Thursday, February 10 – Honolulu

Call me Captain Ahab. I’m in search of an up close and personal encounter with a whale today! Unlike the S.S. Minnow though, my tour is only going to last two hours, not three! (and hopefully we’ll make it back to the dock safely!)

You’ve probably noticed there’s something missing from these photos…that would be a WHALE!! (did see a ton of flying fish though, so there’s that)

I’m now oh-for-two on my whale watching excursion attempts. I struck out in Iceland as well a few years ago (remember J.K.?). Maybe I should just take the hint?

I gotta say however that it wasn’t a terrible outing. It was a beautiful morning; with calm seas and wonderful views of Waikiki.

There is a good news postscript though: The tour company offers a “Whale Guarantee”. Bonus! If a whale is not sighted, the customer can go on any one subsequent tour that they offer with a full credit. I’m going to take them up on that, obviously. However, I’ve decided to pass on the whale watching, and am going to go on a snorkel and lunch outing instead (at an additional cost of $42). Watch this space for the details on that upcoming excursion…

My day concluded on a very enjoyable note. My friend Ed’s sister and brother-in-law (who I had not previously met) arrived in Waikiki this afternoon. They were traveling here from Maui, so the plan was to get acquainted and share some Oahu and Maui tips. We met at Sam’s Kitchen for dinner (where I had previously tried their delicious seared Ahi). Our timing was fortuitous, as Sam himself arrived while we were there with the day’s fresh catch!

Our time together flew by – we spent three hours talking. A fun night!

Sidenote: When I told Debbie and Ron about my failed whale mission today, they provided me with some encouraging news: they had just had spectacular whale watching success in Maui! Hopefully that will still be the case when I get there in a couple weeks!

Friday, February 11 – Honolulu

I’m venturing to the windward (east shore) side of Oahu today, to an area called Kailua (thanks for the suggestion Ray & Kathy!). The ride by bus, with one transfer, took about an hour. It was an inland route, so not very scenic.

My itinerary includes two beaches, a park, and a fun hike. Let’s hit it!

I’ve done a lot of walking today! But thankfully there was a public access point to the street not too far from here, and from there the bus stop was close as well. Whew!

A very enjoyable day!

Steps Update: Today is the halfway point of my abbreviated trip itinerary. A perfect time to see how my steps are progressing: I’m still averaging 17k steps per day, with a day max of 30k, and a min of 10k. I’m guessing though that my average is going to go down as I transit to the other islands, due to the fact I’ll have a rental car.

Saturday, February 12 – Honolulu

Today I booked a guided tour of Hawaii’s Plantation Village. This is an outdoor museum that includes restored buildings and replicas of plantation structures. It is on the site of a previous working sugar plantation, to the west of Honolulu. Via an express bus, it took about an hour to get there.

The guided tour lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes, at a cost of $12 (with the senior discount; should I be happy about that?). A bargain! It was very interesting, and there were only four of us on the tour.

Sadly, I have to admit that I dropped the ball on taking photos. I was really engrossed in the tour and assumed I could work my way back afterwards to get more shots. What I didn’t realize though was that access to the outdoor portions of the museum was via a guide accompaniment only. Doh! Sorry about that!

Sugar Trivia: I learned that the C&H brand of sugar stands for California and Hawaii – because the sugar cane was sourced in Hawaii and refined in California. There you go!

I came across some more disturbing news today (following the Subway travesty). A sign on the bus indicated that, as of March 1st, fares using the HOLO card would be dropping from $2.75 to $2.00. What?!? I can’t believe I’ll be missing out on this!