Views of Honolulu

Views of Honolulu

Aloha Tower

Honolulu skyline

We learned early on in the trip that our pictures would have to be added later. The internet connection on the ship was too slow and unreliable to allow us to add the pictures as we went along.

King Kamehameha I

Feather cape

Honolulu was different in the 60s - not as many high-rise buildings west of Waikiki beach when I was here while I was in the Air Force. We arrived 7:00 AM, and we visited the city on foot in the morning. We walked by the Iolani Palace - the only royal palace in the United States - and the statue of King Kamehameha I, who unified the Hawaiian Islands, with the help of European weapons and gun powder. We visited the Honolulu academy of Arts, an impressive museum. The museum houses one of few paintings by Gauguin in the Pacific - as well as a number of his woodblock prints. The museum has a cape made of feathers.

Jean with an ancient horse

Jean, who has already been missing her horses found one at the museum.

Only Palace in the United States

View from Pali lookout

We returned to the ship in time for a very quick lunch, and then a tour of views along the South coast in the afternoon. In addition to Diamond Head, we visited a beach where we could sea large turtles feeding. We visited the remains of an ancient Hawaiian temple, and finally the Pali lookout, where the king defeated his rival chief, by pushing 400 warriors (or 1,000 depending on your source) over the cliff.















Site of an ancient temple

Coming toward Hawaii, the swells had been as much as three meters - making the crossing from San Francisco a challenge when walking through the ship. Being on land again was reassuring. Tomorrow we head South toward Pago Pago. It will be another four days at sea before we arrive.