye to Lois, one of our favorite servers in the Pinnacle Grill. This was her last day, and she will be heading home, which is in Curacao. We never guessed her for being Dutch, since her accent is not strong. We wished her a safe trip home, and hope to see her again on another ship.
We planned to make a quick trip to Walmart on their free shuttle. Well, guess what? That's what a whole lot of people decided to do as well. Usually, they are on the tours, and do the shuttle in the afternoon. Not today. When we reached the terminal, the line was HUGE. Every time we have been here, they always used full size buses for the short transfer. But now they have down-sized to using smaller shuttles that hold maybe 35 people. From what we could tell, only two were running. Of course today was a Sunday, so that might have had something to do with fewer drivers.Therefore, our wait was for one full hour. A few impatient folks jumped in Ubers, but we were in no big hurry. By the way, except for us few passengers, we saw no one wearing masks in Hilo.
The amusing thing was being surrounded by a few ladies that were watching for folks cutting the line. They made sure no one would sneak into our huge line, and were vocal if they suspected someone was saving places. In addition to this shuttle, was a free ride to old downtown Hilo. People had to get tickets to take that one. We did that once, and it was also on a Sunday. We found out that not too much was opened, except the veggie and craft market. Many attractions and restaurants were closed for the day. And once the veggie market closed at noon, the buses stopped going there.
There was a table set up with maps and info, which we figured we would pick up some on our way back to the ship. However, the info folks were gone and so were the maps when we returned. So there is no info on Hilo, other than what we did here today. We can tell everyone that this part of the island of Hawaii is all about volcanoes and Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, some of the tallest mountains in the world. We have toured the area thoroughly in the past, and really enjoy just doing our own thing here.
Well, we found most of what we needed at Walmart, and the rest we can find in Honolulu or Lihue. With the locals shopping as well as the bus loads of cruise ship passengers and crew, the store was very crowded. This place is really popular with the crew members, because they sell their favorite snack items. Once back outside, we located the line of folks waiting for the shuttle. And once again, the line-cutters were under surveillance. We found it quite amusing.
Security in the cruise terminal was not like we remembered. It was always very strict here. Today, we only showed our ID and keycard. There was no x-ray done on shore. It was done on the ship. Once back at the ship, we dropped our stuff off and headed back out. Now we were ready to take our hike to Ponds Hilo, where we knew we could find ice cold draft beer and one of the best burgers in Hilo. Since it looked like it was clouding up, we took umbrellas just in case. We forgot to mention that it was very hot and humid today. And very little breeze. This will take some getting used to, especially after coming from Alaska and Canada. The parking lot of the restaurant was full of vehicles, and the first thing we thought was that they were too busy for more customers. Oh well, if that's the case, we will skip lunch here. But if you don't go inside and check it out, perhaps not all of the cars were for here. On the weekends, we notice that the local families pack up the BBQ and spend the day at the beaches and parks. Turned out there was room in the restaurant and we got seats at the windows.
Ponds is not a fancy place, but their food is really good. We shared a mushroom swiss cheese burger, and asked for the sandwich to be cut in half. Our waiter brought two plates with each half, surrounded by a mound of crispy French fries on each plate. Did not expect that. We really liked the Big Wave Golden Ale... it was ice cold and so good. Then we shared a decadent hot chocolate brownie with mud pie ice cream on top. The name "Ponds" is appropriate since this restaurant is perched over the spot where very cold river water enters the saltwater cove. It becomes brackish and is ideal for koi carp. Directly under the seating area of the building, is a caged pond full of colorful koi carp....some very large ones perhaps 10 pounds. Swimming among them are some turtles. On the outside of the cage were more turtles and even some Nene geese, native to Hawaii. Of course, we had the best seats to take numerous photos of the wildlife, which included the kids antics at dive-bombing folks.
The most entertaining aspect of dining here has to be the gang of local teens that jump off of the railing and into the shallow pond, creating an explosion of water. Of course, they usually wait just until some
unsuspecting tourists are walking by them before they do the cannonball jump. These kids are nuts, since the water is only 4 foot deep. Of course, we were victims several years back, so we know to walk across the road these days.
After lunch, we walked past all the picnickers to the Liliuokalani Park where among other things, we saw a few mongoose darting in and out of the volcanic rocks. These curious little creatures were brought here to kill the rats, but it turned out, they are not nocturnal, and did not rid the area of the rodents. Making a circle through the gardens, we strolled across the walking bridge to the point where more kids were jumping off the old remnants of the bridge. By now, the skies were getting darker, and we made our way back. It did start to sprinkle and would have felt good if it rained. It eventually did, but not until after 5:30pm.
Sure was nice to get back to the ship, where we sipped cold lemonade before boarding. One of the gangways was being pulled inside, and Shiv was there to have his crew pull in the last one after the all aboard time of 5:30pm. The photos needed downloading, while one of us relaxed on the veranda. Still muggy as heck, it did begin to rain briefly. It was dark by the time we cleared the breakwater, as we headed towards the next port of Honolulu.
Dinner was back in the dining room with appetizers of Thai beef salads, hake fish, and prime rib. All was good, except I have to remember to order the prime rib medium next time. It came really rare, but I did not want to wait to send it back. Saved some room for dessert by only eating half of the
entrée.
On the Mainstage was comedian Chris Strait, and the Music Walk was in full operation. Not sure how busy these venues are on nights before a series of ports. Hard to burn the candle at both ends......
Bill & Mary Ann
191 Pictures
Security in the cruise terminal was not like we remembered. It was always very strict here. Today, we only showed our ID and keycard. There was no x-ray done on shore. It was done on the ship. Once back at the ship, we dropped our stuff off and headed back out. Now we were ready to take our hike to Ponds Hilo, where we knew we could find ice cold draft beer and one of the best burgers in Hilo. Since it looked like it was clouding up, we took umbrellas just in case. We forgot to mention that it was very hot and humid today. And very little breeze. This will take some getting used to, especially after coming from Alaska and Canada. The parking lot of the restaurant was full of vehicles, and the first thing we thought was that they were too busy for more customers. Oh well, if that's the case, we will skip lunch here. But if you don't go inside and check it out, perhaps not all of the cars were for here. On the weekends, we notice that the local families pack up the BBQ and spend the day at the beaches and parks. Turned out there was room in the restaurant and we got seats at the windows.
Ponds is not a fancy place, but their food is really good. We shared a mushroom swiss cheese burger, and asked for the sandwich to be cut in half. Our waiter brought two plates with each half, surrounded by a mound of crispy French fries on each plate. Did not expect that. We really liked the Big Wave Golden Ale... it was ice cold and so good. Then we shared a decadent hot chocolate brownie with mud pie ice cream on top. The name "Ponds" is appropriate since this restaurant is perched over the spot where very cold river water enters the saltwater cove. It becomes brackish and is ideal for koi carp. Directly under the seating area of the building, is a caged pond full of colorful koi carp....some very large ones perhaps 10 pounds. Swimming among them are some turtles. On the outside of the cage were more turtles and even some Nene geese, native to Hawaii. Of course, we had the best seats to take numerous photos of the wildlife, which included the kids antics at dive-bombing folks.
The most entertaining aspect of dining here has to be the gang of local teens that jump off of the railing and into the shallow pond, creating an explosion of water. Of course, they usually wait just until some
unsuspecting tourists are walking by them before they do the cannonball jump. These kids are nuts, since the water is only 4 foot deep. Of course, we were victims several years back, so we know to walk across the road these days.
After lunch, we walked past all the picnickers to the Liliuokalani Park where among other things, we saw a few mongoose darting in and out of the volcanic rocks. These curious little creatures were brought here to kill the rats, but it turned out, they are not nocturnal, and did not rid the area of the rodents. Making a circle through the gardens, we strolled across the walking bridge to the point where more kids were jumping off the old remnants of the bridge. By now, the skies were getting darker, and we made our way back. It did start to sprinkle and would have felt good if it rained. It eventually did, but not until after 5:30pm.
Sure was nice to get back to the ship, where we sipped cold lemonade before boarding. One of the gangways was being pulled inside, and Shiv was there to have his crew pull in the last one after the all aboard time of 5:30pm. The photos needed downloading, while one of us relaxed on the veranda. Still muggy as heck, it did begin to rain briefly. It was dark by the time we cleared the breakwater, as we headed towards the next port of Honolulu.
Dinner was back in the dining room with appetizers of Thai beef salads, hake fish, and prime rib. All was good, except I have to remember to order the prime rib medium next time. It came really rare, but I did not want to wait to send it back. Saved some room for dessert by only eating half of the
entrée.
On the Mainstage was comedian Chris Strait, and the Music Walk was in full operation. Not sure how busy these venues are on nights before a series of ports. Hard to burn the candle at both ends......
Bill & Mary Ann
191 Pictures
