Honolulu...Day 1

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

By the time I woke up, the Koningsdam was docked in Honolulu. I could see a tiny sliver of a moon shining above Diamond Head crater when I pulled back the curtains. Bob and I went to breakfast at the buffet and as we were eating, the cruise director announced a couple of times that the ship had not been cleared and requested that people should not be lining up at the gangplank. I guess after 6 days of sailing some people were very anxious to step foot on land!

We walked out to the aft pool and could see the Aloha Tower and also an ambulance waiting at the gangplank. A couple of days earlier we had overheard a man in the elevator saying that his wife had broken her leg playing pickleball and would be getting off in Honolulu. We wondered if perhaps the ambulance was there for her. 

Our port day in Honolulu was actually two days...the Koningsdam would be staying docked overnight. That meant we would not be rushed or have to worry about getting back to the ship on time. I had investigated getting a car from Hui Car Share, available near the ship and an interesting concept in car rentals, but then decided to go the more traditional route and get a car from Thrifty at the Honolulu airport. The one day price was great ($42) but getting the car would involve taking an Uber to the airport to pick up the car and again to return back to the ship at the end of the day which added to the cost AND the time. After a little more research, we opted to rent from Turo...sort of the AirBnb of car rentals. I found a Suburu Crosstrek for $72 for the day with unlimited mileage but the best part was that the car would be parked within walking distance of the pier. 

The view from our balcony...

We could see the parking lot where the car was located from the ship, and used Google Maps to find a walking route to get there (which proved to NOT be the quickest way.) I knew my knee was going to be challenged by the walking so Bob offered to carry my backpack...along with his. In the short time it took us to get to the parking lot we saw many examples of Honolulu's homeless population.

Our Turo car with the Koningsdam in the distance.

As instructed, we texted the owner when we were close to the parking lot. We knew which lot the car was parked, the make and color of the car AND the license plate number. What we didn't know was where in the large lot the car was parked. We wandered around a bit and then heard someone calling Bob's name. The owner had sent her "associate" and it was him. He took us to the car and gave us a very brief overview on the features and instructed us to put the key inside a lock box in the car at the end of the day and just leave the car unlocked. Bob had to take a bunch of photos to document the condition of the car and upload them to the Turo app before we were able to drive off.

Traffic was heavy as we started out....Honolulu is a big city and we were hitting the tail end of the morning rush hour. Our first stop was at Walmart. I wanted to find a different knee brace. The bottom band of the brace I had purchased from the ship's medical center was too tight. I'm pretty sure it was cutting off my circulation and I figured a case of gangrene would be worse than a sore knee. I found a brace that was adjustable and then also grabbed some ibuprofen, naproxen and a generic version of Voltaren topical arthritis cream. Combined with the huge bag of medical supplies I had brought in my luggage I could almost open my own pharmacy.

I'm not sure that this cream provided any relief.

On our last (and only) trip to Hawaii I had purchased some of the Hawaii GPS guided tours from the Gypsy Guide app which we used when exploring the islands. We liked the tours enough that we have since purchased the tours for the Black Hills region. The app has now changed names to Guide Along and I was able to upgrade and get the rest of the Hawaii tours for a discounted price. Our plan was to do a circle tour to the north shore of Oahu and we decided to go in a clockwise direction. In retrospect we should have done the tour going in the opposite direction which would have made it easier to pull off the road for the oceanside beaches.

Eventually we left the busy city and some of the traffic. Our first stop was at the Dole Plantation. The parking lot was full but we got lucky and found a spot as someone was pulling out. This was a place we had stopped in 2016 and our main reason for stopping again was to use the restrooms. We did walk through the gift shop but resisted the temptation to order the famous Dole Whip.

Dole Plantation

Outdoor area behind the Dole Plantation gift shop.

When we got to the north shore, the road changed into a smaller two-lane road with lowered speed limits...but still an incredible amount of traffic. At one point we wanted to pull over and stop at a beach, but cars were parked on both sides of the road for miles and finding a parking space was impossible. (We heard later that a surfing competition was being held.)

No parking anywhere!!

Some of the norths shore waves (from the car window...)

I was in awe of the trees and foliage we saw on our drive which were so unusual (at least compared to Minnesota!) The jagged mountains covered with low hanging clouds also made the views that much more interesting. We drove through a few sprinkles off and on but it appeared it was raining steady on the mountain tops.

Not a sign we see in Minnesota!

Not sure what kind of trees these were but I thought they were interesting.

One of the beaches where we found a parking space.

I wanted to stop at a shrimp truck to get lunch...specifically Giovanni's since that seemed to be one of the most well known. When we got to the truck in Haleiwa it was parked along with other food trucks and the place was hoppin'. We pulled in and realized it cost $2 just to park but it didn't matter since there weren’t any open spots anyway. So...we kept on driving. Google told us there would be another Giovanni's up the road.

Several times we stopped and pulled into different beaches along the north shore. The area is famous for the huge winter waves and they were big…but not huge. There were quite a few surfers and it would have been fun to have my telephoto lens to catch them in action. 

When we found one beach with a larger parking lot we stopped and ate some snacks that we had brought along. Bob had also brought some Cheerios from the ship buffet and started feeding the wild chickens which are EVERYWHERE in Hawaii! Pretty soon we were being overrun with the birds. I put a stop to the Cheerios when one chicken jumped up on the table and started grabbing MY food. I wasn't the only one putting up a fuss...a rooster stood right by our table crowing loudly.

This chicken had the nerve to land on my backpack and then tried to steal my food!!

Speaking of animals...chickens aren't the only animals that Bob feeds. This past summer we gained a pet squirrel that learned to take peanuts from our hands. We now always have a jar of nuts sitting on the kitchen counter just waiting for "Rocky" to come to the door. He stands on his hind feet looking through the glass until we come out with his treat.

"Got any nuts?"

That same morning that we were in  Honolulu we got an email from our financial advisor (who happens to live in New Orleans) saying his company had sent us a King Cake for Mardis Gras. I made a mental note to call our neighbor and ask her to watch for a package delivered to our house. By the time I thought about it later I realized with the time difference it was too late to call.

The next morning we received the following text: "Hello! Hope all is going well. I saw where a package was delivered but too late! It was a Mardis Gras cake.  Your friendly squirrels helped themselves to it! They said to thank you."

We both laughed and laughed at the thought of the squirrel party that must have taken place on our front porch. I could just see Rocky with frosting smeared all over his face inviting his friends over for cake and saying "look what my humans left for me...aren't they the greatest!" 

As we drove, our Guide Along app alerted us that we were approaching some fruit stands so we pulled over to check them out. The fried bananas caught our eye and we bought a couple to have with our upcoming lunch.

We didn't have to drive much further on the Kamehameha Highway and we found the Giovanni's Shrimp Truck...this one much less crowded than the one in Haleiwa and plenty of free parking was available. Bob and I each ordered the shrimp scampi plate which was excellent. We ate at one of the tables in the outdoor pavilion which we shared with the chickens. Dessert was the fried bananas from the fruit stand.

 

Fried banana.

On the way to the our next stop at the Lāʻie Point State Wayside we drove by the Lāʻie Hawaii Temple to see the beautifully manicured grounds. 

Lāʻie Hawaii Temple

From Lāʻie Point we could look out across the water to view the waves crashing over the sea arch in Kukuihoolua Island. The wind was blowing something crazy and dark clouds were gathering over the mountains in the distance. This was one place that we had been impressed with on our previous visit and I was glad we were able to return.

Our last stop of the day was at Kualoa Point, primarily to use the restrooms. From there we could look out over the ocean and see the island of Mokoli'i (China Man's Hat) and in the other direction the jagged Ko'olau Mountains. 

I had hoped that we would have had time to explore more of the southeastern tip of Oahu, but the day was getting away from us. We turned back towards the city of Honolulu fully intending to stop at the Nu'uanu Pali lookout but knew it would have to be a quick stop if we were to make it back to the ship in time to eat before the evening show. When we realized that it was $7/car to enter the site that helped us make up our mind to just keep on driving. We had seen the view from the lookout the last time so I didn't feel too bad about missing it.

Bob was nice enough to drop me off at the ship and then he returned the car to the parking lot where we had picked it up earlier. He found a "short cut" back to the ship and then we went to dinner at the lido buffet. It was dark by the time we finished eating and we went out by the pool to see the night time version of Honolulu.

The evening entertainment on the main stage was "Drums of Polynesia"...a local group that came aboard to perform. Maybe not quite the caliber of some of the land-based luaus, but not bad. The video screens behind the stage just added to the tropical feel of the show!

Having the ship docked overnight was a little different (we missed getting rocked to sleep!) but what wasn't different was the sounds from BB Kings pulsating through the cabin. 😒 I had been determined to not gripe, but after a long day I gave in and sent the following message to guest services through the "Let Us Know" feature on the Navigator App. I doubted that I would hear anything back, but I just wanted them to know how our cruise was being affected...

I am in cabin 4070. While boarding the ship in San Diego, I pulled or tore a ligament in my knee. I have a knee brace from the medical center but still am trying to stay off my feet when possible. Hence I would like to be able to relax in my cabin in the evenings but the noise from BB Kings makes it miserable until 11 pm. We can hear EVERY drum beat and bass note. I had checked the floor plan prior to booking this cabin but didn't think a music venue 2 decks below would impact this location. Is there anything that can be done? I would NOT have booked this cabin knowing how loud it is.