STATE OF HAWAII: Oahu Island

Those who frequent this blog site know that I'm from Honolulu, haven't been on any kind of trip for 27 months and today will board the Norwegian Pride of American for a one-week cruise around the Hawaiian Islands.  Oahu, Kauai and Maui are on the red alert list from the CDC, which means our COVID case count and positivity are high.  I live at 15 Craigside where a number of staff and residents are in quarantine, including a neighboring apartment.  So maybe getting away might be safer.

The Pride of America requires that anyone (including staff) boarding the ship must have a negative test within the past 48 hours.  Simple to say, but getting tested was a major challenge.  Talked to Norwegian and Costco (through which we worked), and no one on their staff could tell us much of anything.  Costco said talk to Norwegian.  Norwegian said talk to Costco.   After considerable badgering, Norwegian sent us to a licensee in California, Inspired Diagnostics, and they told us that we could request a test kit to be sent by mail and through some Zoom process we could probably get okayed.  They were not sure.  

If we couldn't get a negative test, we would lose the $7000 we already paid.  There was, unofficially, a last ditch effort at the port, where, for some extravagant sum, we might be able to get tested.  But this was not totally clear and not publicized.

Fortunately, partly because our state is in such bad shape, they have kept the airport test center open and, on Fridays only, Honolulu Hale, where the Mayor has his office.  First we had to electronically sign-up before showing up.  This was not easy to do, but we finally accomplished that task.  Yesterday morning we went to the Mayor's Office, and they said we need to go to another building.  We expected a long line.  No one.  So we got tested, but had to wait four hours because nothing is done there.  They had to drive the tubes to a central source.  A lady said that if we don't get an e-mail within that period, call a number which they provided so we could get other instructions.  The problem was that the e-mail address we had to provide, because that was the one that got us signed up, sometimes does not work.  Surely by now you must be appreciating the inordinate stress affecting me.  Well, the e-mail address worked and we got this official looking document.  And this was all accomplished for FREE, after waves of mental anguish.

Hopefully this ship will be safer than staying at home, for, as I said, anyone who is a passenger (and staff) needs to show a negative COVID test result within 48 hours of boarding.  15 Craigside doesn't require that in our dining room, nor any restaurant in the world, nor any large gatherings in the state.  Anyway, after I complete this posting we will soon be off to Pier 2 to the Pride of America, which we can just about see from where we live.

Nothing about the cruise today, but I thought I'd present some info about Hawaii to provide background about our islands.  SidmartinBio provides the following...which I hesitated using because I thought there were some inaccuracies.  So I added my comments in bold print and in RED.

1. From East to West, Hawaii is the widest state in the USA.  Hawaii, from Kure Atoll to the east end of the Big Island is 1600 miles across.  But Alaska is 2400 miles from east to west, so Hawaii is the second widest state.  The Continental USA is around 3000 miles across.

2. There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. A,E,I,O and U are Vowels.  H,K,L,M,N,P and W are Consonants.  Another site says 13 letters.

3. Hawaii has its own time zone, Hawaiian Standard Time. Hawaii does not have daylight savings time. Hawaii is just 2 hours behind California.  But 3 hours during daylight savings time.

4. Hawaii has no Racial or Ethnic Majorities of any kind. The Islands are made up of 34% Caucasians, 32% Japanese-Americans, 16% Filipino-American and about 5% Chinese American. The rest of the population is made up of many smaller groups of people.  Not sure how old their data is, but this year, 2022:

• White  25%
• Asian  38%
• Two or more races  24%
• Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander  10%
• Black  2%

5. The island of Oahu has the world’s largest Wind Turbine. This windmill has 2 blades that span 400 feet long!  This must have been written a very long time ago, for Wikipedia lists the Vestas 10 MW turbine as the largest  operating with a rotor diameter of 774 feet.

6. Hawaii produced 1/3 of the entire global commercial Pineapples.  At one time Hawaii did produce 80% of the world's pineapples.  However, today, we are responsible only for 400 million of 300 billion pineapples grown worldwide.  Thus, this figure should be 0.13%, or one in every 750 pineapples.

7. Hawaii is the only state in the USA that grows Coffee Beans.  Nope, California also now produces coffee.  You thought that 0.13% of pineapples was low?  Hawaii produces 0.04% of the global coffee.  

8. At 800,000 years old, the big island is the youngest of all the islands, but was the first to be discovered by sailing Polynesians.  The Big Island is actually a little younger.  Diamond Head on Oahu is around 0.45 million years old.

9. Mauna Kea holds the world’s largest Telescope and more scientific observatories in one place than anywhere else in the world. Possibly so in numbers, but the biggest radio telescope is 25 meters and the largest optical telescope is 8.2 meters.

The new Chinese 500 meter (1650 feet) diameter radio telescope (right) became operational last year.  The biggest optical telescope in operation is the 34-foot (10.4 meters) Gran Telescopio Canarias in the Canaries.  

Hawaii has now been planning to build the 30-Meter Telescope for more than a decade, and is getting nowhere.  The larger 39.3 meter European Extemely Large Telescope (right) is coming along well in Chile, and first sight is set for 2024.  The 24.5 meter Giant Magellan Telescope, also Chile, has an estimated completion year of 2025.  If Hawaii leads today, we are swiftly falling behind.

10. Hawaii is made up of the world’s largest mountains. (Measured from the sea floor to the peak).  True.  30,610 feet compared to 29,032 feet for Mount Everest.

The Pride of America is docked in Honolulu, which is on the island of Oahu.

A Few Fun Oahu Facts 

1. The Polynesian Cultural Center is owned by the Mormon Church
2. The WWII Pearl Harbor attack happened on Oahu
3. The Gathering Place is Oahu’s nickname
4. Iolani Palace is the only royal palace in the US
5. Oahu’s Honolulu is the state capital of Hawaii
6. Former President Barack Obama was born on Oahu
7. Oahu is the most populated Hawaiian Island
8. For details on each of the above, click on this.