14
March 2012
Ocean,
ocean, Pacific Ocean, grey sky, cloudy sky, blue sky and oh yes a
ship, an enormous cruise ship I am certainly on a fabulous ship
sailing towards my friends in America.
Honolulu
the most densely populated area in the whole of the United States, a
small island in the Pacific Ocean. The first I knew we were there I
looked out the porthole on the morning of 13th March. The prow of a
black ship much smaller than ours, maybe 50-60 feet, or 20 metres
long with white writing on the bow, keeping pace very close to our
cruise vessel. Behind the black boat, (I think the Coast Guard), a few
industrial buildings visible such as you find in a commercial port.
We were also going much slower than usual and the water seemed
calmer. I'd arisen as soon as I awoke, so excited were were to be in
port, it was around 7.30am.
We'd
been provided with detailed instructions beforehand re how to
disembark. Those booked on excursions were to go through immigration
first. We passengers had also been talking amongst ourselves about
the best way to approach immigration and most people, who'd been
through the process before, said it all seemed to be the same as
usual. It would just take a bit of time. No one had any problem with
security measures just with the queuing, so it was best to just
follow procedure, not try to jump the queue at all.
So
I reported at the time I was supposed to and only had to wait on one
of the wooden chairs on deck, (with a comfy blue striped cushion upon
it) for about half an hour. I could see the Aloha Tower to my right
and Pier 11 building, both in Art Deco style, cream painted with a
sea-green trim and so on, directly in front of me. My friend Anne,
who works in Hawaii said we could meet in front of that very tower,
so I was glad to know I was in the right place. After a while I also
joined a line of people headed for one of the nightclubs on board.
Tables were set up on the dance-floor there, with officers to
question us and stamp our passports at each one. Eventually, I was
allowed on ahead into the immigration area to sit and wait, with
others who have difficulty walking, since I couldn't stand or walk
for long without sitting down along the way.
Off
we went after the tedious queuing, (yes, there was some) to check
through security with our bags and cards, then down the gangplank
with white canvas sides and along the quay in warm weather, turned
into the cavernous port building high enough to take our ship for dry
dock it seemed to me, but by the time I got through to the other
side, I realised our ship towered way above that terminal building.
Surprising
to see so few people and so little traffic in port-side Honolulu,
even if the place was built-up and skyscrapers stood a short distance
away past a park and shopping arcade. Someone remarked the next
lunch-time on board ship that during the hotter part of the day, many
people in Hawaii take a rest, a siesta-style break. So sensible in
hot countries. This gave me a chance to wander around without feeling
bothered by crowds or new people right away. Many souvenir shops near
the wharf of course, with some fine silk imported clothes on offer,
also excellent Hawaiian shirts, (the classic re-worked in various
ways with a style to suit just about anybody), and a local girl wore
a fitted designer version of the sundress, with cap sleeves and a
full skirt to her knee in a local print with palm leaves on it,
green, yellow and white. This really impressed me. Anne later
explained that the locals dress in a kind of uniform where the men
wear Hawaiian shirts and the women wear lovely dresses in local
fabrics.
Everyone
in the shops said, 'Aloha,' and I'd love to hear, 'Kia Ora' said at
home more often. Aloha is also written on the buses beside the
door when you enter to take a ride somewhere.
I'm
not sure that much of what I saw near the wharf was made in Hawaii,
but some excellent clothes and so on were available.
Further
along towards the city I walked. An enormous sailing boat with three
masts sat at berth. It looked rather worse for wear and maybe 50 or
70 years old. The hull painted black with a cream and red trim. A
woman who played bridge with me the next day mentioned that it was
part of the Maritime Museum, a sign of the lack of funds which has
afflicted the place. The museum is closed now due to financial
support being unavailable. A number of large, valuable old vessels
are simply mouldering away too, with no funds to restore them.
Large
stone or concrete blocks painted green announced ALOHA near the Aloha
Tower arcade. A passing man who looked rather worn out asked me with
mime and in accented English for a cigarette. He wore a grey hoodie
and looked cold even if it was a warm day. I shook my head, no I did
not have any and turned away. His eyes ran over my camera, my
jewellery, briefly, then dismissively perhaps because I wear and use
little of great or easy resale value. I did not feel at all
threatened, it was just he looked kind of interested like almost
anyone would. I'd been told to prepare myself for the amount of
homeless people there would be, so I was not as amazed as I could've
been to see this person approach me. He looked sad and ill more than
anything else. I wished I knew what to do to make things better but
of course, I didn't, not right then.
At
a bus stop across the road, I sat around, chatted with other
tourists, read some signs, tried to gather information re buses to
see the city. A colourful blonde, tall woman with a reddish suntan
got off a bus. She smiled broadly and strode about in gold wedge high
heels. I think she tried to get my attention and the eye of others
passing along from the boat recently arrived. I did my best to ignore
her, the elaborate tattoos along her arms and up her back, (the
reddish-orange batik silk dress she wore to the ground was a halter).
One of my rules when travelling is to beware of anything far too
interesting, especially people.
At
first I tried one of the colourful, open-sided trolley-buses but
discovered they are a private charter only. That was what the driver
said, but it could've been he was speaking the wrong language in a
commentary to the majority of the passengers for me to understand,
(he was presuming I could not speak Japanese, possibly). So I
observed various buses and eventually boarded one of the red buses
with an open top, a double-decker with the roof missing. The
tattooed, charismatic woman also got on and proceeded to try to get
my attention again, (what a fine Irish accent she had) but I still
behaved like I lived in a bubble and the story of her along with
someone else, will be in the poetry collection I'm sketching in at
present to be released perhaps by the end of the year.
So
the open-topped bus - what a fantastic ride and a wonderful way to
see Honolulu for an hour or so. We travelled all the way to Waikiki
Beach made famous by Elvis movies, Hawaii Five-O the TV show, and
countless others. Highly developed compared to the images from those
Blue Hawaii days. There was a building boom in the 1960s and a lot of
apartment buildings and other buildings have a distinct 60s flavour.
I loved much of the architecture. On the way back I was impressed
with a bright pink building, for instance, which houses a design
company. It'll be in my little movie I'll post soon.
Everywhere
massive, dense trees and lush gardens, which I recall my mother loved
on her visits to this lovely island. My mother had a green thumb and
could make almost anything grow, however many of these tropical
plants would not grow outside in New Zealand, only indoors or in a
glasshouse. Absolutely stunning to see the rich variegated foliage
and brightly coloured flowers of these exotic, (to me) plants, great
banks of them outside hotels and apartment buildings or in public
parks, many man-made waterfalls here and there too, lush grass (it
had rained for weeks before we arrived, unusually), countless tall
coconut palms, other palms, fancy twisted trees and with some
gigantic trees there were massive bunches of dark brown aerial roots
hanging down from the tops of some of them, like something out of a
wild fairy story. I've taken many photographs which will be put into
a little movie later on, as mentioned.
We
also meet a local man when I did finally meet Anne outside the Aloha
Tower. She'd been in one place outside the Aloha Tower Arcade and I'd
been by the Aloha Tower itself. A bit of a mixup but we got together
eventually. Anne had been by the information booth, she got talking
with Art who works here, employed by the Aloha Tower complex to
assist people. He also calls himself a human camera, and offered to
draw my picture for me in three minutes, free of charge. While Art
drew we chatted and when he found out we were both writers, he
mentioned a book which he illustrated, a young adult novel. (Anne
also informed me of this, earlier). But Art told me they did not have
Trees for Travel in Hawaii as far as he knew. They did celebrate
Arbour Day and schoolchildren planted many trees then. I could also
see trees if I wanted to, they grew everywhere on the island.
Art
looked truly interested in what I had to say and maybe he'll add
Trees for Travel to his busy life, as an excursion for tourists?
The young man also ran a shopping service from the booth, using his
laptop. I was so pleased to meet someone who fully understood
what I was suggesting, having asked on three Pacific Islands so far.
I
found this experience truly American in the everyday sense, since he
was so generous, open, friendly and also interested in being of
service and doing business with us in such a charming way. That's my
experience of Americans who live in America anyway, my friends made
online over the last 12 years or so, people I'm going to meet over
the next month and who I will tell you about as best I can.
This
account does veer all over the place but hey, I'm really enthralled.
Why do I need to be overly orderly with the spirit of Aloha upon me?
At
some point on my bus ride around Honolulu during the day, by the way,
I fell in love with the place. The warm air, the wind in my air, the
sway of the bus and seeing gorgeous trees everywhere, great
architecture which suits a beachy place and also a city, people so
friendly or at least attractive, happy for the most part. At one
point a large local man in a cream Hawaiin shirt, white-framed
sunglasses as round as the moon, he spied our bright red open-topped
bus and threw his arms up as if to embrace us, beaming a smile at the
people travelling by. I had to laugh and smile in return. Can't tell
you why I fell in love exactly of course, but I'm pleased that I've
enjoyed more or less the same experience my mother knew, and
understand now why she always spoke of this beautiful island in such
glowing terms and with such excitement in her voice, because now I'm
entranced too.
Anne
and I returned to Waikiki late afternoon on a public bus this time,
chatting all the way about this and that. She told me that where they
live it is quiet and a suburb, which is fine since it's restful,
pleasant and close to work. The times that she's come down to Waikiki
beach too the place always energises her and she finds it exciting in
a really pleasant, amiable fashion. There along the shore with palm
trees softening the sky, so many people's humanity is truly evident
for some reason. I had to agree.
Just
on my short drive past earlier in the red double-decker bus I noticed
what a glorious stretch of coastline people enjoyed at Waikiki, much
longer than I expected and with more features like a man-made
waterfall over a cluster of rocks, a Chanel shop, (serious other
haute couture too just as we arrived), a lovely shaded area with
seats, carefully paved, wide footpaths, many gardens, sparkling ocean
in a magnificent bay, classic 60s apartment buildings, views of the
lush inland landscape of Hawaii including an outcrop called I think,
Diamond Head, many coconut palms just like the postcards would have
you believe, stacks of large-size surfboards back in again, and
everyone beautiful, casually dressed people from all over the world.
Not that everybody looked like a God on the face of the earth but
something about the balmy air, the light, the hearted spirit of the
place gets most people looking relaxed, happy and to me this gave
them all a certain beauty. There were also the most healthy, fit
people I have seen in one place for a long time. People in Hawaii
spend a lot of time outdoors and they have good food, Anne explained
later, this is good for pretty well everyone's health.
I
have to mention it was heart-rending to see many homeless people in
Hawaii, and also to hear that they are not permitted to park the
trolleys on the footpath for very long. If they do park them, their
trolleys are taken away, for good. So the city is removing the very
last things that these people own, except for what they carry on
their person. I do not believe it is a good idea to make the
marginalised move completely off the page. We are all part of the
story here, or anywhere. I believe the city needs to do more to
assist those people not to make their lives worse, this needs to be
done world-wide.
After
walking a great distance over beautifully paved footpaths, a mosaic
of large greyish and white-ish stones in haphazard, crazy-paving, we
both made our way back towards the street where Anne believed we
could find a Thai restaurant. This was also near the bus stop which
would take us eventually towards my cruise ship, (yes, it is mine
now, I love it so), and Anne to her bus-stop to take another bus
home. On the way I had to sit down as I do sometimes when my
arthritis pains me.
We
decided on something refreshing. I had a chocolate and hazelnut
gelato and Anne chose a cup of tea. Just as the sun was setting and
even though it's over in a flash, I had to agree with the palm trees
in the foreground and the people gently walking to and fro I found it
all most picturesque. A swathe of changing reds, oranges and pinks
across the sky for a few minutes, perhaps ten or so but one of the
loveliest sights I have seen. But do remember when watching a sunset,
we must never look directly at the sun, it damages our eyes.
We
talked away, swapped news and views, observed where we were and Anne
told me a little of the local history and so on. In the middle of one
of these conversations while we sat outside the gelato shop, I
noticed a man was dropping pieces of cabbage on the ground. Anne
pointed under a chair by our table. A large ginger guinea pig was
eating away at one of the leaves. The tanned and rather handsome
young man had decided to bring his pet down to Waikiki Beach to show
it off to people, an excuse for conversation, a way to pass the time.
All about us many people were enjoying themselves in this relaxed
fashion. A little further along the road, hula demonstrations took
place with flaming torches going along the foreshore and hula music
played boldly, buskers performed music at intervals including one
Santa Claus playing the violin, (who as Anne said, must've been
really hot in those clothes) and sometimes local music played from
shops.
Eventually,
we conquered the charm of Waikiki, Hawaii enough to find somewhere to
satisfy our hunger, a Korean restaurant at the end of a short side
street, an alley really but quite swish. Yet another souvenir market
at the end of it, too. Examined the menu outside to see what was on
offer and the prices. Some dishes within our budget. Then we looked
in the window and saw mainly Korean people eating there. Decided this
was a very good sign, walked in and held up two fingers, (in the
peace sign position) to indicate we were the entire party.
Sure
enough for around $18- each we were delivered of many plates of small
appetisers with white rice plus two bowls of delicious soup. Mine was
tofu and pork, and I think Anne's may have have been chicken and
vegetable. We also ordered a Budweiser beer each. I wanted to try
this famous beer for myself and never had, (a light rather sweet beer
served with a frosty glass, a pleasant touch considering the hot
weather). Beer like lager also most often goes with many Asian
dishes, I think.
All
over the walls and ceiling of the small place were sheets of white
paper with drawings and commendations, comments made by various
customers, some in Korean and some in other languages. Each small
poster was covered in plastic and made a novel, attractive decor for
a busy restaurant of this fresh, down-to-earth style.
After
about an hour we went to the bus stop and waited. I noticed a man
with his shoes off and tattooed arms benignly observing a man, woman
and a child sitting on the bus bench seat next to his. I wondered why
he was doing that and thought he looked like he wanted to talk with
them. Sure enough, after a while he walked over and made a comment
about the couple's tattoos on their arms then showed them his, on his
forearms. Many of these kinds of casual conversations occurred around
Hawaii, apparent strangers chatting to pass the time and a great many
people willing to converse in their turn too.
Then
a black car stopped and someone got out of the back seat, rap music
playing really loudly, a young man waiting at the bus stop, the crown
of his peaked cap almost as high and round as his own head, a style
I'd never seen before in real life, then they were all in the car
again and off, oonst, oonst, oonst on their way to the traffic
lights. A woman walked past with a tiny dog on a pink leash and
looked nervous at passing the bus stop, then lifted her face to the
city lights and looked happier. An extremely old man got on to a bus,
correct change in his hand which is what you need, his newish, black
baseball cap with Vietnam Veteran embroidered on the front in white.
The
bus drivers who stopped kept giving us various advice, or Anne really
since she asked the questions. Soon we did find the right bus to be
on, and Anne eventually stopped at her junction to catch another bus
home, while I was on my way alone in Honolulu just after 9pm. It felt
far safer than catching a bus at that hour in night-time Auckland,
New Zealand, anywhere and the bus driver gladly told me where to
alight so I could walk down to the quay building, go through
security and board the vessel again.
We
were leaving for San Francisco at 10:30 pm. The two female security
officers regarded me and one checked my person with the plastic wand
they wave across your body. When this was done the other one smiled
and said, 'Time to have a good rest now Ma'am.'
I
must have looked tired but I certainly felt happy. 'Aloha,' I called
then as surely as I walked back through the cavernous place, past the
gigantic mural of passengers from some imagined 1930s voyage
disembarking from a cruise ship with streamers down the side of their
vessel. They called, 'Aloha' back to me.
We
sailed for 'Cisco that evening, I slept without dreams and awoke this
morning with a feeling of delight I'd not felt for days. Lovely to
see a friend and to have enjoyed Hawaii so very much, thanks to all
concerned.
