Friday, January 11, 2008: Walking up Diamond Head and Taking a Ride in TheBoat.
Bob: On my only previous visit to Hawaii I had walked the Volksmarch that led up to Diamond Head and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I had put that on the agenda of things to do while we were in Honolulu. We hopped on TheBus after breakfast, but this time headed out toward Diamond Head rather than in toward downtown Honolulu. We found the hotel where our walked started, signed up, and were on our way. With Diamond Head looming up on our right side, we walked around a park and slightly uphill to the foot of the old volcanic crater. Then we circled around the base until we reached the entrance to the state park that currently occupies the site. The only way in or out of the crater is, however, through a tunnel bored straight through the side of the crater wall. Built in the old days, the tunnel and roadway are quite narrow, barely two cars wide, and when one of those big, fat tourist trolleys has to transit the tunnel, they stop just outside the end and loudly ring their bell. That is the signal for all the traffic in the opposing direction to stop and wait so that the trolley can safely make it through the tunnel unopposed, so to speak. Pedestrians, by the way, have an extremely narrow and uneven edge of the pavement on which to walk, and if two cars must pass while you are in the tunnel the quarters become uncomfortably close. Coming out of the tunnel on the inside gives you a great view of the crater and the surrounding wall. This is not a huge crater, by any means, but it is a lot larger than, say, Vesuvius, and makes for a very impressive panorama. The first checkpoint for the Diamond Head walk is right after the entrance kiosk for the park, where there are restrooms and you can also purchase water or soft drinks. |
Monika: When Bob and I were here 12 years ago, we had just started Volksmarching and did the Volksmarch up and around Diamond Head. I remember us huffing and puffing at the end. Of course, we wanted to walk it again. So we grabbed a bus to take us to the start point, and started the walk. It did not seem to be all that far to the entrance into the crater. But looking up to the top, gave one pause. |
Bob: The optional 2 kilometers for the Diamond Head walk consist of the roughly 800 foot climb to an old WWII observation post at the highest point on the rim. It is a steep, rocky trail with about 170 steps, a circlular staircase, and one point where you must scrabble on your hands and knees to get through a low spot. But the great views along the way and from the apex made the climb well worthwhile. We saw Honolulu spread out before us to our right and the tourquoise waters of the shallows around the lighthouse to our left. Out in front the deep blue waters of the Pacific stretched to the horizon, a truly glorious view. I saw a freighter, some tour boats, and even a submarine chugging along on the surface. Initially we forgot to check the compass rose on top for the second checkpoint, but fortunately we remembered before we got too far down the mountain and could quickly zip back up to the peak to look at it and find the checkpoint information. (Whew!) |
Monika: . But there were a lot of other people, that also marched up the 1 kilometer to the top. We went around numerous switchbacks, then up 75 steps, through a tunnel, up another 99 steps, another tunnel, a very small opening and you were almost on top. Just a few more stairs and you had a beautiful view of the southeastern part of the island. There were, of course, many people that had come up and wanted to take a picture. So there were a lot of quid-pro-quos so that everyone got there "We were here" picture. |
Bob: On the way back down from the peak we still had to watch our footing because it was tricky going downhill on the rocky trail (but not nearly as exhausting as going up!). Once back through the entrance tunnel we descended to the road around the base and turned right to continue back to the starting point. Along the way we passed a couple of nice parks and a Coastguard lighthouse that was still in use and even had its original Fresnel lens. Back at the starting point we stamped our books and got some very nice patches. I would rate this walk as a 2 without the climb up to Diamond Head because there are some slight uphills as you walk around the base of the mountain, but if you do the climb then it is roughly a 3 in difficulty and you really should wear sturdy footgear for that section of the trail. |
Monika: Back down was breeze, but it was starting to get hot and when I saw a vending machine with cold cola, I bought a 20 oz bottle for $1.50. Bob and I shared the treat. It hydrated us, cooled us down, and gave those dreaded empty sugar calories, to have the energy for the walk back to the start point. Of course, our "shadowmeters" were in full summer mode, and we carefully crossed the road to get the most shade. The way back was on a cliff between the crater wall of Diamond Head and the ocean. We passed the old lighthouse, that we had admired at the top. At one point we passed a beach and surfers in the water. There were cars parked all along the street, and I wondered, how they got down to the water, especially since there were signs, saying "Don't go any farther". Well at the very end, we did see a walkway down to the beach, but I have a feeling, that there are also a lot of unofficial ways. Up on top was also a beautiful little park with pretty flowers. |
Bob: After a quick lunch at a Burger King we returned to our room to put our feet up for a bit and then walked (gingerly) back to TheBus to take it over to the Aloha Center where we planned to take TheBoat on a quick trip to the northwestern corner of the island. We thought we would at least get a seaside view of the area and it was free since TheBoat was included on our 4-day pass for TheBus. TheBoat turned out to be a medium-sized passenger catamaran type of ferry boat, and we had a nice trip out past the airport and Pearl Harbor on our way to the docks beside what looked to me to be a rather extensive oil refinery. |
Monika: We did not have the checkbook or enough cash for the walk and patches, so we decided to come back tomorrow morning, do another Volksmarch that starts at the same hotel and pay for everything then. So we just went back to Waikiki, had lunch at a Burger King, found an ATM for some cash infusion and then rested at the hotel. The day before we had seen advertisements for TheBoat, a commuter boat between Aloha Tower and the western edge of town that was connected with TheBus system. Our four day pass for TheBus was also good on TheBoat, so we checked in the Internet for times. We found that if we caught TheBoat at 4:20, we could ride to the western most point of Oahu, and then back to Aloha Towers. So we got to Aloha Tower in plenty of time to even look at some of the stores, but then it was time to get onto The Boat. It was a catamaran and really moved quite rapidly out and across the water. We sat outside and took pictures of everything worth taking a picture of. At the other end, the clouds that always seem to hang over the mountains, came down a little closer to the water and we got a few sprinkles. Everyone had to get off the ship at the other end. This was a commuter boat, and most people boarded the waiting connecting buses. One guy even had brought a bicycle along on the boat and was then going to take it on the connecting bus. He said, once he got off the bus, he had to bike another 3 miles to get home. All buses have bike racks in front, so it is easy to take a bike along. |
Bob: The way back, however, was the real kick because for some reason the waves were higher and we were bouncing and jouncing all over the place. Besides the rocking and rolling, we were treated to a beautiful sunset out in back of us. To top it all off, we saw a whale surface briefly just to the left of our wake, and that was a thrill. The sun set as we returned to the Aloha Tower center, and we dragged ourselves back to the bus stop for the ride back down to Waikiki beach and our hotel for the night. |
Monika: We had to wait till the captain had his smoke, and then we could board again. After a few minutes, we were out of the rain and the sun was shining as it slowly was going down in our wake. The sea was a little rougher and it was like an unexpected roller coaster ride. One mother had two little kids (2 and 4 my guess) who squealed with delight every time we went suddenly up or down. When the sun was going down, Bob and I were also kept busy with trying to take the best sunset pictures. So time passed quickly. When we got back to Aloha Tower we decided to look at some stores, and in one of them, I found a skirt that I really liked. It was a full skirt in light yellow with white flowers. It probably will look even better, once I lose a few more pounds, but I do like it already. After all that excitement, we headed back to our hotel for sandwiches (and a bottle of beer that I had snagged along the way back). |
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