Mid-Pacific

Blog 6:: Wednesday 29th January 2014 - Full ahead towards Honolulu - Ship's time is presently 9 hours behind GMT: Choppy seas, overcast skies and heavy swell. The sea mist descends quickly and disappears again.  We completed 8548 nautical miles on the leg between Southampton and San Francisco. 

NB - A nautical mile is 1.15 statute miles. 

My last blog was written from a Starbucks Cafe early on Sunday morning 26th January. We duly completed the free WiFi email sorting and Skype to the Kids and Grandchildren around 10am local time and headed to buy our one day SF travel passes for $15 each. A decision was taken that we could not do everything in the short time in SF so in order to see the "real" City and its way of life we rejected a trip to Alcatraz or a trip to see the famous Redwoods of Muir Woods or go to the Napa Valley wine growing region. We also rejected tours of the swinging 60's 'Magic Bus' ride or visiting famous movie film locations such as "Mrs Doubtfire" or "Dirty Harry" or historically, the first ever talking movie called "The Jazz Singer". I do remember however the famous Buster Keating film "Daydreams" where he hung off the back of a SF cable car.

(PIC)- SF cable car....

(PIC)- a clam chowder....

Indeed that is where at 10.15 am we started on a famous cable car - Wow! up and down hill we went watching the driver control the descents pulling and pushing the huge control levers. People hanging on the sides, the famous bell being rung every few seconds to get motorists and pedestrians out of the way with the Driver shouting " Hey man do you want to die!". We jumped off in Market Street and walked through some residential and shopping areas before jumping back onto a street car on another circuit which got us back to the sea front for a lunch of delicious Clam Chowder at the famous Boudin Sour Dough Cafe. 

(PIC) - The famous Sea Lions (Pier 39)....

Off we went again, round and round on other stretches of either cable car, trolley bus or tramcar via Union Square, the Lombard crooked Street, China Town, ending back at Pier 39 to visit the Alcatraz shop and spend time with the famous Sea Lions who were basking in the sun at the end of the pier. These seven feet long slippery customers weighing up to 850lbs 'Sea-lebrities' have been hauling out on K dock since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. A few of them have now become several hundred. At first they were regarded as a nuisance but now the locals love them for what they are, a beautiful marine mammal which brings in the dough (not to be confused with sour dough!).

(PIC) - The Aurora photographed from Telegraph Hill....

Another change of direction with Jacky heading up the steep Telegraph Hill to the Coit Tower to take a few pictures and I wandered around a few blocks to find a pharmacy to get some stuff for my poorly hip which was causing a few muscle spasms (twas those up and down hills that got me). We met up again at around 4.15 and once again set out on an adventure using public transport. This time out to the Golden Gate Park suburbs using a combination of normal and trolley busses, passing the University, the Civic Centre, the Opera House, the Herbst Theatre and Davies Symphony Halls. All these buildings have a wonderful architectural style.

(PIC) - Classic architecture of SF....

(PIC) - The mist rolling in....

We jumped off at Golden Gate Park as the evening mist was fast descending and walked through some beautiful SF suburban neighbourhoods to eventually return via trolley bus and street car to arrive at Pier 35 and the Aurora around 6.45pm. A few panics on the way when we got lost in the really thick mist and knew the boat was sailing at 8pm, but we
made it. I was well pooped and dinner went down very well indeed. What an amazing day. Jacky is just the best 'field trip' organiser and without her energy and adventure spirit I would be just pottering around a pier or going on yet another coach excursion.

(PIC image) - Alcatraz Island 1962... 

I was disappointed not to visit Alcatraz but that will be for another trip one day. Al Capone, George (machine gun) Kelly, Robert (the bird man) Stroud were all infamous inmates that have gone down for all the wrong reasons in fokelore. The island today is a busy Tourist attraction but somehow it still remains what it always was - a fort, a prison and a place of isolation.

(PIC) - Sunset on route to Oahu....

We 'set sail' right on 8pm and after 5 days sea cruising the Aurora is due to arrive in Honolulu on the island of Oahu on Friday after travelling some 2500 miles to the south west of San Francisco. Indeed SF on the American Coast is the nearest main landmass to the Hawaiian archipelago which stretches approximately 1600 miles in length North to South. Only 7 of the 162 islands in the chain are inhabited and one of those is in private hands. Three-quarters of the Hawaiin islands' one million inhabitants live on Oahu and most of these reside in Honolulu.

(PIC insert) - A famous painting of the death of Captain Cook....

A snippet of modern History of Hawaii (pronounced locally as Hawai'i). In his search for the North West Passage, Captain James Cook in 1778 landed on Kauai Island and the locals thought he was a god sent to them by the seas. When he left and was forced to return eight months later to repair a broken mast attitudes towards the 'visitors' changed and he was subsequently killed in a skirmish.

(PIC) - The Royal Palace and the statue of King David....

A few years later the self proclaimed King David Kamehameha from the main island of Hawaii (called the Big Island) took advantage of this new modern influence and technology, in particular new firearm weapons and one by one took control of all the main islands in the archipelago. Subsequent Kings were elected till around 1890 when an overthrow attempt backed by an American led influence based on the very large and thriving sugar industry made the Country into a Republic. However it was not until the late 1950's that Hawaii became the 50th American state.

Today there is still a royal palace not only to celebrate the first King who is now revered as the founder of modern Hawaii but also to respect the long local history of the first Polynesian settlers.
The Americans can now boast that although they are a Republic they too have a Royal residence within their union as happens in Europe.

(PIC insert) - Hula Dancing in Hawaii....

Think of Hawaii and one thinks of the Hula dance - Ladies hips wiggling side to side, arms moving provocatively telling their story and wearing those 'Leis' (grass skirts) and 'Lei' (garlands) showing wonderful arrangements of local flora. Also the famous Waikiki Beach or indeed the now infamous location of Pearl Harbour.


(PIC insert )  - A Panting of the Pearl Harbour attack in 1942....


It is ironic to think that 80 years on it is the Japanese Tourists who flock in high numbers to pay homage to those 2000 USA seamen who died and the 18 battleships that were sunk by a force of nearly 200 war planes on that early Sunday morning in December 1941. 

(Image)- The wonderful Hawaiian island of Oahu.....

With only one day to sightsee on this beautiful island we have decided to steer away from the big tourist attractions around Honolulu itself to witness the natural beauty and cultures and of course the people of this island paradise. We will travel across the island via the Ko'olau Mountains and the world's steepest cliffs at 2000 feet, through the Valley of the Temples to visit Turtle Beach and also Sunset Beach famous for the large waves and surf boarding centre of the world. A visit to the world's largest pineapple canning plantation and a traditional village is also on the itinerary.  I also want to investigate the native plant and seabird species by visiting Makalena State Park. Should time permit a visit to finish the day at the Foster Botanical Gardens in Honolulu. A different day so hopefully we can get an early start after we berth.

In the mean time it is some down time on the ship - learning to play bridge, catching up on my guitar practice, a spot of reading, writing and eating!. Unbelievably we are now one fifth of the way into our adventure with 100 days left till our return to the UK in May. How time flies indeed!

Blog 7 to follow  after a visit to Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango) in the American Samoan Islands, then onto Tonga in the South Pacific, the last port of call before a longish sea journey to our final destination in Auckland in around two weeks time.

You can still track the Aurora on www. pocruises.com/cruise-ships/aurora/webcam/  

God bless you all for the continued kind remarks and feedback on my blogs to date. Sorry I can't always reply, but internet connection is very slow and expensive on the ship. You can also see by our busy schedule that sitting in internet cafes is not deemed a must do activity.

DKT