More Adventures in Hawaii
Tuesday, 4/25 - Hilo, Hawaii (the big island). I got upabout 6, the wake-up call came at 6:45. Went to Skyline for breakfast, where wewere warned that omelets and waffles couldtake 1/2 hour to prepare, in case we had a shore excursion. We ordered anyway,and there was no delay. Went to the theater and shortly got sent down to findour bus. Before we boarded, they handed each of us a 'box lunch' and a can ofwater. Because of my knees, we were offered seats in the front of the bus. Westopped at a Japanese garden, a statue of Kamehameha, Rainbow Falls, AkakaFalls, the zoo (where we ate our lunch), a macadamia farm gift shop and a candyshop. Had to take a detour to get to Akaka Falls, and missed the turn to thefalls, so had to turn around on a busy hiway. Got back to the boat about 3:30or 4:00, went to the talk on our next port of call. Back to our room until5:30, when we went to Skyline for supper. Long line to get in and had to skipdessert to get to the comedy show, which was good. Back to the room, read for abit, then went to bed.
Wednesday, 4/26 – I have forgotten the names of the restof the ports we visited and the islands they were on. My notes don’t includethat information. We’re still touring Hawaii, and probably hitting the islandsto the north and west of the Big Island.
I got up at 5:30 because I woke up. The wake-up callsounded at 6:30, and John got up. To the buffet for breakfast, then to our roomto pick up stuff for our day ashore; water, our shore excursion tickets, and soon. Went to the theater to be ready for our excursion. To get to our excursion,we had to get on a tender boat and be ferried to the shore. Once there, wefound our tour guide, jumped in his van, and we were off for a "ScenicTaste of Hawaii". First, we went to a coffee farm, where John bought anexpensive lb of coffee ($46). Then to a farmer's market, where we bought abook, 2 jars of local jelly, a facial scrub and a bottle of essential oil(TiTree). At a macadamia nut farm, John found a lb of coffee was going for $64!(He didn't get any.) Then to a park on the beach where we got a box lunch anddrink for lunch. Then back to the port for a tour of the Kona Brewing Co, wherewe sampled 4-5 different beers. Got dropped off at the pier about 4:05, and theline waiting for a tender ride back to the ship was a mile long. The lasttender was leaving the pier at 5, and they were loading tenders as fast as theycould. Once we got to the ship, we went to our room, to relax before ourspecialty dining reservation at 8:00.
I was not terribly impressed by the French food offeredby Jefferson's Bistro. Mostly, I wondered how I was supposed to eat it. Evenfor the baked pear I got for dessert, I had to ask for a knife so I could cutit up and get pieces on my spoon.
