Nothing much to report other I have been trying to catch up on pictures/blogs, etc.  The only thing newsworthy (cuz it really hasn’t happened before on this trip), is that other than the temperature being warm, it looks like we are back at home with rain, wind, rocking seas, the inability to see very far……the greyness.  The swimming pool was sloshing over the sides. It made it too difficult for us to dance. Not complaining though!!! ……it is warm.

Day 19-Oct 13/24-Tech talk on taking better pictures with phone

Double click on Google pixel to open camera, volumne up to take pictures

Flash on uses more battery power.  Use the timer to take better selfies and use a water bottle and hair tie to make tripod.

Optic zoom takes better picture.  Manual means same as pro ….or “more”

Put on “grid” …. In settings then camera…rule of thirds

Step back to made background larger.

WhatsApp….can send up to 100 pics at a time cuz they compress them as opposed to email that can only send so many at a time.

To stop downloading everyone’s pictures when having a group “chat” in WhatsApp, go to settings…turn off automatic download.

I have to apologize for incorrectly saying there were 2 guys plus myself on the bike ride. That does not add up to 2 on the tour…..ops! I should have said 3 plus me.

Today, I am taking a private tour with a picked up on the pier. 

Going to the black sand beach first.

Built homes where ponds used to be……..area has been filled in….no pics.

Coconuts require 50 F to survive so none on mountains

Deepest brackish pond in world in Liliuokalani Gardens. It is over 1 mile deep ….hard to believe.

Kalapana…… base of volcano fissure #8

Area going there is now kind of a desert area since of volcano heat in the ground…trees are dying.  Because the trees burned up there is no moisture created

780 homes destroyed in 2018 in this area.

“Puka” is a hole left by lava tube that has collapsed. The lava solid when broken off is vermiculite……so light. Also peacock lava…..like peacock colours

“Tree mould”….blue markers  goes down 10-20 feet where once stood a tree but was covered by lava and then the tree burnt

$30,000 for acre in this area but guide wouldn’t buy cuz it’s too close to the volcano. 

Pentane….liquid made from Geo-thermal gas compressed.

Kalapana

Kilauea 

Gary Sleik photographer/videographer/volcanologist. ….amazing!

Kehena Beach….nudie hippie beach (got quite a sight of one old guy….lol). Black sand is really little black marbles    

Mackenzie park… haunted! The lava tubes make howling sounds at night. This area is known for rogue waves. They take 2-3 lives every year. It is very dangerous. The waves can be 50-60 ft high.

We crossed over the lava fields for 7 miles from fissure 8 before coming this beach

Flow extended into ocean… used to beach at tree line. One day it dropped 3 feet into ocean…but lost they 3 great surfing beaches.

“Puna”…pele’s unpredictable sister 

Steam emitting amongst trees is from the volcano.

 The story we heard about why the inhabitants of Easter island came north to the Hawaiians Islands was that the Polynesians had cut down all the trees there which inadvertently caused them to starve. They needed another place in which to survive.

Only 4 of us on this excursion.  Me and 2 men plus the lead bicyclist.  We are using specially made, very heavy bikes.  We are not to use both brakes at the same time…..right first which is for rear brakes otherwise you could fly over the handlebars. Mount Haleakala is just over 10,000 feet but we are only allowed to ride from outside the national park …..so around the 6500 foot level.

Lahaina Electric “will probably go bankrupt soon cuz the cause of Lahaina fire was faulty electric lines and rotten poles that blew down during the hurricane causing the fire”.  They had another fire on Haleakala about 3 months ago but they believe it was naturally causes.  Will take 8-10 years to rebuild Lahaina. As we drove off, we saw tents to house the displaced residents. 

They used to farm sugar cane here til 2016.  They now trying to grow limes and oranges ….trying to make it so that they don’t have to import everything….become more self sufficient.  Not allowing the land to be used to build skyscrapers, just farming. 

“Up country” refers to above 1500 feet elevation.  Every island has a cowboy town cuz there’s a ranching. 

Wild deer, boars…it is never not hunting season.

Evidence of trees burnt happened at the same time as Lahaina

Kula next town. The road was built for SDI by R. Reagan …..is military.  It’s a good road, paved, no police so no speed limit but it has very sharp turns but we did see a “B-train” come around one.  There was not room enough for another vehicle though. The road is a 12% grade.

The houses do have fireplaces up here cuz it gets down to 40 F.

Grow proteas here…probably better than South Africa ….appparently!

At the 4000 ft elevation there are no more houses. It is all cattle ranch

Hurricane Dora… Lahaina fire and trees downed.

Kahalini Island that we can see way off shore, was use to test bombs so no access to public cuz of possible unexploded ordinance.

Power lines cannot be buried here cuz the lava is just below the soil.  It would be extremely costly and almost impossible without blasting .  Electric company  has to keep cutting the trees away from power lines to prevent fires. 

Below 5000 feet or over 50,000 feet is only place you can fly any aircraft.  Everything else is military airspace

Haleakala means “House of the Sun”.

Canada goose is called Nene goose, is their state bird….funny!  Thee is a $50,000 fine if you kill one. 

There are no dairy farms here.  Consequently it costs $15.50 /gallon for milk on Maui. 

We stop to shop at Makawao.  It is a “cowboy town” with all the old buildings from the early 1900’s.

“Red shower trees” bloom when it rains.  There are yellow ones too but sorry …didn’t get a picture.

Yesterday while I was snorkeling, my phone got wet.  The case that I was using for my phone to take underwater pictures….leaked.  I am trying to dry it out but so far it’s not working.  I may have to buy a new phone 😥. All the pictures and videos that I had taken, of course, have not transferred to my IPad making it difficult to do this blog.  Geesh…..should have put the above on the previous post but maybe you all figured it out.

Our first day in Honolulu we took two routes on the hop on hop off trolley. Below will pictures from that day.

Circle island tour…..Oct. 9/24

Drive thu Honolulu…..350,000 population 

Kamehameha II died from measles along with the Queen in 1824 after being exposed to it after a visit to a British military asylum for children.  Even common cold was enough to kill native Hawaiian cuz of a weak immune system.

Outrigger hotel that I stayed in in 1972, is still here.

Moana Surfrider Hotel, called the grand lady of Waikiki when built in 1901, cost $1.50/night at the time, now costs $1500/night.  Many celebrities have stayed here back in the day.

Highest waves on Waikiki in summer was 15 feet 

Queens Beach… public movies several times a week.

80% of vegetation is not native…wow!

Coast Guard lighthouse

Diamond Head Beach

Hibiscus is not native to Hawaii 

Aquifers …takes 20 years to filter rain water thru mountain

Hawaii Kai…named after Wm. Kaiser…. He had the swamp in the area dredged to make all-waterfront lots.

Hanama Bay was a crater.  It’s full of lots of fish.  I remember years ago looking into the water with a snorkel having being stunned by all the fishes swimming around my legs…you couldn’t see them if you just looked down.

Sandy beach, also known as ”break neck beach”….is appropriately named.  An orange flag means danger…could be undertow, currents, jellyfish and/or Portuguese of war, 

1940’s was last tsunami…originated from Seychelles.  Once a month they test early warning siren.

Waimanalu beach, where there are 7000 homeless.  We in Victoria and Canada, are not the only place in the world with homeless, mental health cases  and drug addicts.  Even Hawaii has them.

Huli….. means turn over  so Hulihuli chicken means rotisserie chicken. 

Pali means to walk. Going to Pali Lookout.  It is very windy

Red vehicles are federal emergency vehicles, yellow are local fire trucks 

150-250 inches rain in area of Pali Lookout. 

The vines and vegetation on the way up will cover the road if not kept cut back.

Pali lookout was so, so, so very windy but what an amazing views

Likelike Hwy named after princess 

Highway to Heaven, a hike, is closed because railings & steps are  missing.  It’s a liability.

Valley of the Temples…..cemetery byodo-in

Hawaii is the biggest consumer of spam….have a festival

Kuoloa…military base, Jurassic park across from Chinaman’s Hat

No scorpions or snakes on the island. 

At Winter there 60 ft waves at Sunset Beach. Also humpback whales come to birth. 

Last the harvest of sugar cane on Maui was in 2015

Bonsai pipeline just beyond Sunset Beach ….competition held for professional competition.   As much as 40,000 watching from the beach.  

Norfolk pines planted to produce mast replacement for ships 

Chickens are allowed to run free so that they can escape from tsunami.  They are everywhere.

Dole…no processing done here, stopped in 1990’s.

If you cut the top off a pineapple, you can grow pineapple. You can get 3 harvests for each top cut off. 

From all the military bases in Hawaii, there are probably 150,000 personnel.

Our big excursion here in Kona was to go out on a zodiac to go snorkelling. On the was there we encountered a pod of 10+ bottle-nosed dolphins. They had a good time frolicking around the zodiac with one deciding it wanted to lay at front of the “boat”. One of the guides asked if anyone had a phone and he would video it. Yes, I volunteered mine. I was to airdrop it to the others on the tour. I did not get a chance to watch it before going snorkelling.

We were told that dolphins catch puffer fish, chew them without swallowing, then passing the fish to others in the pod sort of like humans pass a marijuana toke to one another. They get high on them but don’t get sick like human would if they injected them. They poisonous to humans.

This is where I would have posted pictures of my underwater experience but as explained, my phone got wet. If it ever dries out and I am able to retrieve the video/pictures, I will post at a later date. In the meantime I have never seen so many different fish and urchins….amazing. I took pictures from a book showing all the different ones.

Today in the port of Nawiliwili along with another ship, the Ruby Princess with its 3000+ passengers. 

Today we are taking a flight around the island of Kauai. 

The island is made up of lava. It is very brittle so there is no rock climbing     

Haupu Mountain to the side where ships dock

Sugar plantation years ago… is what the islands were famous for. Now there is less canes ground because sugar beets are more profitable cuz they easier to grow. 

On south side of the island is Poipu Beach…is great for snorkelling. It’s a flat area and drier.

Largest coffee plantation in all of US. Lots of iron so soil is red… makes for low ph coffee. 

The mountains get 500 inch rain/ years … wind and rain erosion,…..has had most time since it is the oldest so very rugged.

There are no active volcanos on the island. 

When it rains, the rivers run with red water because of all the iron oxide in the soil. It also makes the ocean red..

Napali coastline on north side,  means “many valleys”… is16 miles long. 

“Cathedrals” most famous. 

The natives used to make fish traps behind reefs using food scraps as bait. Fish swim in to get the food at high tide only to get trapped as tide goes out 

North side more rugged more green cuss more rain. 

Hanalei Bay… 

Hanalei Valley… light green is all ferns

Albizia trees… invasive. The block to light and moisture from native plants. The govt cut trees and use wood to make electricity 

26C in shade today. 

Polynesia means many islands

Honolulu-very crowded

Fanning-an atoll. Policemen walk barefoot. Only can be reached by boat. Only 2 vehicles on the island. … is a tendering port. Very simple. All homes are on stilts with no walls

American Samoa..use reef shoes cuz beaches are coral not sand. Do not think that American phone plan works here or you’ll be in for big surprise.

Suva is in Fiji. 

Dravuni Island…. Only beaches but not good for snorkelling 

Lautoka.-free shuttle. 

Sauvusavu-Follow crew to find Wifi. another port in Fiji….beautiful

Tonga… only island nation that has kingdom. No beach nearby… take shuttle.  At bank… buy $7 Fijian bill. Blowhole on other side 

Niapu …. Beautiful scenery

Cook Islands…. Tender…. Beaches… independent shore excursions available. Snorkeling. Reef sharks are not aggressive and dangerous. 

Rarotonga…resorts…. Public transportation. Protectorate of NZ

Raiatea… capt. Cook’s favourite…. Black Pearls. Fr. Polynesia… speak French. Bread*….best outside of France. Some beaches but…

Bora Bora… most beautiful like you always see for Fr. Polynesia

Alberts… family 

Moorea… black tip shark… docile

Huahine… nothing … take shuttle or ship excursion

Tahiti… Papeete.. quite built up. … know conversion or use bank cards

Main islands don’t have very nice beaches

Fakarava… bicycles, kids have sharks as pets. Havaiki Lodge

Nuuk Hiva…… wood carvings. Language is very close to Hawaiian. 

Holland America cruise line’s Classes of ships…. 

R Class-1450 passenger … smallest with only 2 decks of verandas. Volendam and Zaandam

Vista class-5 decks of veranda 

1900 pass .. Noordan, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Zuiderdam -large volume of veranda suites

Signature class….. 2190 passengers….Eurodam, Noordam, Nieuw Amsterdam

Pinnacle class…2600 guests 

Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam. They only have showers, plus specialty Asian restaurant. There are units for solo travellers as units for families of up to 5 in staterooms. 

Winter in the north they head south

Spring… repositioning… only one flight … cheaper per day

Summer head to northern ports

Fall -Canada and repositioning

Cruise availability is based on demand and supply factor

Peak as opposites to non-peak… is cheaper

Class of ship…. 

Back to back are also cheaper when booked together

Location on ship… port or starboard, ends, centre 

Understand where the location is … price

Guaranteed 

Higher up on the ship, the lower the price because there is more rocking

They offer community appreciation under deals are only for future cruises

Promotions

“Get in the know”

132 day Jan. 4/26… grand world voyage on Volendam,  sounds interesting

Day 10-Oct 4/2-Tech for travellers

***There is some interesting info here, some of which is new to me.

Recommended apps:

When in port… Google Maps… very good planning app- shows bus stops,

shows busy area… 

Click on “Official site” if you want make sure of solid tickets being sold. 

“Save”- makes lists of what you’d like to see. 

“Share” for where you’ve been

“Directions”…screen shot all details before you go. 

Click on Profile picture where you are… gives all details of transits. 

Timeline to go to Offline maps… download

Wifi Map

Shows where wifi is available

Green colour- good, orange-mediocre, red-avoid

Sometimes it will show previous password so you don’t need to go in. .. copy, go to settings, enter password

Arrow into bucket before leaving home and phone signal. 

VPN…Nord, Advans or Norton antivirus 

Google Translate– needs you to download language beforehand 

 Click on speaker to hear

Pencil, also use to speak microphone 

Can translate using camera… or for translate later.. use “import”

“Rome to Rio”

Shows all taxis etc

“Currency Converter”… needs internet to work

“Google” can tell you what you looking at … search bar to take picture

Turn off data whenever travelling 

Online..RYOKO….. someone in audience mentioned this for cheap data

In order to be hired on to the ship you have to serve 4 years as a cadet at CSmart, a part of Carnival corporation in Netherlands. Then as in case of one of the officer, did 5 months on a  tanker.  First position once hired on to the ship you become 3rd officer then to 2nd officer, then to 1st officer. There are now 2 on this ship. Also a Bridge Manager, safety officer. Then staff captain… he is a 4 stripe. Finally the Captain. 

9 AB Helmsmen on board…2 on duty at a time. 

We are basically travelling in a straight direction for 5 days. They will change direction if there is a whale nearby. 

Pilot…. Knows the area by heart and so will guide the ship coming into port. 

Ever single action has to registered. 

Fastest speed is 22 knots  or 41 kph or 25mph. 

Ship can power all 25,000 homes on Kauai….

Sextant is not required anymore. Radar,paper chart, electronic axis. 

We got bored with the lecture so left. 

It’s 21C today(a couple of degrees warmer with grey skies…. The same as yesterday. 

We are at sea for a good number of days so I will not be posting much in the way of pictures of sites. So….will be sending info gleaned from lectures on board. I hope you aren’t too bored. A lot of the info I already knew but maybe for you as well, it will be all new.

Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated island group in the world…is north of equator 

The Pacific Ocean is 70 million square miles. It is 16-18,000 ft deep around Hawaii. 

It consists of 132 islands and atolls. 

The island of Hawaii was the last of the 8 major islands to be formed. 20 miles east is new island being born but has not yet pierced through surface of water.  

Volcanos in Hawaii are called shield volcanos. Kilauea volcano when it blew…. Spewed 30,000 ft into air. 

If lava is liquid, the flow is still full of gas. If the “lava” is crumbled yet moving, the gas has been dissipated. 

A sea cliff is a sign of catastrophic land fall. 

Kauai is oldest at 5 million years old. 

Oahu has over a million pop. 

Tsunamis travel at 500 miles per hour

Midway Island is under the protection of federal government 

Annual rainfall ranges from 175 inches at the mountains to 9 inches at shore  per year. It never drizzles for days but in short showers. 

They use no insulation or heating in their homes. 

The ocean temp ranges from 76-78 F. (24.5-25.5 C) year round. 

Mark Twain described the Hawaiian Islands as “The loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean”.