Hilo, HI Day 2

We decided Monday night that on Tuesday we would get up early because at 8am the ship was moving to a different dock. So we were off the ship by 7:30am. We began our journey to the other side of the big island to Kona. A two hour drive took us about 4 hours because we took the scenic route and made many stops along the way. For example we stopped in front of one person’s house to watch him pick an orange from his tree using some sort of long mechanical arm. We also stopped so Cindy could take pictures of a house that had chickens and a dog perched atop a car. I think the best stop was when we had Malasadas.  They were delicious donut like treats that for some reason we all thought it was OK to each get 2 for breakfast; so I had one filled with Lemon and the other filled with Bavarian Cream….yummy!!!

 It was interesting as we drove around the island to see the landscape change from very tropical to hardened lave to desert like. I know that we were told that the side of the island Hilo is on was the more tropical side and now I believe it.

One of the scenic views we stopped to observe...pretty breathtaking:

We ended our day at the Kona Brewery where though some people were disappointed we could not get burgers the food was good and so was the beer. The Kona brewery has just made Hawaii's first organic beer and the symbol happens to be the fishhook symbol which is very near and dear to me. When I went on Semester at Sea the first time and went to New Zealand I discovered the fishhook, it was a Maori (the indigenous people of New Zealand) symbol for good luck and safe travel over seas. This immediately spoke to me because I was traveling over seas. I decided then to get this symbol tattooed on my back, so I carry it with me always. Anyway I felt it important to share that story because we saw the symbol sold as jewelry all through Hawai’i.

So after lunch we made our 2 hour trip back to Hilo to prepare for our for embarkation. We (the Living Learning Staff) have to be back on the ship 2 hours before on ship time. If anyone is late for on ship time (which is usually 6pm) they receive dock time. For every 15 minutes someone is late to the ship they receive 3 hours of dock time. So part of what we do is gently remind to students who are hanging around the port to get there butts on the ship so they do not receive docktime. And, I am happy to report that everyone was on time and accounted for and it was a relatively smooth process.

That evening as we started our travels towards Honolulu a few of us got together for a Pajama Jammy Jam to celebrate a new friend’s birthday. We had a great time hanging out in the faculty and staff lounge and dancing to cheesey 80’s music.