The Celebrity 'Millenium' beat us to the dock near the Aloha Tower, so we were a little farther from downtown. The Aloha Tower is a lighthouse, built in 1926. At 84 feet tall, for forty years it was the tallest structure in Hawaii.
Our plan here was to visit the James Campbell Wildlife Refuge, which is on the northern side of the island. We had arranged to rent a car, but we had to get to the airport to pick it up. We had asked our port expert what the best way was to get to the airport. He suggested a taxi, costing about $20. We asked him about the bus, and he told us which one to take. We figured we weren't in any hurry, and the bus is sometimes a good way to see a city, so we walked a couple of blocks and caught the bus, oddly enough called 'The Bus.' It cost us $1 each, and we had about a 45-minute tour of Honolulu.
We drove north, passing through pineapple fields. The Dole pineapple plantation is here, the only commercial pineapple grower left in Hawaii. They no longer export their fruit, but sell it locally.
The road was lined with some very strange-looking trees. The branches looked like giant toothbrushes.
We came to a private park called Waimea Valley, where we had lunch. This is a botanical garden and wildlife sanctuary. Since we had planned to go to the botanical garden near Hilo, we decided not to pay to go through this park.
As we continued north we passed Waimea Bay, where there was a big traffic jam caused by a surfing competition that was taking place.
We finally arrived at the wildlife refuge, only to find it was closed. So we continued around the island. We returned the car to the airport and took 'The Bus' back into town.
We did a little exploring on foot downtown. The supreme court building, completed in 1874, was originally designed to be a palace but the king decided the government needed a place to meet. The statue of Kamehameha that stands out in front was erected in 1878.
Nearby is the Iolani Palace. It was built in 1871 and is the only royal palace in the U.S. The coronation pavilion was built in 1883. When Queen Lili was overthrown in 1893, the palace became the capitol building and was used until 1969.
We found a Starbuck's for tea and then returned to the ship.
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