Hale Koa and Honolulu

 Hale Koa

Honolulu, Hawaii

March 15, 2019

Our first port was Honolulu. Although many different tours were available, this was the fourth time Christine and I have been to the Hawaiian Islands, so we have taken most of the tours at one time or another. We chose to go to the Hale Koa Resort to spend the day.

Hale Koa means House of the Warrior in Hawaiian and is an Armed Forces Recreation Center located on Waikiki Beach. We have stayed there several times and would love to return in the future.

The lobby is open air with many lounge areas. On Fridays there are vendors.  

Ah, shopping. Serendipity. Christine found one of the vendors from whom she bought hand woven pandanus leaf bracelets some eight years ago. And she bought again.

The Hawaiian fish hook was another of her purchases. The Hawaiian fish hook pendant has significant meaning to Hawaiians, denoting the positive aspects of life. Hawaiian Life says that wearing the fish hook pendant is thought to bring about good luck, prosperity, and strength.

Christine was happy with her purchases and gifts for our sons and daughter-in-law...and herself.

Me, there were several things that I wanted. One was a long wooden back scratcher that came in an alcoholic drink by the same name in which Christine had indulged some years ago. I am down to three back scratchers and wanted to re-stock. BUT, Christine had caught a cold and didn't want a drink (alcoholic). So I didn't get my back scratcher.

I wanted to replace my Hale Koa cap that is getting a little worn, so we went to the exchange store. THEY DON'T CARRY THEM ANYMORE. I didn't get my cap. 

I wanted another Hale Koa t-shirt, but they only had Polo shirts. I DIDN'T GET MY T-SHIRT.

Now, I could pout and go back to the ship or walk around the beautiful hotel grounds. 

Christine had me sit by the great banyan tree to get over my pouting. It worked. So we strolled the Hale Koa grounds.

You see why we love the Hale Koa?

 We ate lunch in the open air café and had a visitor that wanted to join us.

No hurry, I will wait for your crumbs.

Saved for last of our resort tour. Waikiki Beach at the back of the grounds. Hale Koa has the largest beach front on the entire Waikiki Beach. The beach and sea bed gently slope out. There is little if any snorkeling rewards as the sea bed is white sand with no remaining reefs. You have to go way on out or to other islands to find great snorkeling, but as far as pure swimming fun, the beach is great.

Honolulu and the famous Aloha Tower from the ship.

Local touring yacht.

 Tripler Army Medical Center overlooks Pearl Harbor.

Small section of harbor skyline.

Diamond Head in the background taken from the very top deck of the Eurodam. Hate to end on a sour note, but once you could see Diamond Head from almost anywhere in Honolulu. Now, as more and more high rise buildings go up, the view is getting to be more and more difficult.

How to Survive a 28 Day Cruise

Survive?? I learned the headline teaser from the news media. The only hardship Christine suffered was that she had to eat unpeeled grapes--supplied fresh with other fruits in our room daily.

Living room.

Bedroom

M' lady's boudoir

Bathroom. Two sink counter. Shower, bathtub, jacuzzi combination. Small shower stall adjacent to bathtub.  

Two sink counter.

From this angle, right in the center by the desk lamp is a coffee maker. Forgot to take pics of the ample closet and drawer space.

Balcony. Pads were available for the chairs (brought in every night and during inclement weather).

Just across the hall were Inga and Luigi always ready and eager to assist. They operate from the Neptune Lounge but take care of any ship board problems or needs. 

Small but adequate buffet in the Lounge available to Neptune Suite passengers only. To the far right was another counter with snacks. One could eat all meals here or in one's cabin if you wanted to be a hermit or not fight crowds. We frequently ate lunch in the lounge as we would have a big breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill and a big dinner in the main dining room. Oh yes, the buffet also had cookies and candy. If they just had an ice cream dispenser (sigh)...

Tea time.

Plenty of space. Never too crowded.

All the comforts of home. 

And Christine made herself at home. Somehow we survived.

From Pollywog to Order of the Purple Porpoise Golden Shellback

 Pollywog to Shellback Proclamation

March 2019

South Pacific

If one has never crossed the equator, he is a Pollywog. 

When you cross the equator, you are a Shellback.

If you cross the equator and the international date line you are a Golden Shellback.

The Order of Purple Porpoise is when you cross the junction of the equator and the international date line and the vernal equinox on the same day.

The Purple Porpoise designation is a rare occurrence, but Christine and I were among the ones who sailed across all three on March 20, 2019.

In the previous "update" blog, I mentioned that due to previous plans, we would not start cycling until April. March 9, we began a wonderful 28 day cruise to Hawaii and the French Polynesian Islands.

As always, I had my trusty camera with me and took the momentous picture when we accomplished the above.

 This is what the crossing of the equator looked like.

 The crossing of the international date line.

  And the Spring Equinox. 

Traditionally there is a ceremony for sailors or mariners who cross the equator for the first time. And so the crew members of the MS Eurodam were summoned by King Neptune and her Highness Amphitrite to undergo the "hazing" to become Shellbacks. During the ceremony, the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly embarrassing ordeals. (However the ordeals were tamed down as it was witnessed by the whole ship's crew and passengers). 

King Neptune and her Highness Amphitrite

King Neptune or her Highness Amphitrite would read a Pollywog's "offense," then the Shellback assistants would drag him over to Davey Jones.

 Davey Jones (ship's captain John Scott) and his assistants (ship officers) would pronounce the sentence.

They could be slimed.

 They could be operated upon. Then dumped into the pool. All of the pollywogs were dumped into the pool after their sentencing procedure. The pool was a mess. 

 The "tamest" procedure was  a terrible haircut by the person sitting on the right in a white coat. However, the haircut was generally in conjunction with another ordeal.

It was a fun day. A historic day. And another day at sea,.