Sunday, January 20, 2008: Kona on the Big Island.
Bob: Monika had found a Volksmarch in Kona, so we got off the ship as early as we could to walk that. Unfortunately, the tendering system used to transfer us on shore gave priority to all the passengers with shore excursions, so we didn't actually arrive on shore until 10 a.m., by which time it was already getting hot. The hotel with the start box was visible from the pier where we landed, and once that was pointed out to us we had no trouble walking about 2 blocks over to it. There we found one of the prettiest start boxes we have ever seen and retrieved the walk instructions. The Kona Volksmarch is essentially a 9-kilometer out-and-back down Alii Drive, which is the main commercial street running north and south through Kona, plus a 1-kilometer loop around the pier area. The commercial street reminded me of other smallish resort towns I have seen in the past such as Provincetown on Cape Cod, or Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Folks were roaring up and back down the street on loud motorcycles, or in convertibles with the radios turned up while we walked along and watched the waves break on the shoreline to our right. |
Monika: Today in Kona, we were going to do the Volksmarch that the good people of Hawaii put on in this town. But getting to the pier was a chore. We had to tender and for that you needed tender tickets. But they never announced when you could get your tender tickets. I also was under the impression, that you had to go to the tender as soon as your ticket number was called. Instead it was the "freestyle" way, get a ticket early (whenever that was) and go whenever you want. When we got to deck three were the tenders were, our number had not been called and we had to wait, and wait. There was definite grumbling about the way this was being handled. Finally they let us waiting people on a tender (probably to get rid of the grumbling), and we got to the pier by about 10. The directions had said that the hotel was a few blocks from the pier. So we asked at the information desk, were a very nice guy pointed his finger, and we clearly read the name of the hotel we were looking for at the hotel he pointed at. We felt kind of silly. The walkbox at the hotel was a permanent box with a beautiful bouquet of flowers on top. Only the AVA sign underneath hinted that this was more than just a flower stand. We got the directions and headed off on our walk. |
Bob: Once we left the commercial downtown strip to the South, we had to walk on the shoulder of a 2-lane highway. The sun was beating down on us out of a crystal clear blue sky, and there were very few trees in the middle section of that walk, so we both started overheating. Fortunately we found a shop where we could purchase a bottle of water and shortly thereafter we found a fountain and bench in the shade that had been installed by some kind folks living on the beach, so we could refill our water bottle and rest a bit before plunging onward. |
Monika: This walk is basically and in/out along the main road along the ocean. Kona is an old town which is mainly a resort town now. We did see the oldest church on the island and the Hulihee palace. But otherwise it was mainly hotels, shopping areas, and restaurants for the first mile or so. There also was a farmers market that we perused. After that houses could be found mainly on the ocean side of the street. On one house it looked like the foundation was being eaten away by the sea. The day was getting hotter and shady spots were becoming fewer and fewer. One kind person had put up a water fountain which was great since we had not brought any water. When we finally saw a store, we purchased a cold drink which gave us more energy. |
Bob: We found the old church that was the checkpoint and turned back toward town, passing an old Royal Palace along the way. By this point we were both remarkably tired, probably due to some combination of dehydration and lack of calories. Once we were back in the pier area we decided we had seen enough of Kona and after wrapping up the walk we simply took the tender back out to the ship. We watched Green Bay lose to the New York Giants in the NFL semi-finals, had dinner, and went to the second full-scale performance by the Pride of Aloha's cast of 4 singers and 8 dancers. It was a potpourri of song and dance numbers set to the old tunes from the heyday of radio, and quite well done with the usual quick costume changes and energetic, almost frenetic, performance. After that we turned in early and set a wake-up call for 6:30 so that we would be on the dock at 7:45 for our snorkeling session in Kauai the next day. |
Monika: But I was getting hotter and hotter. So when we reached the checkpoint, the historic Ohana Church, we turned around although we had not quite made it to the turn around point. Going back was a little better, since the sun now was at our back and there was a small little breeze. When I saw a plumereia I pointed it out to Bob since it was so much bigger than our little one at home, that we had brought back from Hawaii on our last trip in 96. I collected a few of the flowers on the ground and put them in my hat. When Bob took my picture, I was surprised, how closely my skin color resembled my hat color. So when we reached the pier, we both thought that the better part of valor was to head for the air-conditioning of the ship. Besides, the Green Bay Packers played the Giants in the NFC championship game. On the tender ride back, I even decided not to go up to the top - I really must have been hot. After a light lunch, we went to the sportsbar, where they had about 6 or 7 TVs all tuned to THE GAME. It turned our that we had one room cheering on the Giants, and our room cheering for the Packers. The Packers lost, but it was a good game that even went into overtime. We had a light dinner at the buffet. We both do not really like the dining rooms, with the lines to get in, and then not knowing what the service or the company will be like. So we rather get our own food and be our own service and company. Evening entertainment was the second production show called "On the Radio", and it had a medley of older tunes with the normal vigorous dancing and lots of costume changes. We went early so we could get a good seat and really appreciate the hard work the dancers did. After the show, they brought a lot of the crew, including captain, hotel manager, and all the chefs on stage. A very nice evening. |
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