Honolulu - Extreme Sports and Friends

Aloha again!! (Figured I mine-as-well greet you like a Hawaiian if I am writing about Hawaii again)

Okay so I heard Edmond got hit by another winter storm?!?! I was talking to my mom and sister who said school got cancelled and everything. Yeah global warming my butt!! It’s Oklahoma not Colorado?!?!?!?!? So comments…Esther – haha well I am glad you are enjoying the blog, and I’m even more glad that I could help you procrastinate chica! Mike – dude heck yeah! That’s tight that your hatred worked haha…I laughed out loud in the computer lab on the trip when I read your comment. You kill me man! And yeah Honolulu was cool but I definitely liked the outskirts and surrounding communities more than the main metro area. But you were right one, Hawaii is legit! Chris – freaking duh we would travel well together! I mean we are so much alike in our interests! We would own Amazing Race…I’m still planning on applying man, keep thinking about it cause that would be soooooo tight to do together!! And yeah I didn’t get to surf but I wanted to mountain bike more lol, and I figure I will get the chance to surf again at some point. Love hearing from you all! Keep it up! Oh and I figured out how to upload pics for a reasonable price so I have added on pic to each of my previous blog posts and there will be on pic on each blog post to come. Sorry about the words on the Hilo one, it was a little bigger than I originally thought haha.

My first day in Honolulu was SOOOOOOOOO TIGHT!!!! As soon as we got into port, Adam, Scott, and I got picked up for a mountain bike tour through Bike Hawaii that we had signed up for independently from Semester at Sea. My parents went on this specific mountain bike tour a couple years ago and said that I absolutely had to do it; so I was like “hmmmmmmm, mountain biking, in a Hawaiian valley…ummmm HECK YEAH!!” So I had been signed up for this tour for the past 2 months and we had called the company 2 days before from Hilo to see if they could add my two friends onto the tour. They said that was no problem and they could totally come; so Adam and Scott signed up over the phone and we were all 3 able to go together. We drove 45 minutes outside of Honolulu and it was like an entirely different part of the island. Very little of the area of the country was developed and it was just these enormous mountains that made up these immense valleys stretching in between. So we park the van and unload and start biking through this valley. It was hard to focus on mountain biking cause we were all drooling at the gorgeous environment that was surrounding us. The tour was a 6 mile ride with the first 4 miles consisting of gravely jeep roads that were slick so that was fun cause our back tires would spin out on us. Then the last 2 miles we had a choice between staying on the jeep trail (lame) or going up onto the mountain side onto a single track trail that was much more “technical” as they say it. Well I don’t even have to say which one me and my buddies chose but I will, we definitely hit up the technical trail and decided to test ourselves; and that exactly what it was…a test. It was by no means easy, there were some places where we had to place our feet down to dodge these huge rocks that our bikes just couldn’t handle going over. Oh and story, at one point, Scott, who had never mountain biked before, was behind me. I kinda slipped off my bike and struggled entering this one forested area and Scott who was waiting about 30 yards back at a hill (we spaced out every now and then to give each other room) started making fun of me cause I slipped and had to walk by bike back up onto the trail. Well, Scott starts to go through next and not only did he do the exact same things as me (karma sucks huh Scott), he kept going into these bushes and ended up flying over the handlebars into these rocks. It was stinking hilarious cause Adam, our guide, and me all got to witness it. Scott didn’t get too seriously injured so it was all good; is say not too seriously because he did gash his knee pretty good but it didn’t even phase him, I mean we call the kid Bear Grills for a reason. He is nuts!!!! But it was definitely worth doing cause it was extremely difficult; and as our guide said, “If you aren’t struggling, you aren’t having fun mountain biking.” Sooooooo true!!

Oh and did I mention that during the entire tour (except the last quarter-of-a-mile) it was raining on us! Not like torrential downpour but just a consistent rain. This was awesome for two reasons…1 – we never got hot, it was very comfortable and no one in our group complained…2 – it made the trails so much more fun. I mean regular gravel and dirt is fun and all, but wet, slick gravel and mud is WAYYYY more entertaining (not to mention a better workout). Oh and by the end of the tour we were caked in mud…like our legs were brown cause we had just nasty amounts of mud on us…and our faces and arms were speckled with mud from the dirt kicking up off our front tires as we went along. Again it just made it all the more worth it and no one complained at all; it was so awesome! Okay so a little more about this valley, since I feel like my words are inadequate to explain it. This valley is the same valley that was used to film numerous Hollywood Blockbuster movies aaaannnnnddddd (this is the best part in my opinion) a significant portion of the tv show LOST!! Yeah be jealous. So here are some of the movies filmed on location, Godzilla (still have his giant footprints in the ground), Mighty Joe Young, Pearl Harbor, Windtalkers (the majority of the movie), Tears of the Sun, George of the Jungle, Jurassic Park, and 50 First Dates (the road where Adam Sandler “re-meets” Drew Barrymore every day, yeah I biked across that road). So now do you have a better understanding of how incredibly beautiful this place was that we were mountain biking in and the enormous mountains on both sides?!?!?!?! Okay so know for all you LOST fans. You know the episode where they time travel back and see the people lowering the Nuke down into the ground, they are using this like wooden tower thing to do it…yeah that tower is still there and I got a picture of it. Then the episode in the earlier seasons when Hurley finds the abandoned van and is trying to jump start it…okay yeah I biked down that hill. Totally went where the van went…it was tight!! Those were the big notable ones but there was also smaller stuff as well. Another random thing in this valley was a World War 2 bunker built into one of the side mountain walls overlooking the coast. The bunker was called Battery Cooper. Our guide was able to open the bunker for us because he has connections and there were like some old ammo crates and stuff in it still. There were also these old framed pictures from Pearl Harbor as it was happening and other days during the war. The bunker also used to overlook a small airstrip that would launch short range fighters; it was also instrumental in launching ship bombers to bomb enemy ships in the battle of Midway. So that pretty much encompasses my entire mountain biking adventure. So next time you watch all those movies, or LOST, just remember that the mountain biking there is freaking intense!!

As I mentioned a second ago, we were filthy dirty after our mountain bike tour so we decided to head back to the ship to shower after being dropped back off in Honolulu. Best shower ever I might add! After showering and changing clothes, we caught up with Austin, Kaylin (AKA – Santa Fe), Sarah, Nicci, Abby, Jacqueline, and Theresa and decided to grab dinner. I suggested that we go to Dukes cause my dad had suggested it and Scott and Adam were like “Well he recommended the mountain biking and that was awesome so let’s do Dukes and just follow Tyler’s dads advice again.” I mean it was “Slick Willie’s” advice (bahahahaha), and man was it right on the money for the second time that day. Duke’s was legit!! It was the perfect setting for a nice relaxed dinner with friends and the food was awesome!! We took our time and just talked and ate for a couple hours. Then for dessert me and Sarah decided to split this “Duke’s famous something-or-another pie” (I forgot the middle word) because we were both pretty full and neither of us wanted to pay the full $6 to only eat half of it, but basically it was an oreo crust, underneath macadamia nut ice cream, covered in chocolate fudge, whipped cream, and chopped macadamia nuts. Everyone at the table was so jealous of the two of us that they decided to order one for themselves. Needless to say there was nothing left of the two desserts after we got through with them. After dinner it was about 9:45 and we walked around for a bit. The rest of the group decided to go chillax on the beach but I decided to walk back to the hotel because I had an Semester at Sea sponsored FDP in the morning at 5:30 in the morning and I didn’t really feel like just sitting on the beach (you know me, can’t sit still haha). So it was 9:45 and the hotel was a little over 4 miles away, I didn’t want to pay for taxi by myself so I said “Well, I’m just gunna walk.” My friends didn’t really like that idea but I basically just walked away while they were yelling at me not to go alone because I really like walking around cities at night cause you get to see different parts of the city in a different perspective, especially on a 4 mile trek from one end of the city to the other. I got to walk all the way through Waikiki beach and then through a part of town where a lot of the homeless people sleep for the night, and also through the hotel part where there were taxis and limos everywhere. It was just cool cause it was like 3 different little cities that I walked through in not too long of a walk. It was about 11:15 when I finally got back to the ship and I went straight to bed, wasn’t too hard after mountain biking and then walking as much as I did haha.

The next morning (my second day in Hilo) I woke up bright and early at 5:15 because I had to meet the bus at 5:30 for my FDP. I guess I should explain what an FDP is huh? FDP stands for “Faculty Directed Practica” and they are simply trips put on through SAS (Semester at Sea) that are led by a teacher. You see every class has 20% of your grade that is composed of strictly out of class work in the countries we are visiting. Most teachers will lead around 7-8 FDP’s throughout our voyage and you can kind of pick and choose which ones you want to do based on price, interest, and availability. Professors are all different in the amount of these trips they require you to participate in but an average number is 3 trips between all the ports added together. This specific trip was led by my Marine Biology professor and was a behind the scenes visit to the United Fishing Agency Fish Auction held daily down at the docks. The specific company this is done through is called NOAA and they pride themselves on being pioneers toward a fully sustainable fishing industry. I won’t go into too much detail, but if you know anything about the global fishing industry, it is anything but sustainable; however, it is possible to change this, and that is precisely what NOAA is attempting to do. Upon arrival, our small group of 19 (my prof., the SAS camera man, 3 life-long learners, the academic dean, and 13 students) was split into 4 groups of 4-5 people. We were then assigned to a guide who took us around the facilities and walked us through the process that takes place every morning. We got to see fish being transferred directly from the holds of the ships to the weighing stations; from there we saw the fish put on slabs and organized by species. They are then covered in ice and displayed for the auction. As all of this is happening outside and inside, there is a group of wholesalers walking around bidding on the fish as they are brought out. Once the wholesaler buys a fish, it is marked with his name and/or company logo and taken outside and put into bins filled with ice and loaded into trucks to be taken to the respected company warehouses. Like I said we got to observe each aspect of this procedure and ask our guide any questions we had. One fish that we saw being bid on was over 150 pounds, was purchased for $7.50 a pound , and totaled over $1000 when it was all said and done. All for one lousy Yellow-fin Tuna?!?!?! That’s intense man!!!! After getting a full tour, we went across the street to a little sidewalk café to grab some breakfast before listening to a one hour lecture on the history and current business dealing of NOAA. It was very interesting and I was actually able to stay awake despite only having about 5.5 hours of sleep under my belt from the night before.

After returning from my FDP I immediately set out to find my way to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (nicknamed “The Punchbowl Cemetery”). I decided to go by myself because no one from my FDP group was interested in joining me and a group was going up to North Shore to snorkel and surf but I didn’t want to waste my money all the way up there when I can’t surf. Didn’t really see the point lol. The tricky part was figuring out which bus to take because originally it took awhile for the bus to arrive, but eventually is came and I was able to make my way outside of Honolulu and up this mountain side to the cemetery which is settled into a crater, hence the nickname “Punchbowl.” This cemetery is cool because it not only honors those that served and died in WW2, but also the fallen soldiers from Korea and Vietnam as well. It was very touching to walk the grounds and see the plaques left in remembrance for those that so valiantly served our country. The coolest part was a plaque I read that said the following:

“In proud memory of the achievements of her sons and in humble tribute to their sacrifices, this memorial has been erected by the United States of America. These men were part of the price that free men have been forced to pay to defend human liberty and rights. To these men we owe a debt, to be paid with grateful remembrance of their heroism.”

Chilling huh???? Yeah I got the biggest shiver when I read the plaque; it’s humbling beyond description…which is why I provided the quote for you all to read for yourself. So after walking around the grounds and reading the other various memorabilia, I headed back to the bus stop to make my way back into Honolulu. Originally I got onto the wrong bus but I figured out my mistake really quick and was able to get off before I went too far out of my way. After safely making it back down to Honolulu, I walked around a little bit more around the State Capital and surrounding area because I didn’t have enough time to travel anywhere very far from the ship. Cause if you are late you get 3 hours of dock time for every 15 minutes past the On-Ship time and that is just not worth risking if I am heading to Japan. I mean I don’t wanna be stuck on the ship in Japan when all my friends are allowed to get off and explore. That would suuucccckkkkkk!!!!!! So I played it safe and hung around the ship and explored closer areas different from the places I had walked the night before. It was nice getting a little alone time to just wonder around and I feel like I saw/did everything in Honolulu that I needed to.

As a whole, I was definitely not as impressed with Honolulu as I thought I would be. I mean I can totally see why people vacation and honeymoon around Waikiki beach but the city of Honolulu itself just wasn’t as “awe-inspiring” as I thought it would be. I mean as soon as we got out of town, like for mountain biking, I LOVED it. But in the city it was just all really expensive and extremely touristy. I think part of this comes from having gone to Hilo first. Hilo was definitely the type of Hawaii that I liked. It was so much simpler! The people were more chill, everything was spread out, much like a suburb out in the country. I mean “no duh I liked Hilo better,” I’m a country boy at heart!! I would much rather walk alongside the road with friends at 1 in the morning and see the nature and hear the exotic sounds. So yeah Hilo was where it was at in my opinion!!! Definitely hope to return there. Hawaii was awesome and I couldn’t have asked for a better first port. Beautiful scenery and great friends just made it that much more enjoyable. Let the good time keep rolling babay!!!!!!!!

Didn’t write quite as much this time I don’t think lol. Hope you all enjoy!

In the words of the Hawaiians, “E ho’omau ka holo moana” (Let us continue the voyage).

Love you all and God bless. Matthew 28:19-20.

T