Hawaii

  Approaching Hawaii just after sunrise, miraculously we came back into the cell phone zones and OUT they came by the scores.  Many shipmates’ attentions were divided as the Pilot’s speedy boat came and went and as the tugs pushed and nudged us into our pier position at Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii

Field Lab for Drawing I

My first 8-hour Field Lab on Hilo Day One: the entire Drawing I class  bussed to Moku Ole, also called Coconut Island. Though the day began with sun, soon it was cloudy, then cooler and finally drizzly.  No surprise considering the Hilo side of Hawaii expects up to 10 feet of rain annually while the dry Kona side averages 10 inches.

At Moku Ole the class explored the island and drew details, gathered to critique, drew mid-range views with near/middle/far ground, gathered to critique, drew vistas, drew  botanical studies of trees, ate box lunches and could have gone swimming except for the chilly weather.  It was a delightful day of plein air drawing activities.
 

Notice the past tsunami markers including the one way up from 1960 with waves of 35 feet in Hilo Bay.

This  Hawaiian youth led the way and later many of the SAS students also jumped or flipped here - but not me!

Hilo

On Hilo Day Two colleague Susan Kattwinkel and I wandered through the Hilo Farmers Market where there were many exotic plants and strange foods such as: 

 C

Proteus flowers

Spam, Chicken, Hot Dog, and Shrimp Musubi

Bananas, Rambutans, Pineapples, and Longans

Red Sugarcane

Anybody know? These are as large as a lopsided basket ball and the prices marked on the stems are $35 and $27.50 respectively.....?

Tumeric

 

 

Fiddlehead Ferns

 

Across from the Market we chanced onto a delightful Hawaiian dance and music concert by a large and happy group of lovely septuagenarians  and octogenarians performing the traditional Hawaiian music and proudly dancing the Hula. It was beautiful!!!

Beautiful happy smiles - and notice her oxygen machine beside her!

Oahu 

Overnight the ship moved to Oahu where we tied up for 30 hours: 10 for refueling and 20 for waiting in safe harbor while a big storm ambled past to the north in the Pacific. We could not disembark but I could see the pink buildings on the hillside of Tripler Army General Hospital where Morgan was born many years ago,  and we could see where Waikiki Beach rounds into the remains of Diamond Head volcano,  and we could see the saddle between the 2 mountains where the Japanese planes sneaked into Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

 

 And now we are bouncing and rolling across the Pacific toward  next stop, Japan.