The Zuiderdam arrived to the sheltered bay of Hilo early this morning under partly cloudy skies, some sun, and some rain too. One of the shore officials said their weather here is "bi-polar". We tend to agree. The ship was cleared quickly and the tour folks were off and running to their coaches as always. Today's excursions revolved around Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which was a trip to Kilauea volcano and lava fields. Four different variations of that tour were offered. One of them went to the Volcano Winery, a candy factory, and it included a lunch for 6 ½ hours for $270. The volcano with a garden tour for 3 ½ hours was $180, while a side trip to Rainbow Falls for 4 ½ hours was $160. Then a visit to a macadamia nut factory with the volcano for 4 ½ hours was $120. The last three tours did not include a lunch. The last time we toured Kilauea it had a lunch, which was a stop along the way at roadside picnic tables with a boxed lunch. Tropical fruit, farm, and falls was $200 for 3 ½ hours.
We left the ship around 10am, and failed to take our umbrellas. We know better to go for a long hike without them, but the sun was shining when we left. Never gave it a thought. Did you know that Hilo is one of the wettest towns in the USA? They get an average yearly rainfall of 128 inches. It's no wonder there are so many gushing waterfalls here producing a jungle of exotic trees and flowers. By the way, there was no shuttle to Walmart, but there was a shuttle to the produce market in Old Hilo. We know that the crew members really miss that free Walmart bus, and so do we.
There are close to 41,000 residents here living on the slopes of three major volcanoes. Mauna Kea tops out at 13,796 feet, but measuring it from the base, it is 32,000 feet. That makes it the tallest island mountain. Next is Mauna Loa at 13,679 feet and spreads over half of the island. Measuring 30,080 feet from the base, it is the largest volcanic mountain in the world. Then comes Kilauea at 4300 feet in elevation. The most active of the volcanoes, Kilauea gets all of the attention.
Passing by the restaurant, Ponds Hilo, at the Ice Pond, we realized they were closed today. Reading the door sign, we saw they were closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Guess we have always been here on their "open" days. We did have another option, so decided to continue walking first, then eat later. Crossing over the Ice Pond, we also figured it was a school day, and there were no kids showing off their skills in soaking the tourists that walked by here. And for the first time ever, we saw three large green turtles swimming gently in the pond. We bet they always live there, but are scared away with too much activity. They seemed to be watching us, and came up for air often. Another good photo op.
We made our way past the industrial part of town as well as the international airport. Our first stop was at Reeds Bay Beach Park, where the rain began. Taking shelter under the old banyan trees planted by celebrities and local famous folks, helped keep us mostly dry. We could see the shower coming across in waves, eventually stopping. It was heavy enough to make the local beach-goers pack up their gear, load their vehicles, and leave the narrow strip of beach.
The rain let up, and we continued on to Lili'uokalani Gardens, a 25 acre Japanese garden on Banyan Drive. It includes arching bridges, fishponds, pagodas with seaside and mountain views. And some well known residents there are mongoose. However, try as we could, we never spotted one of them. There is a cropping of volcanic rocks under some banyan trees there, and we have always seen some mongoose coming out from the caverns in the rocks. Today we waited and watched for 20 minutes, and did not spot one. It just happened that a bus full of HAL tourists had been let loose and were trying to cover every corner of this park. Might have kept the mongoose away, who knows?
What we did see was a pair of Hawaiian nenes, or geese. They had a chick with them….just one. That is the first time ever we saw a young nene. And they were being quite protective, which is good since these state birds almost became extinct at one point.
Walking back, it began to rain again, but this time it was heavy rain. It was a good thing we were close to another restaurant across the street from Ponds. Next to or part of a hotel, it was Coconut Grill. The restaurant was much larger than it appeared from the outside, and had a really good menu with many choices. We were happy they had draft beer on the list too. So we ordered a BBQ pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on a taro bun. We asked what a taro bun was, and discovered it was made with the flour of the taro root, which is purple. First time we ever saw purple bread, which really tasted like regular bread. We added fries to share, then saved room for another serving of "Naughty Mud Pie". Similar to yesterday's treat, this one had a layer of fudge sauce on the top under the layer of whipped cream over the mocha ice cream on a cookie crust. Broken Oreos were on the very top. We have to say, that made our day.
Time to head back, we got to the terminal around 2:30pm. We had noticed that the US flag as well as the state flag were flying at half -mast at the pier. So we asked the officials, and they said the flags have remained that way ever since the fire destroyed Lahaina months ago. Regardless of the island, these Hawaiians are a tight family.
Catching up on photos and reports took the rest of the afternoon. One other fact we learned was that the macadamia nut requires 300 pounds of pressure per square inch to crack the shell. Well worth the trouble since they are delicious…..chocolate covered or not. As far as calories go, well we won't even go there. These nut trees are actually from Australia, but they thrive in the islands and are famous worldwide.
The ship left the harbor at 5pm. Captain Frank said to expect some rough sailing around the top of the island of Hawaii. He expected the winds to pick up to 35 knots with some deep swells. By morning, we will be in Honolulu, Oahu.
Dinner was the final one for those who are leaving this first segment. We have not been able to get an exact number of departing and new guests, probably due to the fact that the following segments may have been marketed well to gain more guests. We have heard the term "ferry boat" regarding the numerous segments, but that is the way it works these days.
Split pea soup was the best appetizer choice since the weather was almost cool tonight. Caesar salads, and mains of chicken with stuffing and a pork chop with a loaded baked potato were good. Desserts were a little rum cake and a plate of fresh pineapple. Entertainment this evening was the Grand Voyage Band playing the Beatles hits. Easy listening.
Looking forward to Honolulu, although it will be a one day stay instead of overnight. Too bad. Oh yes, thank you for the description of shawarma. We have seen this skewered meat often in foreign countries, but never knew the correct name.
Bill & Mary Ann
