USA

Today we arrived in Kauai, where Andrew and I first visited shortly after the big hurricane in 1992 and then we visited again with my parents on the Hawaiian cruise about a decade ago. Previously we have rented cars to check out the island, this time we took a HAL Tour which was offering some things we have done in the past (Grand Canyon of the Pacific) and some we have not such as the Fern Grotto river cruise and some other sights we have missed!

I was up early at 7 am while the ship was docking and we had breakfast at 7:30 am as our tour was meeting downstairs at 8:15 am! Got up, got fed and packed and ready to go! Not much to report on the docking of the Noordam other than it seemed to take a long time – I suspect there were several tugs involved with pushing us into the dock as I heard the Azipods working really hard to snuggle us in too! Andrew had observed two gangways yesterday of passengers getting off the ship – one mid-ship and one at the stern – where we had to get off. Now we understood why – the tours get off mid-ship and passengers visiting the port without booked HAL excursions have to walk all the way to the BACK of the ship!

When we took the elevator from Deck 5 where we are located to Deck 2 where the Excursion check in is located, we had the pleasure of meeting the Captain in the elevator! I congratulated him on a successful docking in Kauai and he made a comment about it being a challenging port. The elevators move fast on this ship (recently replaced) so it was a very short trip and I was not able to ask any other questions!

Soon we were on the bus with Rosario, the driver and tour guide for today. Rosario is Italian, whose family moved to Eastern USA when he was a child and then on his honeymoon, they visited Kauai and they never returned back to the USA. He has lived in Kauai since 1983 and I was really impressed with his knowledge of Hawaiian culture and history! More on that later!

As we drove to ‘Opaeka’a Falls, our first stop, we passed by the “Royal Birthing Stones” which is an area where women gave birth to future kings. Commoners were not allowed into this area. Basically, there is a cave where the woman waited to give birth, some stones which she could push against during the labour process (called Pohaku Hoohanau) and then finally, the Pohaku Piko, the umbilical stone or crack where the umbilical cord is placed after birth. Legend is that if a rat takes the umbilical cord, the child will become a thief, if nothing happens, everything will be fine! The bus just pulled out so we could take pictures from the windows and then we continued.

When we arrived at ‘Opaeka’a Falls, which feed the Wailua river, which is the only navigable river in the State of Hawaii, they were beautiful! The ‘Opaeka’a Falls are 151 feet high and 40 feet wide. The falls were running well for this time of year as it had rained last night. There is a wonderful viewing platform for the falls and then one can cross the highway which looks at the Wailua River and up the valley as it winds into the lush vegetation of Kauai. ‘Opaeka’a Falls means “rolling shrimp” in Hawaiian, a name derived from the freshwater shrimp that were once abundant in the stream and appeared to tumble down the cascading water.  The name combines “‘opae” (shrimp) and “‘ka’a” (rolling) to describe the shrimp’s movement in the water at the base of the falls. Here are my pictures of approaching Kauai and the ‘Opaeka’a Falls area.

Now back on our bus, we are headed for a short drive to take a flat bottomed boat to the Fern Grotto. The Fern Grotto is a fern-covered cave set in a tropical garden which is a 2 mile ride up the Wailua River Valley. The Fern Grotto is a heiau (places of worship), pu‘uhonua (places of refuge) and once you arrive, you can take an accessible path up to a wooden plateau/patio where you can view the actual grotto. It was interesting to find out that after the 1992 hurricane, the fern grotto was damaged significantly and the 40+ foot ferns that covered the entrance to the cave were destroyed. Luckily they grow back fast! The other interesting fact is that there used to be a pathway up into the fern grotto, however it is not used anymore for two reasons – it is not accessible (which as a National Park it is required to be) and and American slipped and fell and sued the State of Hawaii, so it was closed. You can barely see the steps and pathways now that went to the entrance of the cave as they are now enclosed in lush greenery!

I knew when going on this HAL Excursion that I was going to have to get onto a bus and there were 4 stairs to get into the flat bottomed boat. That HAL had told me in advance. What I found extremely interesting is that a different HAL Excursion to the “Fern Grotto” was advertised as wheelchair accessible and I saw no wheelchair access from the place we got onto the boats or how to get off the boats at the Fern Grotto docks. That said, the Fern Grotto area was fully wheelchair accessible, with paved paths around the stairs and a ramp up to the “balcony” to take pictures of the grotto area. It was a bit perplexing! After we all walked from the boat to the Fern Grotto, a family of singers performed the Hawaiian Wedding song for us – which was very beautiful in such a natural setting! Apparently there used to be about 5,000 weddings done a year at the Fern Grotto prior to the hurricane, however they only do 5 a month now and they are VERY expensive. Here is a video of the family serenading us with the Hawaiian Wedding song!

Next we walked back down to the boat and the Hawaiian family accompanied us in the boat on the way back to the dock where we originated. They sang Hawaiian songs and took requests too!

Then two men, as originally only men did the Hula, demonstrated a male version of the Hula dance for us.

Then we got back onto the bus and we started traveling west on Kauai, through the main town of Lihue and towards the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” named by Mark Twain, funny enough without even visiting! As there is only one road that basically makes a backwards C shape on Kauai, I noticed some stores where Andrew and I had previously visited and then I saw the “Shrimp Shack” where we had stopped with my parents for lunch when we took a similar drive. I was not fast enough with my phone to take a picture though!

It was getting near lunch time, however first we were going to visit the famed blow hole on Kauai – Koloa or Sprouting Horn! There were actually two blow holes – one larger one which was plugged as it lead to flooding and the smaller one you see in my pictures today. The smaller blow hole can get very high if the sea is rough, however today the sea was fairly calm, so not much action other than it started to rain when I was taking pictures and I got SOAKED!

Next we went for lunch which had been arranged at a local restaurant which was a very nice venue! It was set into a forest type setting and felt very natural and appropriate for the type of tour that we were on. It was a buffet of glutened items, however when I told the waitress, who was escorting me on the accessible bridge to the section that we were to sit in (others went up some stairs), that I had Celiac Disease, she knew right away what to do and brought me some fish and chicken that had just been pan seared for me! Very good service! Andrew had breaded fish and teriyaki chicken off the buffet. Here are some pictures of the restaurant too!

Now fed and burped, we were off to the Grand Canyon area! To get there, you basically travel along the main road on Kauai until it almost ends and then take a right going inland and up the mountain/volcano to see the vista. As Rosario told us, two different people have tried to make a road all the way around Kauai, however they have failed, as the cliffs on the western side are just too high and valleys are so deep. They really are beautiful if you see them from the water. Other than blasting a tunnel through the lava, I have no idea how one would get past that side of the island either!

We wound our way up the cliffs and eventually arrived at the lookout which every time I have been here I am amazed at how beautiful it is!

We then had a great drive back to the ship, where Rosario entertained us all the way back with stories. One in particular that interested me was about the island that is just off the shore of Kauai named Niʻihau. It is the 7th largest island in the Hawaiian chain and is a private island that was bought in the 1800’s by Elizabeth Sinclair for $10,000 US (a lot of money back then!) It now is managed by her decedents, the Robinson’s, who also own a lot of land on Kauai, including former sugar plantations and now acreages of coffee trees. The story of Elizabeth Sinclair can be found here – interesting Canadian connection!

Now back at the ship – time to board as we are now going to set of for Samoa – another 6 days at sea!

Now it was time to get ready for dinner! We had booked the Marimoto’s pop up restaurant for dinner tonight and I was really looking forward to seeing what they came up for me tonight after viewing the VERY LIMITED menu the previous night! I was to be totally surprised! I had selected the Calamari salad, the angry Pad Thai and then for dessert, Gelato as the manager was not sure if any other options would be gluten free.

Well, and that is a DEEP subject, for the 2nd time in this cruise, I was amazed at the food I was served! The Calamari salad, like the menu indicated, was breaded, however for me it was breaded and fried in corn starch and it was a lovely hot salad. However the best was yet to come – the Angry Pad Thai! It came out sizzling hot – it was half a small lobster with some Pad Thai and bok choi on the side. Oh was it good! It was so good I captured the sizzle in a video for you below! Then not to be outdone, the waiter then announced that the chocolate sphere could be made gluten free so I had that for dessert! Oh, la la! A round chocolate globe with vanilla ice cream inside and HOT caramel sauce poured over top – yes my diabetic sensor went a bit high after that meal! Here are the pictures and video!

And for the sizzle effect!

Wow – what a day! No wonder I am tired! Now, off to sea we go and lets see what new trouble I can get into over the next 6 days (really 7 as we cross the International Date Line) until we get to our first stop, Samoa!

Very interesting start for the day! When we woke up we were in front of the breakwater for the Kahului harbour – with our “bow view” window it looked like it was going to be a slim fit getting through that passage! My picture did not work out (too much reflection) however I found one online which shows the entrance. We basically hung out until a large tug appeared to assist us through the breakwater and to the left (port) to where the dock is located. We went in bow first. It was amusing to see a little speed boat which was coming from the right, to try and pass in front of the fairly large tug boat which was heading out of the breakwater from the left to right and all of a sudden the speed boat slowed right down and then passed behind the tug boat. We saw the captain on the deck wave his hands and we think yell at the stupid person in the speed boat to beware of what they were attempting and go around instead! Nothing like Goliath (Noordam) bearing down on an ant in the sea and having a intermediary, which I have no idea what I would envision the tug to me, take command of the situation!

I was very thankful that we were 3 hours behind Vancouver time, as when I got up at 7:30 am in preparation for breakfast, it was hard to move! Not sure if it was the cumulative at sea days and the different parts of my body having to compensate to balance, the after effects of the massage on my legs or still the withdraw from the Opioid medication that I completed last month, however I was not comfortable.

After breakfast, I phoned my pain specialist and left her a message that I needed to chat while I was in Hawaii – either today or tomorrow as after that we were going to be at sea and my phone would not work and then called the Pharmacy who I routinely deal with and asked them for what they would recommend me to do. The challenge is that when you have decided to stop opioid medications, there are certain medications, outside of being hospitalized, that one cannot take. I am used to taking those medications on previous trips as they are in the opioid category for pain management when my pain spikes. I had left Vancouver with Extra Strength Tylenol, I am on a medication that assists with the continued opioid withdraw and I was given a medication that is not an opioid type medication for pain management to take when I needed to (PRN). None of these were working and I was unsure of what I could double up on as these were new medications. I had a great chat with the pharmacist on duty, who is actually the owner of the pharmacy and knows me well, as to what type of medications that I can get over the counter in the USA (basically none that can help) and he gave me some other tips and then Andrew and I decided to go to Paia which is a small town close to Kahului, basically about 10 miles away on the other side of the airport on the way to Hana. We have been to Paia several times previously and I like to just walk around and see what is going on.

As Uber cannot pick people up at the dock in Kahului, we took a taxi to Paia – I had planned to take the bus, as Maui has a great bus system while unfortunately not frequent, it is only $2 a ride. The next bus would not have been for 45 minutes so taking a taxi was going to help with time management! Also I did not have to walk a kilometre to the bus stop! I think the taxi driver was disappointed with us. He wanted to show us the “sights” and I said, we just need to go to Paia. He offered to take us again to other places that Andrew and I have been and at that time I said we were from Vancouver and had been to Maui many times and we really just want to go to Paia to visit the town. Then he put on some Hawaiian music and we drove in silence to the town which was about 15 minutes away. Most people miss Paia as it is basically the first town on the way to Hana, as I mentioned which is one of “the drives” to do when on Maui. Paia is a very quaint town with an awesome Fish Market to eat at! We arrived at about 11:30 am and already there was a line up out the door of people queuing to order food and then I presume to sit down to wait and eat it. We have eaten there many times before and took a pass this time. We checked out several stores selling Hawaiian crafts – again my rule when shopping, which is a bit rough, is I do not go into a store unless it is accessible. So that cuts out about 1/2 of the stores in Paia as they have steps. Some stores have caught on and either have a sloped entry or one has a portable ramp out front.

One store that I have been to several times now is one for the Maui Crafter’s Guild. I always enjoy visiting this store and it does have a slightly sloped entrance. When we entered we were greeted by a nice lady and she asked if we had been there before which I replied yes, that I like this store as it represents Maui handcrafters AND does not have any steps to get into the store! She replied that the lady owns the store, which she has 3, has made that a requirement for all her stores and that the stores not be cluttered so that people can easily move around (which is true). She then let me browse which was nice. I knew what I was looking for and found my target item and then she came to help me and at that time pointed out the paintings on the wall above us and asked me if I liked them! I said they were really nice and that one looked like it was up by Kapalua (other side of Maui) and she was impressed that I knew that! I told her that we normally stay near Napili Beach and I recognized the bay which is just behind the resort where we normally stay. She was the painter of the 4 paintings for sale. For the other 3, two were done on private property and the other one was of Baldwin Beach which is right in front of Paia.

Andrew and I then checked out some more stores (well me more than Andrew, my shadow) and then we stopped for a beverage and bite to eat at a local coffee house/pub that we had not previously visited. It was lovely sitting under cover however outside and enjoying the breeze running through the building! Andrew of course had a local IPA where I had an interesting drink, which I thought would be colourful, but it was clear, that was a fruit quencher with green tea infused caffeine. It went down very well! We shared one of my favourite salads which was a beet, orange and goat cheese with macadamia nuts crushed on top. I am used to pine nuts so the mac nuts was a nice twist!

We then walked back up the other side of Paia and past Mana foods, where we normally go when we arrive in Kahului as it has gluten free products that we then stock up the kitchen where we stay up near Kapalua. I did not go in, as I have enough food on the ship! At that time I called an Uber to take us back to the ship, as I had a 2 pm meeting with my new Health Mentors group for this school year! The Uber came fairly quickly however I had mis-judged my timing and how long it was going to take to get back to the ship so I learned how in Uber to change my destination! The Uber driver, Teressa, was quite impressed that I figured it out as I had also messaged her if she could instead take us to the pier instead of the mall. So we were dropped off near the pier and wow – was that walk LONG to get back to the Noordam! I think we walked over a kilometre back in the HEAT! Thank goodness they provide water with lemons in it prior to getting onto the ship – I was parched! Then it was up to our cabin, as it was time for my Health Mentors meeting and lets just say I was running a BIT late! My red faced also showed just how hot it was in Maui at the time!

With regards to the Health Mentors, which I mentioned yesterday, for those who do not know, I am part of a program at UBC, which for the first 10 years was actually a research study, on how people either with lived experiences or those who support them in dealing with chronic conditions, can meet once a month with a cross students from various health disciplines. The students sign up, generally in their first year, for this program. The benefit to the student is while they are learning from books it provides a continuous patient perspective on life on the “other side” when receiving health services. As a Health Mentor, I am generally assigned 3-4 students each year – for the 5 years I have done this, I have had a Medical Student (MD) each year along with at least one Occupational Therapy (OT) student. Some years I have had Nursing, Physiotherapy, Speech Language Pathology (SLP) and a Masters Student in Population Health. This year I have the pleasure of mentoring 3 ladies – one MD, one OT and one SLP which is just awesome as those are areas of health practice that I have some experience in! Obviously I see doctors, my aunt is an OT and I have had lots of OT experience myself and my uncle is an SLP! Not as much SLP experience other than my sister, Joanne, my uncle says is a “clutterer” when she speaks, and I am aware of what SLP’s do within the hospital system in terms of swallowing studies and aphasia assistance.

I met the 3 ladies at the Kick off meeting for the year, which was held at the Italian Cultural Centre this year. We met there for about an hour, however as there were about 35 other groups meeting in the same hall, it was noisy and so we basically just introduced ourselves at that time, shared email addresses, got paperwork done and planned when we would meet next, which was important for me, as I was leaving on vacation in a week and we would have to meet online!

Today, well for them, tonight, was our first meeting! Today’s discussion was “Words and their Meanings” which is the first topic that is discussed in the Health Mentor program for various reasons. First, the students are learning how to take histories and interview their patients or clients and how important it is to address people the correct way when it comes to speaking about different medical conditions. There is quite a diversity between how Medical students speak and those in Allied Health Care such as OT’s and SLP’s which I find is always an interesting discussion to be had and the ladies were very engaging today! One example is for an MD, the word they use is Patient, where in Allied Health, they use Client. Then we discuss other words such as “I am a person living with Diabetes or Celiac Disease etc” which is more person centric, the medical condition does not define the person. A lot of this has changed over the years though and there are some diagnoses that people still use to define them and we did discuss those situations as well – such as “I am deaf” or “I am autistic”. The take home message is always let the patient/client lead and for the health professional to follow with the language that is presented to them. All that said, I learned something new! One of the students told me that they are taught that this process that I just described is called “reflecting” which really encompasses the description well – if someone indicates something to you, you “reflect” back to them in the way it was presented to you to ensure that you have understood it properly. The old addage, you learn something new everyday – that is what I like about this program – it is a give and take from all of us! The other brilliant process that starts happening, which I saw in our 2 hour session this afternoon, is that the 3 ladies came out of their “silo” of their chosen profession and heard how other similar professions address similar issues so it really rounds out their education.

After that was done, I took some time to relax (read nap) before we headed out for dinner. Tonight we were going to the dining room and as we dined, where our table for 2 is in the middle of the dining room, we were able to watch the lights on the shore and try and figure out how the ship was going to maneuver out of the small harbour! We finally figured it out – the Noordam backed up (which is where we were sitting in the dining room) and then swung her bow out towards the breakwater to go through. She was assisted out by at least one tugboat!

Diner was good – a little disappointed in the creativity of the chef tonight – I had ordered the macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi for dinner and normally when I ask for it to be gluten free a similar dish comes out – where they will use corn starch or something similar to crust the fish. Tonight I just got mahi mahi. It was delicious anyway! I also got more veggies on my plate than normal – they are so stingy on veggies here! April Joy, one of our waiters, knows I like veggies so she asks them to put more on my plate. The desert was “Eton Mess” which I first ran into in Ireland. It is naturally gluten free and is fruit, whip cream and meringue all “tossed” together! It was simple, small and delicious!

Now, we need to get a good nights sleep tonight and tomorrow is a BIG day! We have an all day tour planned – 8 hours long, in Kauai! More on that tomorrow!

This morning I awoke to a beautiful full rainbow across the harbour! It was brilliant – the picture I took actually does not do it justice!

On our last cruise to Hawaii with my parents, when we arrived in Kauai, I was amazed to see the line up for the Walmart shuttle for people to take to the store nearby. I actually thought it was bizarre – why would someone visiting such a beautiful place want to go to Walmart? Well I take that back now!

This morning started off really early as I had a Swedish Massage scheduled for 8:15 am in the Spa on board! My last “massage” experience on vacation was in Thailand and lets just say I was sore for DAYS after that experience! I have never had a lady get onto the massage table with me and pull and stretch my body in so many ways as at Thai Massage does! As I was already feeling pretty sore on this cruise from a pain standpoint, I visited the “Massage Sampler” Promotional session on one of the days at sea to talk to the massage therapists about having a massage and whether I had picked the correct one – the Swedish massage sounded like the easiest on my body! I was correct – that is what they suggested too me too – with a focus on my lower back which was sore due to all the extra “balancing” work I was having to do at sea.

I met Patricia my masseuse bright and early and what a luxurious experience it was! She was a very nice Filipino lady who had been on the Noordam now for 5 months – basically the Alaska season and was looking forward to going home at Christmas to her family, however had just found out prior to the cruise leaving Seattle, that she needed to stay on for an extra month, over Christmas, as there were no other massage therapists to replace her. She was sad about that however happy she would be in Australia as it is not as long a flight home as from other parts of the world. Her next contract will be in the Caribbean.

She worked on my funky back, especially the lower part where it seems that my previous steroid injection, which has lasted 6 months previously, was not in full force anymore. She thought my upper back was funny as I have Botox injections on the upper right side to stop spasms and she noticed a difference when trying to massage the muscles – she said they were “stiff” which I think is a good description as Botox basically freezes them! Then came the pain – she attacked my calves where she said that I had paid showing up. Now I did not realize this fact until she started to work on them! Now I do! Also the soles of my feet got a work out too! So I was pretty relaxed at that point before she started in on my arms and then finished with an awesome head massage! Getting that massage oil out of my hair was a bit of an experience though – took 3 shampoos!

Needless to say, I was pretty relaxed heading back to the cabin! Next to do? It was time for school! No, I was not going to school – as part of the Health Mentors Program at UBC that I participate in (more on that tomorrow), there are often opportunities to speak with students at varying levels in a particular discipline, which today is Pharmacy Students. The students today are 1st year and the 10 mentors including myself, are the first “client” experience they will have. The best part of this is it is done via Zoom so I can participate from Hawaii! The other awesome thing is that it is at a normal time of day this year for me – 10 am vs. last year I think it was about 1 am when I was in Cork, Ireland that I was holding my sessions with the students! Larry, the professor, I really like and that is the other reason why I volunteer to do these sessions each year – he is really great with the students and encouraging them to get information out of the guest speakers as being in a Zoom session with 5-6 students looking at your doe-eyed is not fun!

The goals for the session, which there are 3 half hour sessions each with a different group of students, is for the Health Mentor to explain how a Pharmacist is involved in their care, give an example of a positive (I guess also could be a negative too but I focus on positive) experience with a Pharmacist or Pharmacy and then answer questions. For myself, I just generally explain how I am on medication, have gone to the same Community Pharmacy for 25 years now and get my blister packs and then chat about some thoughts on the blister pack process – as there have been some automation changes in the last few years with the blister packs being out sourced but with certain types of medications, such as some that I take, the blister packs then need to be opened at the pharmacy once received and the additional medication added, as they are a controlled substance. The other subject that I talked about this year was how supportive the Pharmacy was with my huge medication change that I went through and how they started using email so that it was easier to chat with them with regards to my symptoms instead of different pharmacists each day which lead to a lot of miscommunication. The questions that all the groups asked were great and respectful which were wonderful too!

After 2 hours of being “in class” I was now tired! I then had a short nap with the plan to go to the Baldwin Museum in Honolulu like my mother had suggested we visit. However after my power nap, the pain in my legs was increasing so we decided to not go to the Baldwin Museum and instead just complete the errands for today which involved returning my Hilo Hattie dress and going to Walmart to get some items, including some shoe inserts for Andrew as one of his pairs of shoes are not fitting very well right now.

To do so, we took the public bus – the Waikiki Express bus to be exact! It was just like the bus in Vancouver with a ramp to get onto it and then the accessible seating at the front. There were more accessible seats than we have on our bus system though and they were a different colour so people knew they were sitting on them and needed to get up if asked. The only downside of this bus I found was the number of people with luggage on it in the accessible section as it was the largest area of the bus. Not a lot of room to move!

We got to Hilo Hatties and returned the dress and then walked to Walmart. Unfortunately, during that time, the online order that I had placed, had come back that they were out of the heel inserts that Andrew wanted. As we were at the store already, we decided to improvise and bought some shoe inserts and tape instead (along with my online order for knitting supplies) and then took a taxi back to the Noordam to get crafting on optimizing Andrew’s shoes! We then cut the shoe inserts to match the curve of the heel and taped them in with the double sided tape and voila! The shoes where Andrew’s heel was slipping out of were optimized! Thank goodness I have so much experience making shoes from my childhood that I could help him with this little project – right mum?

We then hung out on our balcony and watched both some dinner cruises leave for the evening and the clouds come down the volcano and hover over Honolulu very pregnant with rain! Glad we were not going to be walking the streets tonight!

We then went to dinner, where I had Marlin fish, which was fresh caught and very good! Andrew had pasta for dinner which he also enjoyed. Trying not to fill my blog with pictures of food unless they are outstanding presentations or awesomely good!

After dinner, as the ship was not to leave port until 11 pm, we walked around the Promenade deck for a bit of exercise and fresh air. There was a container ship behind the Noordam unloading its cargo – the cargo ship was almost as bit as the Noordam! Interesting size comparison! Last, a skyline picture of Honolulu prior to departing for Kahului for tomorrow’s adventures!

Land is sighted and we have arrived at Pier 2 in Honolulu today! We had breakfast with the ship steadfastly tied to the dock and no rocking back and forth – except our bodies still felt like we were at sea! Andrew ordered a full breakfast this morning and I had asked for the blueberry muffins that I had been receiving be switched to the chocolate ones which were much more palatable. However I did not PAY ATTENTION when opening up the basket and took out the set of chocolate muffins and promptly buttered and put some jam on them and took a bite! Needless to say they tasted WAY TOO GOOD for gluten free. So then I looked in the basket some more and there were the two gluten free muffins in their paper baking cups. I cannot believe this has happened to me yet again on a cruise! I know to watch for the paper cups but I was so happy to get a different muffin that I forgot. Needless to say, I was a bit sick later in the morning!

We then spent some time reacquainting ourselves with our families (I had phoned my parents via WiFi on the ship just to try it out but the delay was a bit hard to take) by calling home on my cell phone which worked great! We also watched some of the ship action in the harbour before going out for the afternoon to run some errands at the local Ala Moana Mall. Here are some highlights from the morning/early afternoon:

After our leisurely stroll off the ship about noon (we let the rest of the ship get off early and go on their tours etc) we took a taxi to the Ala Moana mall which is nearby to pick up some essentials that someone (me) forgot such as shampoo, cotton yarn for knitting, thongs and I was also in desperate need of a heating pad! As Ala Moana is an open air mall, while we were walking along from the French boutique called Target, my shopping destination, we stopped and watched some young kids put on a Sunday afternoon hula show! Then we went to Hilo Hattie, as it was also located at the mall, where I was surprised just how SMALL the store was! I still managed to find a nice dress to wear for our Hawaiian part of our vacation though!

At Hilo Hattie, once I had purchased the dress, offered us a ride back to the Noordam ship – I did not realize they had a shuttle bus from the ship to begin with! I asked them twice if it was wheelchair accessible and they said it was and also looked at me like I was asking a stupid question, so we proceeded to wait for the next shuttle. Andrew then quickly needed to run an errand, so we missed the shuttle we were booked onto. When we returned to Hilo Hattie, we waited for the shuttle to return – the ride to the ship is only about 7-10 minutes. When the shuttle appeared, there was a lovely sign next to its door indicating that they do not not carry wheelchairs or scooters. I at this point was barely able to walk, and was not going to be able to climb the stairs onto the shuttle. I have no idea why the store clerks thought this van was wheelchair accessible! On top of that, as we are in the USA, this is a violation of the ADA requirements – if a company offers a shuttle service, it has to be accessible to all, or the company has to provide alternative accessible transportation. Seems that Hilo Hattie is not aware of this rather important law.

We ended up taking a taxi back to the ship and resting for about an hour. At that time, I received a phone call (yes I was surprised that my phone rang) from the PF Chang’s Restaurant in Waikiki, where we had made a 5:30 pm reservation for dinner, prior to going to the Cirque de Solei show of ‘Auana at the Outrigger Beach Resort. Apparently, the water main had broken in the mall where the restaurant is located, and they wanted to let us know that they might not be open for dinner! They did not call back, so I called prior to leaving the ship, and they indeed were open for dinner – thank goodness! I, in the past, have liked PF Chang’s for food as they have a good gluten free protocol and offering. However, in the last year, I have noticed both their restaurants closing (Bellevue, WA), fewer gluten free menu items and lastly, a lower quality of food. I think this might have been our last meal at PF Chang’s restaurant in general – I was not impressed with the bland taste of the egg foo young soup, Pad Thai and the Chicken and Broccoli dish’s that we ordered. Andrew had to add soy sauce to his meal to “spice” it up! It bothers me when a restaurants meals are no longer exciting to eat! Yet another chain off the list of places to patronize when in the USA! Here are some photos of our dinner:

Next we went shopping at the local ABC store (which is a mainstay in Hawaii, where I was finally able to find some thongs that had some support – in the Men’s section! They are a bit wide for my feet but they will work and they do show off my lovely pedicure from a couple of days back very well! I got a couple of other little souvenirs and then we proceeded to walk to the Outrigger Beach Hotel where the ‘Auana show is located. It sure was nice walking in the 27 degree C temperature along a street! There also was a certain deviation made to a gelato place that had no sugar chocolate gelato! One VERY SMALL cup cost $6 – wow – you can sure tell you are in a tourist area! Here are some views from the street – including a yellow ladder truck!

We finally found the Outrigger Beach Resort (we found there are two Outrigger hotels in Waikiki and we just happened to visit both of them in search of the show – good thing they are almost across the street from each other) and what I am finding is a phenomenon here in Hawaii – the use of escalators to get to the “lobby” of a hotel, which is up one level. Now, I have gotten in trouble for collapsing my walker and getting on an escalator previously, so we decided to find the elevator instead and enter the hotel the proper way…. Sure enough you need a key card to access the elevator however the did let us in when allowed us to get to the hotel lobby where you line up with your tickets.

I thought the show was sold out, and as I had purchased these tickets from a person on the Cruise Critic website who had to cancel the cruise at a last minute, they were not accessible tickets. They were VERY nice seats in the lower bowl of the show – similar to how the seating is set up in a big top tent. I went into the ticketing office and they were more than happy to exchange the tickets to accessible ones so that I did not have to go downstairs or walk into the middle of the auditorium from the side. Instead we had great seats at the top of the lower bowl which suited us just fine!

Now, a little segway about ‘Auana just so you have some context as to why I was interested in seeing this show – I love Cirque du Solei performances, however sometimes I find I am thinking afterwards what they really meant or were trying to teach us – they are often “out there” I would say in their creativity. I was quite intrigued when the opportunity presented itself to purchase tickets at the description for ‘Auana which is as follows:

“A Tribute to Hawaiian Culture – Hawai‘i’s first Cirque du Soleil resident show – step into a world where reality bends and the spirit of Hawai‘i comes alive—welcome to ‘Auana, an enchanting journey brought to life by Cirque du Soleil. This spectacular show celebrates the essence of the islands through breathtaking artistry and awe-inspiring athleticism. Prepare to be captivated as a diverse ensemble of international and local talents delivers an exhilarating blend of acrobatics, laughter, mesmerizing hula, and soul-stirring music.”

“The compelling narrative of ‘Auana unfolds across eight chapters, inspired by the mo‘olelo (stories) of Hawai‘i. From the Polynesian migration, to the “golden age of tourism”, each act honors a deep connection to the ʻāina (land), celebrating Hawai‘i’s rich heritage and cultural traditions.”

The 80 minute show does not have an intermission and similar to other shows I have seen, the performers come into the audience, however with this show they were present even more – almost with every change of scene they entered and exited through the pathways around the circular theatre. Here are some pictures that I took when at the show, which I will describe a bit more below:

There are 3 videos that I filmed during the performance – two are not shown above – one was the Hawaii 5-0 sequence with the Cirque “clown” where he got 4 guys out of the audience to perform – it was hilarious! It runs 4 1/2 minutes.

The next video is about 90 seconds long where the 2 acrobats depicted in the last picture above, portray fire and the volcano’s in Hawaii – their performance of going around in the wheels and then outside of them, including skipping and jumping around was phenomenal!

Then to close, the last video of each of the performers taking their bows – which were well deserved! It lasts just under 3 minutes.

We then met the friends of the people who sold us the tickets (she actually brought us lei’s to the theatre for us which was very kind!) and we shared an Uber back to the Noordam after the performance! I think that was the latest I have been up on this trip – we did not get back until about 11 pm and I had an early start planned for Monday morning! A massage and then talking to UBC Pharmacy students!