The tour was called Natural Highlights of Oahu and covered the southeast part of the island.  Our tour guide said that Honolulu is second after Los Angeles for the worst traffic in the US and yes it was congested and slow going to get past Waikiki and out of the city limits which covers quite a distance. Our first stop was inside the crater of Diamond Head.  I would have liked to have enough time to walk up on the rim or at least walk one of the paths. As it was I didn’t think the scenery was interesting enough to take a picture.  The most interesting scenes were all the bright yellow fire trucks, ambulances and helicopters taking care of people who had heat exhaustion. The guide said that is a common occurrence when people over exert themselves by walking up to the rim. Good thing we didn’t have enough time for me to try it.

We caught glimpses of the beach in Waikiki as we drove through and it sure looked inviting with the light sand and pretty water

Our tour guide stopped at several overlooks

There are many chicken running loose on the island and we were told these are “feral chickens” and that they are mean and will win a fight with the also “feral cats.”

Remember the movie with Charlton Heston and Deborah Kerr called On The Beach? It was filmed here.  There are many shows and movies filmed in Hawaii and we saw signs that Hawaii 50 would be filming in the area the following day.

The Monk Seals blend right in with the rocks

This guy was sitting peacefully just watching the waves until these big ones hit and he jumped up and became pretty wary after that

Hanauma BayI was looking at this scene when suddenly one military helicopter after another came out from behind the big rock.  It reminded me of a movie scene but I can’t remember which one.

We had the beach side of the bus and Allison had the mountain side. If you remember, Allison was on the Australia cruise in September and we sat at the same table in the dining room. Now she and her sister-in-law are coincidentally in the room next to us. Allison is a cruising maniac. This is her 6th just this year.  We talked to one lady who had gone on this very Hawaii cruise 12-15 times! There are so many people that cruise for the sake of cruising instead of the destination.  This particular cruise has a passenger population of very large people. By large I mean obese times 3 or more.  I can understand why cruising is a good way to travel for the mobility impaired.  I would bet there are a few hundred people in either wheel chairs, scooters, walkers, or with canes on the ship.

The Pali Lookout in the Koolau Mountains.

After the tour was over we returned to the ship for a quick mid-afternoon meal.  Then Allison and I struck out walking on our own and did not return to well after dark.  Steve had cut his gum the day before while eating an apple and the bleeding would not stop so he went to bed with a compress.  Allison, who is a nurse, told Steve that putting pressure on his gum was the only way to stop the bleeding. Steve is on a high dose of blood thinners and every once in a while a minor cut gets rather serious.

One more hour and the ship will leave for Kona on the big island of Hawaii.  I will have plenty of time to write about the rest of our visit to Hawaii before we arrive in Long Beach on Sunday.  Until then, Aloha!