December 10, 2014
Day 24: Goodbye ocean, flowers, and sun
As other trips have drawn to a close, we certainly have clung to some last little bit of the experience. Normally this would take the form of some last visit to a real bakery. But with Hawaii, the whole experience is so immersive - with the warmth, flowers, ocean, and people - that it is just a matter of trying to be even more aware of it all, as departure draws inexorably closer.
So it was this morning, as we first looked again from our balcony at Kailua Bay, and then walked out in the warmth, flowers, and so forth. Actually, before we could walk out, we again ran in to John and Cindy, who were also staying in the Kona Seaside. All along, we have enjoyed sharing our mutual experiences as the only Canadian cyclists, almost the only cyclists, on the island. John and Cindy have also cycled in Europe and other overseas spots, so we had a lot in common. One of the things that Cindy mentioned was the length of trips and the problem of home sickness. John says he could happily live "in a ditch" for ever, and Dodie is the same. But when Cindy learned that I too have a limit (for me, about 90 days) she was pleased to find she is not alone.
Out on the street we strolled by rock walls topped with flowering shrubs, and looked up at a large African Tulip tree. Invasive though these may be, they are gorgeous. ("Strolled" is not really an accurate word, since Dodie is hobbling, with her trekking pole for support. Doctors back home will need to have some answers about this!). The whole area is quite compact, so we could stop by several coffee vendors, shops with colourful artwork, usually operated by the artists themselves, clothing stores, souvenir shops, and suchlike. A small beach, dock, and tour bus loading zone are all here, again without any feeling of imposing size, crowding, or complexity. We really loved it.
Our "stroll" had another purpose too - one last visit to Splashers, which is just one of several quite nice restaurants in this little quarter. Outside one we were handed pineapple samples - so good! But Splashers had the most attractive offering. For me, large fluffy pancakes topped with banana and macadamia, two eggs, bacon - you could cycle all day on something like that! Dodie's choice was similar, but had French toast with blueberries. Blueberries? What were they thinking? Anyway she did not complain, and in fact was a most satisfied customer.
The shuttle driver was a little early, and came in to the lobby of the Seaside to find us. It is all very laid back here. The driver didi not have to struggle for a parking spot as there is all kinds of room. He did not even have to come through a door - there are no doors. And he did not have to find us in a crowd - there are no crowds. The shuttle was huge and shiny and swallowed up our bikes and stuff without a hiccup. The total cost for this service for both of us in total is $23. Cool.
We found that our driver had lived on this island all his life, though more in the uplands. He also told us that he had bought 3 acres at Ocean View (remember - the totally lava covered huge subdivision down south) in the 70's. He has never used it, and it remains just a lava wasteland, but it seems lots of Hawaiians somehow thought this would be a good investment. Our driver thought maybe his children would use it. Now he thinks maybe his grandchildren will use it. Ok, maybe.
At the airport, they seem more concerned about biosecurity than anti-terrorism. We dragged all our stuff to the Alaska counter, where they tagged it as usual. But it did not go onto a belt behind the agent. Rather we had to drag it again to a USDA inspection, where they made sure we were not smuggling any bananas to Seattle, so as to destroy the Pacific Northwest tropical fruit industry, presumably. With our main bags gone, we and our carry on bag went through regular security. Finally, at the gate, our carry on bag went through another USDA screening. We never did mention the two Ti plants that we had in the bag. They only asked about fresh fruit.
Inside security there is one restaurant and one gift shop. We know the souvenir prices well by now. So we could see that the gift shop was asking 2 - 4x the going rates. Well, ok, if you don't have your "Hang Loose" tee shirt by now, maybe you deserve to pay. But what really got our goat was the prices being asked in the restaurant. After taking away at security any drinks you might have, the price of a bottle of Pepsi magically became $3.25. Health freaks could buy half a litre of water for $2.75. If you had about $10, you might be able to buy a sandwich.
So our final impression of Hawaii (other than a last glimpse of Mauna Kea from the airplane window) was of the intense urge to milk the visitor for every last penny possible. There were some exceptions, like Splashers and the Executive Shuttle, but for most places and especially the airport - wow, ripoff city!
I think I'll rather focus on all those flowers and all the other wonderful aspects when I remember this trip. It was wonderful, and we are glad we came.
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