Profiles of surfers heading towards the reef are small black stick men on their paddle boards or giant water beetles kneeling on their boards.
The neighbours are out walking their dogs and the gardeners are bent pulling weeds before the heat of the day.
While the shop keepers, tour bus drivers, tour brokers and hawkers of trinkets, beach towels, cheap Aloha wear and grass skirts made of plastic for kids back home are all still eating breakfast there is a sense of the "old Hawaii"....just sand, surf, and rising sun. Next door, Downtown Honolulu is just taking a stretch and slowly waking, waiting for the traffic and thousands of professionals to pour into the looming high rise towers which create a concrete fence almost obliterating the view of lush green mountains beyond.
We plan today, as we did yesterday, to leave Waikiki and the massive, military hotel complex where we are staying to explore the Honolulu which Bruce knew when he lived here in the mid-eighties as a Kamaaina....a Local. It is Locals "real" people, we want to visit with. We will travel on The Bus...really, that is the official name and in local pidgin it becomes "Da Bus". There is no rapid transit here in Honolulu...but the buses are frequent and the routes extensive. The buses themselves are very slick, reticulated, with automated stop identification, transfer point announcements and "disciplinary" messages about cell phones and loud voices.
We were also impressed with the fact that not only did the bus "kneel" to let passengers on but it was also full wheelchair accessible. This meant a ramp was lowered to let the wheel chair user aboard. The driver hops out of his/her seat and raises two seats near the front of the vehicle. The wheel chair slides in and is harnessed to bolts on the floor for safety and away we go. When the chair user wants to disembark the process is reversed. The drivers and passengers are all co-operative and helpful. How civilized. The bus shelters were clean and well signed...well some of them anyway and fellow passengers were very helpful.
Probably every major metropolis has these slick transportation services, but for us...country bumpkins...this was revolutionary!
Our trip up the side of the Punch Bowl (a dormant volcanic crater) through residential neighbourhoods was to the National Military Cemetery. Below an aerial shot shows the majestic setting for this memorial park with the Honolulu skyline below. The monument is flanked by walls bearing the names of those lost in WW11, Korea and Vietnam. Here Bruce reads names on the Vietnam wall. As always....a contemplative time for him.
Next stop, China Town for lunch as recommended by our fellow bus passenger "guide". This area of Honolulu, next to the downtown business and historic core speaks eloquently of Hawaii's culture and early immigration.....should be called Asia town. It still throbs with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, (and well....Portuguese too).
The market itself was a colourful adventure.
Today we again took the bus and wandered the historic district and visited the Museum of Art, the State Legislature and Iolani Palace.
It turned into Woman's Day for me.
Persephone: Goddess of the Underworld, springtime, vegetation, and maidenhood at the Art Museum.
Queen Liliuokalani near the palace.
And....Quan Am in the market:
So...if you were waiting to see us lolling by the pool or at the beach, sipping drinks with umbrella's we have disappointed you....but for this visit this has been "our" Honolulu and we have loved our short stay here.
Tomorrow we fly to New Zealand!
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