Hawaii – The Big Island

Thu, August 15

After several days at sea, we were very pleased to finally arrive in the port at Hilo. Our goal for the day – to get up close and personal with two of the world’s most active volcanoes in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

As we made our way by coach through Downtown HIlo we could see the evidence of the two tsunamis (in 1946 and 1960) and we saw the memorial clock forever stopped at 1.04 from the 1960 tsunami.

Our first stop was Rainbow Falls – such a pretty waterfal, then on to the Macadamia Factory where samples awaited us. Even though we have macadamia nuts in Queensland, we found something excusive to Hawaii – Hershey Kisses – macadamia nuts coated in Hershey chocolate. They are delicious and we are trying to make the packet last as long as possible!

Next stop was a lovely buffet lunch at one of the few hotels on the island which are all grouped together near the shore. There are lots of banyan trees in Hawaii, and we were impressed to see that several of the trees around the hotel were planted by famous people; two names in particular caught our attention – Amelia Earhart and Babe Ruth.

As we made our way to the National Park which is a World Heritage Site, it was interesting to see the different types of vegetation. Black lava rocks, grey ash and barren landscape around the sites of the volcanoes. There was a wealth of information in the museum and we spent quite some time there. As we walked around we passed several areas where steam arose from vents in the ground caused by rainfall seeping into the ground and coming into contact with hot rock. Unfortunately we could not get good photos due to the low light as we walked through a section of Thurston Lava Tube where red hot lava once flowed.

It was amazing to see the scenery change from thick green vegetation to grey ash and pebbly ground. At one point, we got off the bus to walk amongst a surreal landscape of lava trees, which resulted from a lava flow that left behind eerie lava molds of the tree trunks.

Our last stop was the orchid farm where we took countless photos. A charming feature was the box of little white or mauve orchids and hairpins inside the entrance so all the ladies could pin some flowers in their hair.

Hilo is very much worth a visit, if you are interested, as we were, in seeing the results of 70 million years of volcanism, migration and evolution, whether by road or helicopter. Shops and hotels are minimal. Houses generally are small and often have extended families living together as wages are low and housing is not always affordable. The closure of the sugar mills caused a downturn in the economy and tourism has not replaced all the jobs that were lost.

Overall, we had an amazing day and we were very lucky to have an excellent guide who was not only informative, but entertaining as well.

Workers bagging those yummy Hershey Kisses

Rainbow Falls

Banyan tree planted by Babe Ruth in 1935

Volcano National Park

Is there enough steam for a facial, I wonder?

Lava Tube

Hole from a tree where lava once flowed

Stark landscape from where lava destroyed vegetation

Typical housing

Orchid farm

Los Angeles, U.S.A.

Sat, Aug 10

This morning we arrived in the port of San Pedro, looking forward to our day in LA, but first we had to complete a face to face inspection by Customs Border Protection immigration officials. This was conveniently carried out onboard, and as we had already been photographed and fingerprinted in New York, we were quickly processed and then were free to join our excursion.

We had a very informative guide who gave us a lot of interesting facts about America’s second most populated city, located in Southern California and 130 miles north of the Mexican border. Our first stop was the Disney Concert Hall/Music Centre; featuring stainless steel curves on its striking exterior, this 3.6 acre complex is one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world.

We then went to Olvera Street; the birthplace of LA, this colourful village features 27 historic buildings and a marketplace offering traditional Mexican food and handcrafted Mexican wares. I was very pleased to discover a leather purse that I had seen in Brisbane at 1/3 of the price!

Next stop was Hollywood Boulevard, home to the Walk of Fame, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, Madam Tussauds’s and the TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman’s) featuring elaborate Chinese-style architecture, and over 200 Hollywood legends hand and foot prints, set in the concrete of its forecourt. They were all quite close together and it was a bit difficult trying to take photos in the timeframe we had – especially with the sun in the wrong spot and just as we would go to take the shot, suddenly someone’s feet would appear right in the middle of the frame!

You could not leave LA without visiting Beverly Hills and driving down Rodeo Drive – the shopping mecca for the wealthy. Hundreds of the world’s top labels and icons can be found here. We were amazed to see a menswear store which opens by ‘appointment only’ … the cheapest item we were told being a man’s handkerchief costing $100. The owner’s motor vehicle was parked out front – a Bugatti Veleron – according to our guide worth over $2M!!

We were very pleased to have an extended tour around town – we thought we would be done by 1.00pm but didn’t get back to the ship until 4.00pm, so we were able to spend a good length of time at the Farmers Market browsing the many shops and enjoyed a great hot dog and fries for lunch. We noticed many Mexican restaurants and we love Mexican food, but just too well fed on the ship to indulge in a big meal unfortunately. We were amazed at the prices of souvenirs and clothing generally, so much cheaper than Australia.

Unfortunately we were not able to go the Hollywood Bowl, as it was closed to the public in preparation for a concert that night with Willie Nelson.

Once back at the ship, we took advantage of the free Waterfront Trolley to take a quick trip around San Pedro (not the most attractive part of town), then back to the ship about 6.00pm. The weather was warm with a breeze coming off the water … similar to our weather in Queensland but with low humidity, making for a very pleasant day.

We loved LA – we travelled on some amazing freeways, saw many landmarks familiar from movies and television – Fifth Avenue, Wiltshire Boulevard, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Paramount Studios, CBS – just to mention a few, and thought that the type of housing in the pretty leafy suburbs was very similar to ours. Instead of skyscrapers there were lots of palm trees giving the city a nice tropical feel and people in general were relaxed and friendly. We felt very much at home.

Next stop: Hawaii

City skyline

Disney Concert Hall

Olvera St – LA has a strong Mexican influence

Waaaay in the distance is the famous “Hollywood”sign on the hill

The Bugatti that all the men were drooling over…

The Farmers Market

M & M’s in the candy store

Suburbia

As we left all the diners from several restaurants were waving and cheering goodbye

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

Sun, August 4

Yes we do – but we didn’t go there today. The capital of Costa Rica is situated about 70 miles from where the ship berthed in the city of Puntarenas, so instead we boarded a coach which took us on a very scenic drive through the countryside. There are a great number of volcanoes which accounts for the black sand on the beaches; the untamed jungle was green and lush, and I could imagine that if left untended, it would easily claim back the roads we travelled on. Many people waved to us as we passed by and then it was time to transfer to a boat on the Tarcoles River, which sits at the Guacalillo Estuary.

Our guide took us on a two hour cruise, patiently stopping and often turning the boat around to give everyone the best views of the many species of birds that make their home in the mangroves. The estuary is home to one of the biggest crocodile colonies in Central America, however on this occasion we only saw one! We did see a family of monkeys high in the canopy, a young hawk and several different species of waterfowl. We were pleased that we had our binoculars and thought half the fun was spotting something moving in the mangroves or the trees and then trying to work out what it was!

Of course, the downside of such a tour is that most of the wildlife is seen from a distance and it is often difficult to get good photos, especially through the thick foliage of the rainforest. So now I have to ‘fess up and admit that I had to cheat a little to get some close ups of the monkey, birds and iguana!

Anyway, we were all excited to see several pairs of Scarlet Macaws, one of the most endangered species in the tropics, and it was wonderful to see them in their natural setting. Both male and female have the same brightly coloured feathers, red, blue and yellow, very noisy and we spent some time watching them sitting together and preening each other and one was even stretching out his wing to put around his mate.

Eventually we made our way back to the boat station, where we enjoyed a delicious buffet of fresh fruit which included pineapple and watermelon, and of course, we had to try a complimentary glass of the local beer, Imperial (based on a German recipe, we were told) before heading back to our ship.

Costa Rica is a developing country where tourism seems to be surpassing exporting of coffee, pineapple, bananas and Intertel microchips, Ticos (the locals) who were previously farmers are now hotel owners, tour guides or waiters Most houses are small and square and have only two bedrooms. All properties are fenced to keep out the Brahman cows which will walk right into houses if they are left open. People are friendly and very family-oriented. There is a very low unemployment rate (which is just as well as there is no social security) but everyone is well educated and our guide told us that a typical Sunday consists of everyone going to church (mostly all are Catholic) then the afternoon is spent with family and friends, eating, drinking and everyone (including the women) plays football.

If you don’t like the taste of strong coffee you would probably not like the local coffee – but we thought it was pretty good. We were tempted to buy a bag of coffee beans to take home but decided against it in case we had a problem with Australian Customs. However, our tour guide told us that a cup of real Costa Rican coffee is not far away when we are back home – just go to Starbucks!