Honolulu, Hawaii

Tuesday, January 24

Although most of us know that the Pacific is the largest and deepest ocean, we don’t truly fathom its vastness until we traverse it by boat. For example, it took four full sea days to reach Honolulu from Los Angeles. After we visit Kauai tomorrow, it will take another five full sea days to reach Tahiti. When you turn the globe with the Pacific Ocean facing you, look at how much of that side of the globe is just water. The Pacific Ocean contains more than 75,000 volcanoes. It covers more than 30% of the earth’s surface and is larger than the landmass of all of the continents combined. Traveling the Pacific by boat or ship can be rough, because of the winds and swells, but the experience is fascinating.

Honolulu, on the Island of O’ahu, was stunning in the glistening morning sun from our cruise ship. Diamond Head dominated the landscape in the morning mists, but as we neared the port, the city loomed, enormous, with homes sweeping up the hills in the background. The green, lush mountains were capped in clouds as in a rain forest. A land mass that looked like a chopped off brown volcano appeared (which we later learned is called Coconut Head Mountain). It is completely flat on top.

To our right was a beautiful, grassy, green park lined with smooth black rocks at the water's edge. Surfers rode the waves as a boat pulled a parasailor, bright colors against the vivid blues of sky and water.

Fascinating to watch as our ship docked, was a close-up view of containers delicately being loaded into the bowels of a ship. Continually passing overhead were military jets, bombers and commercial aircraft.

We hailed a taxi to the Bishop Museum, founded in 1889. The building itself is an incredible work of art, with some of the most beautiful woodwork and wrought iron we have ever seen. The main part of the museum has a large main floor with two upper walk-around balconies above. The layout was reminiscent of Disney’s Fort Wilderness Lodge, but much more rich and ornate.

Overhead were life-size models of sea life and a Hawaiian canoe. The most striking, of course, was the enormous whale. One side of the whale was open to display the bone structures.

The Bishop museum is so filled with beautiful displays and information about the cultures of the Pacific Islands, it is almost overwhelming. You could spend the entire day reading and learning, and still not soak it all in.

The Hawaiian Hall taught us about gods, legends, beliefs, and history. In the main hall, we viewed a life-size model of traditional Hawaiian hut, thatched from top to bottom, with a small model of it, showing the intricate structure beneath. Throughout the Hawaiian Hall were multitudes of statues of the Hawaiian natives' wide variety of gods, with detailed descriptions of each. Hawaiian natives, called Kanaka Maoli, are descended from the early Polynesians who arrived on the islands over 1500 years ago.

We were deeply impressed and moved by the beauty and detail of the woodwork, basket weaving, woven soft mats (usually affordable only by royalty), as well as the delicate fishnets and beautifully carved fish hooks, tools and weapons. The ceremonial costumes were stunning. What an incredible amount of birds it must have taken to create the headdresses, leis and capes! Leis were also created from feathers, shells, bone, and whale teeth. How extraordinary intricate were the very tiny, flat, smooth woven materials, nets and baskets!

Hawaiian royalty was featured in detail in the museum, along with an actual ball gown worn by Queen Lili'uokalani. I was most impressed by what King Kamehameha II decreed regarding food. In the past, Hawaiians had designated which type of food was eaten by the gods, royalty, men, women, people of lower status, etc. He sat in an empty chair at the women’s table and decreed that all types of food may be eaten by all people, no matter who they were.

We were overwhelmed with emotion when reading about the coup d'état against Queen Lili'uokalani, overthrowing the Hawaiian Kingdom's government on January 17, 1983 in Honolulu. The group, referred to as the Committee of Safety, was comprised of businessmen and lawyers (six were citizens of the Hawaiian Kingdom, five were American, one was a Scotsman, and one a German). Online are many interesting articles with more complex details about the events that unfolded, leading to Hawaii becoming our 50th state on August 21, 1959. However, I recommend one article in particular from the The Saturday Evening Post, January 17, 2023: "Considering History: The 1893 Hawaiian Coup and the Realities of American Expansion," by Ben Railton: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/01/considering-history-the-1893-hawaiian-coup-and-the-realities-of-american-expansion/

In the July/August 2023 issue of the The Saturday Evening Post is another excellent article, "Aloha Spirit: The new era of tourism in Hawai'i encourages visitors to leave the archipelago better than they found it, for future generations," by Jill K. Robinson.

The Pacific Hall in the Bishop Museum featured the cultures of Oceania, including canoes, artwork, costumes, weapons, tools, basketry, tattoo art and archaeology. Cultures featured are extensive, from New Zealand, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea to Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

I was amazed when viewing the stiff “cloth," which was created by tortuously pounding bark until it is smooth and thin, melding it together seamlessly, and then using a carved pounding tool that leaves a pattern distinctive to each specific Polynesian culture.

We enjoyed the picture gallery of 19th Century Hawaiian art, as well as the Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kahili Room, which featured the elegant feather standards used in standing guard to the high chiefs. The room was filled with standards of every style imaginable, as well as descriptions of how they were crafted.

We also learned about the European explorers, how they discovered the Pacific Islands, and of course, the ultimate impact they had on the beautiful native inhabitants, their lands and culture.

From the museum grounds, which were covered with magnificent tree specimens, we could see the city skyline and the cruise ship. To travel back downtown, we waited for a bus. The taxi was $26, while the bus was $1.50 each for us senior citizens ($3.00 for everyone else). The ride back took us through Chinatown.

We began talking to a fellow bus rider, who had long, dark, curly hair almost to his shoulder blades. As a Filipino, he enjoyed hearing about the Bishop Museum, but had never been there himself. He couldn’t tell us where the Iolani Royal Palace was, but he did actually get off the bus with us to show us the way to a favorite of the locals, a hole-in-the-wall Indian Restaurant. He was kind, and said that it was fortuitous that we had met, so that he could help us find our way around. The food at the Indian Restaurant was outstanding and more than we could possibly eat.

We found our way to the Iolani Palace, and were able to walk the grounds, scattered with massive trees. The most enormous tree had above-ground roots that looked like curled elephants trunks. We viewed several other historical buildings on our trek back to the cruise ship.

Honolulu is a bustling modern city with fast moving traffic, but wherever we walked, we seemed to catch the crossing light right away. As we walked the streets, large flocks of white pigeons flew willy nilly at us. Roosters and chickens roamed freely.

Hawaiian culture is fascinating. The night before we arrived in Honolulu, we watched passengers taking hula dance lessons. It was beautiful watching them, as their bodies and flowed like the ocean waves. Then behind them came a group learning how to play the ukulele. Later, the two groups performed a song together in the atrium area. The songs were lovely, and we found ourselves singing them in our minds throughout the night.

Hawaii’s culture is truly beautiful — the people are one with the sea and the land.