4/22/2014 - Waikiki Aquarium

On our last day of vacation we visited the Waikiki Aquarium. 

This open-air aquarium is primarily focused on the Pacific region: corals, south Pacific habitat, Hawaiian environment, reef predators and diversity of sea life.

The aquarium also provides coral, clams and other sea life to other aquariums.

Following our time at the aquarium we returned to the hotel to get ready to fly out on the red eye this afternoon, arriving on 4/23 in the early morning.

The End.

4/21/2014 - Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

We spent the majority of the day exploring the Bishop Museum.  Bernice Bishop was part of the royalty and in line to be Queen of Hawaii but she married a New York businessman, Charles Bishop, against the wishes of her parents. She was offered the throne by King Kamehameha V in 1872, but she didn't want it. She and her husband were philanthropists and her estate upon her death consisted of 9% of the Hawaiian Islands. Her husband built the museum in her honor.

From the website: "Bishop Museum is the premier place to experience the history, arts and culture of the Hawaiian people. We are recognized throughout the world for our scientific research, educational programs, and extensive collections which give voice to the stories of Hawai‘i and the broader Pacific."

The first area we visited was the Kahili Room where the stories and history of the Hawaiian monarchy were told. Kahili are the feather standards of the chiefly ranks.

King Kamehameha I

King Kamehameha II

Queen Liliʻuokalani - Last Monarch

Bernice Pauahi Bishop

The Bishops (BPBM Archives)

Feather Kahili

4/20/2014 - The Longest Easter Sunday We've Experienced

Today was a long travel day due to crossing the international date line. We boarded our Quantas aircraft in Auckland at 3:45 pm and flew for 3 hours and forty minutes to Sydney.  We boarded our Quantas aircraft in Sydney at 7:40 pm and flew for 9 hours and 45 minutes to Honolulu, arriving at 9:25 am on 4/20. 

We were able to get into our hotel room upon arrival in the morning. We were exhausted and immediately took naps. 

In the afternoon we took a walk on Waikiki Beach. The surf was up enough to bring out some surfers. 

4/19/2014 - Auckland

Auckland - the city of sails. Auckland is purported to have the greatest number of pleasure boats per capita of any city in the world. The climate enables more sailing than most places. The harbor is beautiful.

Today we were on our own. We first went to the Auckland Museum, which is actually the War Memorial as well. There was an exhibit room which was full of the eggs being sold for charity and views of the city.

There was an exhibit of Sir Edmond Hillary's climb of Everest.



















Another major area was the war memorial area - primarily WWI with the addition of military planes. They exhibited a WWI nurse's uniform was Victorian style! There was also a Hall of Memories - all wars since WWI.

There were natural history areas but the best was the huge gallery of Maori Treasures. We also saw a small collection of musical instruments.

Next we went to the harbor and the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum. There was an exhibit of early Polynesian navigators and then whalers. There is a discussion of immigration. There are several historic ships outside the museum. One area is dedicated to the Maori house that belonged to Tangoroa god of the sea. Lastly we saw an exhibit of the America's Cup New Zealand boat.

New Zealand won the America's Cup in 1995 captained by Sir Peter Blake

In Maori mythology, Hawaiki is the original home of the Maori, before they traveled across the sea to New Zealand. It also features as the underworld in many Maori stories.

4/18/2014 - Auckland and Waiheke Island

We drove to the Ferry Terminal in Auckland. We took a Fuller's Ferry over to Waiheke Island. Over 8700 people live on Waiheke Island, 1200 of which commute to Auckland for work. Another 3,400 have second or holiday homes on the island. The population grows to 40K in the summer. The north side of the island is the preferred side: white sandy beaches, protected from winds. The south side consists of black beaches and experiences cold winds and tides from the south.

There are at least 26 vineyards on the island. Goldie Vineyard started the winery industry 35 years ago. Grapes are handpicked. Most picking is done by backpackers - many from South America. Backpackers find temporary housing at people's houses, caravans, cottages and tree houses. 

Olive picking season is 3-4 weeks long and we arrived in the middle of the season. We visited the Rangihoua Estate where we were given a tour of their olive orchard and olive oil operations. We also were treated to a tasting of the oil and herb spread. 60% of olives are picked by hand, 40% mechanically. A parachute is used under the tree and a hand rake is used. The harvest happens when olives are 80% ripe. Each tree yields 16K olives. Leaves and olives are poured into a bin, washed and twigs are removed. Whole olive including the pit is used - smashed - releases tannin. Then they are mixed, the oil separates and then fruit water separates from fruit solids. Rangihoua Olive Oils all very carefully cultivated, harvested and processed to ensure they all achieve a very low acidity and low peroxide values. As a result, all of Rangihoua’s Olive Oils are Extra Virgin. Rangihoua's has won many olive oil awards.

Other fun facts: Water is tank collected rain water. Teenagers look after each other. There are 9 police officers on the island; 90% of crime is drunk driving.

Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant

We then went to Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant for a lecture, wine tasting and lunch. The grounds were beautiful. Tall trees provide wind breaking, nets are used to keep birds of the grape vine (though one joined our lunch). This vineyard produces primarily Bordeaux varietal. From their website: "Plantings currently include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah, Chardonnay and Viognier. Handpicking, hand plunging and gentle basket pressing reflect in the character of our wines. Our Chardonnay exhibits the vibrancy of dry hot Waiheke summers." They also produce their own vegitables, herbs and even edible flowers.

While we could have stayed on the island all day, we had a schedule to keep: a Maori Cultural Show at the Auckland Museum and our Farewell Reception/Dinner at the Langham Hotel. We had a great time with our tour group and hope they all had reasonable trips home.