Greetings from the Hilo, Hawaii. Got in early yesterday morning at 5:30 am and had a damn good day. It took a few hours for the ship to clear customs, but around 8:30 we were all out and about headin to the beaches.
Started the day off with at Robertson beach (see image above) and hung out on the lava rock for the morning. There were around fifty students over there enjoyin the first day on land in the past week.
We had a rough go of it getting down here. We went on a 300 mile detour due to the massive storm that closed down the west coast and dumped unreal amounts of snow in northern Arizona and southern Colorado. The rockin was so bad a times that dressers were ripping out of the walls and I watched a few items from our dresser fly 10 feet across the room. It was an interesting way to start the voyage but we made it through.
So following our return to land and the morning on the beach we ventured into downtown Hilo for lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon at a beach near downtown drinkin beers chillin in the ocean.
Spent the early part of last night with the University of Hawaii at Hilo as they hosted a luau experience for over 200 students. The food was interesting to say the least. The pork was good, but the squid and poi were no bueno. Not exactly sure how the Hawaiians eat as much poi as they do, it's tasteless with a very odd texture to it. They did have some great performances. From local music around the island, war battle dances, singing and a great traditional dance that is done at the end of every luau.
The night time turned into a great time out at the bars. Went to a little place called Shooters, it had no idea what hit it. There was one poor little bartender tryin to hold down a bar of over 150 people. By the end of the night I thought her arms were gonna fall off. But it was a great time gettin to meet more of the students and enjoy an evening off the ship.
Spent most of today at a little surfing beach. There was a freshwater river that fed into the ocean at the end of the beach and just off the coast were 50-60 sea turtles hangin out with all the surfers. Met some local guys who showed the girls how to surf. Really nice guys. Everyone on the island is extreemly friendly. We ended up grabbin some lunch with them and then got some shaved ice. Not sure how they do it but the shaved ice here is phenominal. I now want to open my own shaved ice store. The guys were nice enough to give us a lift back to the ship.
Now it's off to Honolulu tomorrow for a few more days in Hawaii.
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