Thursday, February 8, Honolulu Hawaii

It was still dark when we came in to dock in Honolulu and was beautiful as the sun came up.  TBH, I was pooped after two consecutive days in port and was not excited about Honolulu.  My original plan was to just go for a walk and ride the HOHO (Hop On, Hop Off).

Yesterday, at sail way, I chatted with a couple about our plans.  They were planning to go metal detecting on Waikiki Beach.  Say what?  I've been interested in metal detecting for years but never did anything about it beyond googling local clubs, equipment, etc.  A friend gave me a metal detector for my birthday (Halloween) but between company and prep for the cruise, I hadn't done much with it other than playing with it a bit in my yard.

I apparently seemed pathetically excited, so Marina and Carl invited me to join them.  We agreed to meet at 9 a.m. just outside the ship.  When I woke up this morning, it occurred to me that they may have gone back to their cabin last night thinking "Do we really want to spend our day with a crazy metal detecting groupie?" and take off without me.  But they didn't!  More about our day in the photos.

While I was waiting in the Honolulu terminal, I chatted with a couple who were heading home.  He was a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who'd also served in the South Pacific, but many years ago.  Not surprisingly, RPCVs tend to be travelers and cruisers.  

While I wasn't excited about spending the day in a big American city, it was a great day, thanks in large part to Carl and Marina.  When we got away from the very touristy Waikiki, it was a chill place with quite a mix of regular folks and extreme wealth.  With natural beauty in abundance.  And a Crocs store.  Seriously.  Facing Waikiki beach.

Photos!

Pulling in to the harbor

Did I mention it was early and dark when we arrived?

I was so proud I remembered to pull on a muumuu before I opened the blinds

It's always interesting to watch the ship dock.  They use Azipods to scoot the ship sideways against the dock.  I've tried (with varying levels of success) to "dock" the tiny boat my brother and I used to have.  Props to the Captain

I need to check on what the rent for a place here would be.  Bet it's a lot

How cool - this guy was moving the very heavy rope that fastens the ship to the dock

We did a bunch of provisioning in Honolulu and I assume we also got rid of a bunch of garbage

I thought we'd get off via the elevated walkway.  Nope, we walked straight onto the dock via the normal small gangway

How much fuel does it take to get us across the Pacific?  We're heading out next for eight days at sea

We took a taxi to Waikiki.  The photos do not show the mass of people.  People lying in the sand.  People walking.  People surfing.  It is paradise, covered with people.  I lived on a lagoon in the South Pacific where I was frequently the only person on the beach.  That was heaven.  This is...not

After some brief instruction (we were metal detecting, not sky diving) Carl got started.  Marina headed off on her own

In the background is the famous statue of King Kamehameha

Just under the sand here was hard.  Like cement hard.  We were looking for coins, lost jewelry, anything, really

Their equipment is not cheap.  The detector itself is about $1,500.  The "carrot" which is called that because it looks like a carrot, costs about $150 and is used to hone in on the location after the big detector finds something

There are both audible and visible clues with the detector.  Carl and Marina use headphones.  There's a small cell phone size thingy (try not to be distracted by my use of technical terms) that can be taken off the big detector.  It shows, using numbers, any metal.  Carl was very patient in explaining what the sounds/numbers mean.  And how it differentiates between ferrous/non-ferrous metals.  Sadly, aluminum trash sounds similar to coins

Lots of people were renting surfboards

I questioned Carl's legitimacy as a "detector".  He is not wearing what I thought was mandatory - black dress socks and sandals

I tried to avoid taking photos of the beach packed with almost-naked people.  I believe many of the women I saw in the thong bikinis are a different species than I am.  My body has NEVER looked like that!  Many of the guys also looked like they spent a lot of time on their bodies. There were a lot of beautiful people.  It looked very different than the crowds I see on Daytona Beach.  Miami Beach, maybe

After demonstrating, Carl handed over the equipment.  I immediately got a hit.  A quarter!  Now, I'm hooked!

I also got another, weird hit.  It seemed long and the signal was strong.  A sword?  A gold bar??  No, it was a series of electronic something or others that were buried in the sand

Marina and Carl do research and go detecting when they travel.  One of their favorite places is a small town in Germany.  It was a Roman market town and they've found a variety of stuff, including Roman coins

I wanted to get into detecting to get my outside and walking.  Finding anything would just be a bonus.  Kind of like fishing and playing the slots.  I do it for fun not because I think I'm going to hit it big.  

There were a lot of birds.  This one appeared to be on a mission

It was a stunning day with perfect weather

Not a bad place to be a cop.  One "tourism officer" stopped us to just express interest in what we were doing.  There were a lot of homeless and tourists so I assume petty crime is an issue

It is hard to look cool when detecting but I think Carl pulled it off

Kona and Hilo have restrictions on highrises.  I think that's a good idea

We met a lady with leis and a dog.  This is Marina who asked the woman for a recommendation for a lunch spot

This pup looked like Buddy's cousin.  I really miss Big Butt

After a couple hours of detecting, we had coins, some trash and a penny that someone had cut a cross into

It was lunch time so we headed away from the beach in search of a poke place that a couple of locals recommended.  We noticed all these surfboards in an apartment parking garage a couple blocks off the beach

My absolutely wonderful "All Hawaiian" poke bowl.  Warm sushi rice topped with fresh greens, avocado, raw tuna and blue marlin, sea asparagus (seaweed), macadamia nuts and avocado.  $13.50

Later, back on the ship, I started dinner with the pineapple and strawberry appetizer.  

The entree was amazing.  Wahoo with ginger/veg cooked in a banana leaf

When I got back to my cabin after lunch/detecting, this is what I found.  The barrier on the balcony had been taken off the hinge

This guy knocked on my door a bit later.  He'd been working on it and had gone to get another part

I thought sail away was 4:30, which is typical for most ports.  Nope.  10:30.  I couldn't figure out why.  Provisioning was done.  Shore excursions back by 5.   But discovered they'd brought local performers on board and they didn't disembark after the evening show until 10:30.  We left the dock a few minutes later

Views from Deck 9, aft, by the Sea View pool

This is the poke appetizer I had the following night.  Sorry it's out of order.  The fried thing was wonderful.  My Swiss grandma used to make something very similar.  We called it kuechle and covered it with powdered sugar and had it for dessert

Dessert was creme brulee.  It is available every night in case one of the four or five nightly specials don't appeal