Travelling again - part eight

Time and again, just-after-dawn, coffee-in-hand walks in Kapi-olani Park and neighbourhood provide marvellous clouds.

Sometimes they almost seem to be boiling.

And, if not clouds, rainbows. In winter Toronto I’ll miss those clouds and rainbows.

Back home, at best, I’m mostly aware of pigeons and Canada Geese. So, I’ll also miss the elegant Egrets and cheerful Red-crested Cardinals.

I’ll even miss the scads of feral roosters, chickens and chicks. Mind you, I know sleepless locals curse the roosters at dawn.

Altho’ I’ve never anything to offer, I’ve become pals with a Koi. Still, I suspect it has more than enough to eat. 

I’ve been surprised to find Monarch butterflies in Hawaii. I’d assumed only North America, migrating as far north as Ontario, but sadly fewer than before.

Apparently thriving here, Monarchs arrived in the islands in the 1840s or 50s. According to Hawaii Nature Journal, ‘Whether they came here on their own, or with the aid of humans is not known. They are capable of great migrations …’

But my local favourites are the graceful White Terns, rightly protected in Honolulu.

This is just outside Kathy & Michael's.

This picture from their balcony was also in part two, but I’ll use it again. There’s romance in a vision of ship and White Tern departing into the vast Pacific. Well, there’s romance for someone on terra firma who can return to a good breakfast after taking the photo. 

Anyway, be safe, White Tern.

I didn’t know one palm tree from another. But after Kathy & Michael take me to Foster Botanical Gardens, now do.

From the delightfully named Millionaire’s Salad to my food. Other than many good meals at Kathy & Michael’s, where have I enjoyed eating in Honolulu?

Barack Obama apparently still occasionally returns to the Rainbow Drive-In, one of his youthful haunts, but not while I have a burger and slush float. Can’t remember when I last had a slushy. Perhaps never. It’s a strawberry flavoured drink topped with vanilla ice cream. Not what I’d normally choose. However, on a warm Hawaii evening, sitting outside with burger and slushy seems like another age. Sort of ‘American Graffiti-ish’.

Back again for daylight shots.

A short walk from central Waikiki it's possible to find eateries catering as much to residents as to visitors. The South Shore Grill on Monsarrat Avenue is one such place.

Decidedly informal. Just look at the backroom for customer overflow. However, it’s quiet when I’m there (more than once) and staff are happy to chat with an all-too-obvious tourist.

My favourite becomes the garlic sautéed shrimp with a Jarritos lime soda.

And, while eating, a splendid view of Diamond Head.

Another recommendation is the friendly Sunny Days, also on Monsarrat Avenue. This is their excellent, and beautifully presented, Acai bowl. Acai is a tropical fruit and comes with granola, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, yoghurt, coconut and honey. I have it with an iced Kona (from Hawaii’s Big Island) coffee.

The Pipeline Bakeshop recalls the fearsome Banzai Pipeline surfing waves on Oahu’s North Shore. Sadly I don't get to taste a ‘cake bomb’. That must await another trip.

So, all too soon, the miserable view from my Vancouver Airport hotel room before the onward flight home. Yuk!

What do I return with? A North Shore Shrimp Wagon cap. 

A tiki key ring, inevitably made in China. It can go on my travel haversack. 

It will remind me of this unmasked tiki (presumably not made in China) and warning sign outside Waikiki’s Kon Tiki Apartments. The property manager told me that, one night, the very heavy tiki was purloined and later found down the street. Now, heavy or not, the tiki is well secured. 

Thank you so much, Kathy and Michael, for your hospitality and encouraging me to get a locally-made Aloha shirt. As I’m shy I'll simply show the wonderful design. 

A post-trip gallery of my favourite shots is next. 

Travelling again - part seven

First, l should say that, for native Hawaiians, at least, the word ‘aloha’ means more than just a throwaway ’hello’. Aloha includes a multitude of feelings, emotions and even spiritual concepts. Aloha not only indicates a respect for one person, but a people, the land and environment. 

So, aloha is not just a shirt, altho’ I do like this shot taken on the Number 20 bus.

I suppose the problem is inevitable commercialization. While visiting Hawaii you can be ‘Driven with Aloha’ …

… or experience ‘Aloha On Wheels’.

You can stay at the ‘Aloha Lani’ …

… ‘Aqua Aloha Surf’ …

… or perhaps the ‘Aloha Suites Waikiki’.

With your rental car, you might buy gas at an ‘Aloha’ service station.

In the morning, have an ‘Aloha Breakfast’ …

… then later in the day indulge in ‘Liquid Aloha’.

And don’t forget to send family and friends an Aloha postcard. Well, perhaps not this card as it’s from the 1950s.