Yesterday we saw the Waikiki aquarium - rather small, but it has a Nautilus, which Michael especially wanted to see. Saw the fish with the very long name that I told you about last time. Apparently it is the State fish, and because it is revered, people don't catch it or eat it. It has a blue mouth and is also yellow, white and grey. It's name means "fish that makes a noise like a pig." People joke that it's name is longer than the fish itself!
Next we drove to Diamond Head where we climbed 1.3 km (560 ft.) to see a crater that was caused by a volcanic explosion. It was a very hot climb, but the view of the mountains, ocean and Honolulu was amazing! Unfortunately I had blood sugar troubles again. Despite turning off my pump and eating lots of sugar, I watched my levels drop alarmingly fast. Afterwards they climbed almost as fast, and I didn't feel right for the rest of the day. We walked through another garden full of unusual tress (Sausage Tree and Cannonball Tree) but I mostly sat on a bench while Michael took photos. I felt somewhat better after laying on my back in our pool while staring up at the palm trees!
Today we saw the Hawaiian Plantain Village, the only one on the islands. It was a guided tour of the buildings that could be found on many sugar plantations in the early 1900's. The guide told us of how people came from different lands to work in the sugar fields. He was an elderly Japanese man with a great ability to tell the stories, and for whom this was part of his ancestry. (his mother's trunk was in one of the houses.) She was also a "picture bride," having sent her photo to a man that she never met, in hopes that he would marry her. They did indeed marry and had eight children, so our guide figures that his parents must have liked each other a least a bit! As was typical of the times, the women had to work much harder than the men, for they worked 10 hours on the plantation as well as caring for the children and doing the household tasks. When a baby was only 3 months old the mother had to tie it on her back and go to work. And not all people were paid the same, as some ethic groups got the better jobs and more money. I could have listened to this man all day, as his stories were fascinating, and you could see how much he enjoyed telling them. At the end he told us that most of his stories were true, but that some of it was probably a bit of BS!
Had hoped to see the Bishop museum but it was closed because of roadwork in the area, so instead walked around Chinatown. Saw some interesting fruits and fish (and chicken feet!) and drank some delicious lychee and cocoanut drinks to help stave off the heat. I don't remember sweating this much since the last time we were in Ontario - maybe there's a plus side to the cold dry climate in Calgary after all!
Tried boogie boarding in the ocean at the beach by our cottage - what fun! Reminds me of my days as a kid riding the waves in Lake Huron, except these ones are bigger, but then so am I!
Tomorrow morning we fly to the Big Island, so our next blog will be from there.
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