Sunday, January 15, 2023 – Day 26
Yesterday was a day for celebration – we saw land for the first time in 6 days! We didn’t get to set foot on land until today, but the promise of terra firma was enough to cause the crew to break out the champaign! We gathered at the bow of the ship to stare through the volcanic haze and watch land draw near. As excited as we were on our safe and comfortable ship, I can only imagine how ancient mariners would have felt after months of risking their lives to finally see land!
We stood out on the open deck for hours watching as the captain brought us in for a scenic sail along the southwestern shore of The Big Island of Hawaii.
The dark areas on shore are from lava flows reaching the sea. A little further along the coast we could see where homes had survived the lava flow only to be stranded without utilities or visible means of access. You might remember the news reports when this happened, I do! Mauna Loa is the largest volcano, the world’s largest volcano so I’ve learned; she last erupted on Nov. 27, 2022 after being quiet for 38 years. Kilauea has had recent activity as well. The locals seem to call the haze ‘vog’; volcanic ash mixed with fog to create ‘vog’. Current activity is confined to the volcano’s craters, so there was no lava flowing into the sea to see. We happy all was quiet as we sailed past! As darkness overtook us, we sailed through the night, northeast to Oahu.
A little after 6 o’clock this morning many of us gathered to watch the ship approach Honolulu. We were all hoping to see the sun rise over Diamond Head. We were not disappointed!
We spent a lovely day, seeing the sights of Honolulu and touring the Bishop Museum. The museum, founded in 1889, houses an extensive collection of Hawaiin and Polynesian artifacts. And while the collection was impressive, the architecture itself was stunning. The basalt stone used for the exterior of the building and the Koa wood woodwork are works of art. My pictures don’t do it justice.
Tomorrow, we have another day in Honolulu. We will be touring Pearl Harbor. We had the honor of visiting this site some years ago. On that visit we went out to the Arizona Memorial. It is an intensely moving experience. During this visit we will not go out to the Arizona but are looking forward to seeing the rest of the site. We remember there being several exhibits we didn’t have time to see on our first visit here.
While we know most of you are in the grip of winter there at home, we are soaking up sunshine on your behalf and wish you Aloha!