The Island Hopper across the Pacific

January 11/12 2023

Air Micronesia began flying in 1968 from Honolulu to Guam with stops on various islands in between. Air Micronesia was bought by Continental, which subsequently merged with United, which still operates the Island Hopper service three days a week. As checked baggage, many of the passengers returning to their home islands had coolers full of groceries they had bought in Honolulu. One guy opened his and it appeared to be full of bags of snack-sized Snickers bars.

The longest leg is 5 hours from Honolulu to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Having  crossed the international date line, it's now January 12. As we descended, I noticed an oval-shaped flat atoll out the window enclosing a large bay, this was Majuro. We passed north of the island before turning left and descending for a landing at the airport, squeezed onto the south side of the narrow island. Continuing passengers can disembark here for a brief respite. While waiting in the transit area, a windy rain storm blew through.

The Marshall Islands were administered by the US (1) under a UN trustee mandate until the islands' independence in 1991. The islands are in free association with the US, permitting island citizens to live and work in the US. and obligating the US to defend the islands.

The cockpit crew which flew the aircraft from Honolulu swaps places with the crew who has been deadheading to this point (2). A mechanic and other airline personnel ride on the flight to assist at the stops. As we departed, the whole Majuro ground crew assembled to wave goodbye (2).

The Wednesday Island Hopper service skips the next two stops (at Kwajalein (a US military base) and Korsae), flying directly to Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia (4). As with Majuro, the plane flies over the island to the north before turning to land into the easterly trade wind. Pohnpei is a much hillier island the Majuro and is ringed by a barrier reef clearly visible from the air.

Due to continuing Covid restrictions (5), through passengers stayed on the plane, which was relatively empty at this point. There was a convivial atmosphere with a large number of airline employees on the plane who chatted amiably with each other and with the passengers (6).

The final stop is at Chuuk in Micronesia. The Island, formerly known as Truck, was the site of a major battle in the 1944 during the second World War. 

The flight ended back in the US at Guam. Outside the terminal, I was greeted by two of the air crew who were driving home as I set off to walk the 2 miles to town. I had forgotten I was back on the U.S. The narrow dis-used sidewalk was slick with some sort of slime (from the damp climate) and abruptly ended at the edge of airport property, leaving me stranded on the side of a busy road. Back to the airport for my late flight to Palau.

(1) The FAA limits the work day of pilots, generally to 8 hours of flying time. 

(2) Bikini Atoll, site of the first Hydrogen bomb test (and still uninhabitable due to the testing), is part of the country's territory.

(3) A ground crew member approached the plane holding a long stick with a clip at the end containing a piece of paper, which he held up for the pilot to take from the cockpit window. The pilot told us that telecommunications were down on the island, so they needed to go old-school with the paperwork.

(4) Micronesia is also in free association with the US, having gained their independence in 1990.

(5) One of the flght attendants told me he had seen the hospital in Chuuk (the next stop) and they could not handle the infection.

(6) One airline employee heading home to Guam sat next to me on the final leg and shared some of his home-made tuna jerkey

The Majuro Atoll

Majuro airport

Rain squall at Majuro

Majuro ground crew waving goodbye while twirling their umbrellas in the rain

Descending to Pohnpei

View of reef departing Pohnpei

At Chuuk

In the last leg: to Guam

Route highlighted on in-flight magazine

Kayaking Kāneʻohe Bay

January 10, 2023

The bus from Honolulu to Kualoa takes about 1 1/2 hours and costs only $3.00 (1). My body was still on East Coast time (Hawaii time + 5 hours), so I awoke about 5:00 and took an early bus. The sun was rising as I arrived at Kualoa State Park (2). Dave, the kayak tour guide came as planned at 8:30.

We soon paddled into the bay, spotting a monk seal coming up for air. Paddling out, we noticed the splash from a whale's flipper and headed further offshore on this calm morning. Lingering near the harbor entrance buoy, a humpback whale emerged from the deep, just 10 or 15 yards away. I backed away as the enormous whale lingered on the surface, spouting from its blowhole. Under her dorsal fin, she was sheltering her newborn calf (3), who poked his or her head up a few times to look around. This was Dave's first whale siting this year, and one of his closest ever (4). A sea turtle appeared on the paddle back, gliding smoothly under the water.

Mokoliʻi Island (5) means "dragon's tail" in Hawaiian, because the adjacent ridge on the mainland looks somewhat like a dragon (if you have vivid imagination). We ascended the (slightly) less steep south face of the hill (6), maintaining four points of contact most of way on the rocky scramble up: two feet and two hands. The sweeping views from the 206 foot summit encompassed the whole bay. The descent was a even more intimidating, with five points of contact (the aforementioned four, plus my butt; safety trumps pride). On the descent, I noticed some unusual bushes with flowers in purple, yellow and orange all on the same cluster (7)

A short paddle brought us back to Kualoa State Park, where Dave's wife, Kat was waiting with lunch. Kat offered me a ride in the bed of her pickup truck to Turtle Bay (8), at the northwest corner of the Island. My last ride on the bed of a pickup was when I was about twelve, so I hopped in. I enjoyed an iced coffee and the view at Turtle Bay Resort, before grabbing the bus for the two hour (and still $3.00) bus ride back to Honolulu (8).

(1) When the bill insertion machine works, which it seems to about half the time (a).

(a) The ride from the airport last night explains why so few tourists use the bus. Unless you have a Holo card (which you can't buy at the airport), you need exact change to board the bus at the derelict-looking, unlighted bus stop at the airport, which had no schedule information posted.

(2) The typical quick sunrise in the tropics, not the long lingering sunrises (and sunsets) we get in the higher attitudes back home, especially in the months surrounding the solstices.

(3) The whales migrate to Hawaii in the winter to give birth. During their residence at the islands, they do not eat, as their normal diet of plankton grows better in the colder waters further north. Dave marvelled that the moms nurse the babies with about 100 lbs of milk each day, drawing upon her own body mass to do so.

(4) He frequently exclaimed: "This is awesome, Dude." 

(5) Also known as "China Man's Hat," for its shape.

(6) There are caves on the northern cliff-face, into which deceased Hawaiians have been descended from the summit, judging by the bones that have been found there.

(7) I was too focused on not slipping and dying on the descent to take a picture.

(8) Kat's truck is a manual, which Dave has never figured out how to drive. When Kat was first learning, her father said to her "Only rich people can afford an automatic transmission. We're not rich, so you need to learn on a manual."

(9) The waves were 10 to 15 feet on the north side today (the waves were predicted to be 50 feet tomorrow), so an impromptu surf competition was happening, slowing traffic further up the road. I therefore returned the way I had come. 

Sunrise over Kāneʻohe Bay

View of Mokoliʻi

Kualoa Ridge

Mama Humpback 

Views from summit of Mokoliʻi

Marker at the 206 foot summit

View from the back of the pickup

At Turtle Bay

Nightwish in Antwerp

November 20, 2022

A message came in late last night indicating that KLM's 6:00 a.m. flight to Amsterdam was delayed until 8:00. Good; two more hours of sleep. The flight actually left closer to 9:00 (1), with arrival in Amsterdam about 11:00. Luckily, there are hourly through trains to Antwerp on the :43. Our train tickets were valid for any train today, but none were shown on the departure board. The helpful man at the ticket counter told us (in English) that they were all cancelled today due to rail construction. He printed out an alternate 3-connection route, which he explained to us in Dutch. 

Arriving in the border town of Roosendal after changing trains in Rotterdam, we discovered that the Belgian train from here to Antwerp was cancelled (2). An hour later, a train with a big "B" on the side pulled in. I mustered my best Dutch accent to ask the conductor "Antwerp, ja?" He replied in perfect English: "Yes, sir. This is the train to Antwerp." The train proceeded through the rain to the beautiful art-deco railway station in Antwerp. A short stroll past many diamond shops brought us to the hotel (3).

While my daughter caught up on jet lag, I had coffee with a friend who had come up from Paris to join us at the Nightwish concert. In the tri-level train station, my friend pointed to an old train on the upper track level, which she thought must be a railway museum. No, that was the train from Roosendal.

After dinner at an Argentine steak house, we took the metro to the concert venue (4). During the concert, I said to my daughter that Floor Jansen, Nightwish's lead singer, never sounded so good; "first show of the tour," my daughter replied. Floor seemed to enjoy speaking to the audience in her native Dutch (5).

At the train station the next morning, a railway official approached my daughter. Was there something wrong? (We had valid tickets.) He was simply admiring her denim vest with patches from a wide variety of metal bands. "You should come back for the Grasspop musical festival next summer" he said.

(1) Last night's flight to Leeds has been diverted to Newcastle due to heavy fog in Leeds. The morning flight crew therefore had to get from Leeds to Newcastle overland and then fly the empty plane back to Leeds to pick up the passengers.

(2) My daughter quipped that the delays and cancellations made her feel at home; she lives in New York and travels daily on the subway.

(3) A large percentage of the world's diamonds are cut and/or otherwise processed in Antwerp.

(4) As with concerts in Brussels, the concert tickets in Antwerp includes a free ride on the city's public transit.  

(5) Antwerp is in the Dutch-speaking (Flemish) region of Belgium. The other region (Wollonia) is French-speaking. The band's flute and pipe player (Troy) said that, while he spoke some French, he would use English here in Antwerp, to which the crowd cheered.

The delayed Dutch flight

The delayed Belgian train

Antwerp Railway Station

Nightwish (photo by my daughter)

Within Temptation in Leeds

November 19, 2022

Leeds is a former mill town a few hour train ride north of London. Having lunch in a pub, we (1) asked the parka-clad server (2) what there was to do in Leeds on a cold rainy day. "Nothing, maybe go shopping? We have a covered market in the city center." We opted for the Thackary Museum of Medicine. 

The main exhibits at the museum present the working and living conditions in Leeds in the mid-1850s, the town's mill heyday. The virtual guide is Lizzy, representing a real 11 year-old mill worker who, despite her 5 years of work experience, got her leg caught in one of the looms. When the injury became infected, her leg was amputated (3). Unfortunately, the Infection had already spread and Lizzy did not survive (4) (5).

We then walked over to the concert arena for the Worlds Collide tour, headlined by two female-fronted bands: Within Temptation and Evanesence, with Rividia, another female-led band, as the opening act. We stood a few yards from the edge of stage right (6). The show was awesome.

After a walk back, we encountered a woman in the hotel lobby who had driven 7 hours from Plymouth for the concert. She told us she had a seat in the balcony and had been scolded by those nearby for her exuberance during the show. She soon began to spout conspiracy theory about the US elections and Mexican immigrants, so we wandered off.

(1) My daughter had flown directly to Leeds.

(2) The heat was not functioning in the pub. Hence, the parka.

(3) Before anesthetics, the surgeon needed to be quick about the amputation. Before antiseptics, you wanted a surgeon with more blood on his white coat, they had more experience

(4) The museum is mainly set up for school kids. The curators must have confidence in the resilience of English youth to handle the bad news.

(5) Three important innovations since the mid-1850s make me glad to live today: antiseptics, anesthesia, and antibiotics.

(5) Between the bands, the security guards (a) passed out cups of water to the crowd (b); very civilized.

(a) One of whom was about 5'2" and looked to weigh about 125 lbs. I guess the UK fans are better behaved than those in the US, judging by the burly security folks at most US venues. 

(b) They understood that fans don't want to leave a good standing spot between bands.

The train to Leeds

Victorian-era medical instruments

Within Temptation

The musical Six in London

November 18, 2023

Tickets for the Musical Six, about King Henry 8th's six wives (1), start at $240 in New York. In London's West End, seats are available for about $35. There was 1 male (me) in the last row of the balcony, a ratio which seemed consistent with the average in the theatre. While the show was very entertaining, the run time of 1 hour and 15 minutes made me glad I did not pay Broadway prices. 

(1) Their fates are summarized in the opening song: divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.

Covent Garden decked out for Christmas on the walk back to the hotel.

Mahler's 8th Symphony in London

October 22 to 23, 2022

A cheap flight brought me to Stansted, one of London's 5 airports, which was followed by a train and bike ride across the city. Les Misérables closed in NYC years ago, but was still playing in London. Even after 38 years, the musical still sounded fresh.

The plan on Sunday morning was to kayak with the tide up the Thames from Greenwich to Battersea. Heavy rain and thunderstorm warnings cancelled the paddle, so the Sherlock Holmes Museum beckoned (1). The guide told stories in the study, where Holmes met his clients, with his back to the window so the client's face was illuminated by the incoming light. A picture of Irene Adler from A Scandal in Bohemia, who outwitted Holmes, was on the fireplace mantle.

The Sunday afternoon performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony took place at Royal Albert Hall. The 8th is known as the "Symphony of a Thousand" for the number of performers required. While I did not count, this is probably an exaggeration, although the piece requires a large orchestra, an off-stage brass section, 8 soloists, two full adult choirs, and a boys choir. While I have heard the piece on recordings many times (2), I did not appreciate how the two choruses responded and interacted to each other until I saw and heard them in different ears.

(1) At 221B Baker St., of course. 

(2) I even have the full musical score.

At Les Miz in the West End

The Sherlock Holmes Museum

Wax figure of Professor Moriarty

In Hyde Park

Albert Memorial

Royal Albert Hall

The musical forces marshalled for Mahler's 8th

Killiney Hill, County Dublin

October 21, 2022

Arrived at Dublin this morning to a wind-driven rain storm. Plan A was a kayak trip at Dalkey to see the seals in Dublin Bay.  Easterly winds at 25 knots had kicked up the surf on the Irish Sea, so the kayak trip was cancelled. 

A walk along the sea wall with a crashing sea might be fun, so I set off southbound from Dun Laoghaire after the short train ride from Dublin on the DART (1). The sky brightened and the rain stopped on the walk through the posh (2) sea-side suburbs south of Dublin.

After a few miles (and a few glimpses of blue sky), Killiney Hill beckoned. Rising steeply 500 feet above the Sea, the hill is surrounded by a public park with trails leading to the summit (3). The park seems popular with people out walking their dogs. The sun appeared through the scudding clouds as I neared the summit, offering fine views over the Irish Sea glistening below in the sporadic sunshine.

Dalkey Hill was visible to the North and was accessible via rougher paths. After summtting Dalkey Hill, I descended to the town along puddled paths through an old quarry, passing a dog walker who commented on the favorable turn of weather. About a 7 mile walk/hike, fortuitously during the driest part of the day. 

The rain began again as I reached Dalkey town, where a short DART ride returned me to Dun Laoghaire. My hotel for the night previously hosted Queen Victoria and Charlie Chaplin. A powerful lighthouse was visible out to sea, presumably the Dublin landfall light with a pattern of two flashes every twelves seconds. 

(1) Dublin Area Rapid Transit, somewhere between a subway/metro system and a commuter rail.

(2) Originally meaning "port out, starboard home" for the better side of the ship on a trip from England to India.

(3) Unlike hiking in the mountains, the park is laid out more like Park Mount Royal in Montréal (a), with well-groomed trails designed to encourage urban dwellers to enjoy the outdoors. 

(a) The park in Montréal was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, creator of the field of landscape architecture, who also laid out Central Park in NYC.

No paddling today

Muglins Lighthouse

Dalkey Island

Approaching Killiney Hill Summit

View to Dalkey Island

View south from Killiney Hill

View back to Killiney from Dalkeu Hill

Descending through Quarry

DART train