On Sunday my coworker told me he wasn't feeling well, and that I could use the car after 1pm or so. My hotel room had an "alright" view of other buildings, and if I went around the edge of the deck, I could just barely catch a glimpse of the ocean. Everything at the hotel was outrageously expensive. $25 per day just to park, $1 each time you picked up the phone, plus .10 per minute, a restaurant that had $45 meals, $30 something for daily standard internet use. It seemed wherever you went in the hotel, there was someone with his hand out begging for money, and lots of cut corners. When John came back with the car, I took the opportunity to go snorkeling out by Hannauma bay. There weren't too many tourists, but the visibility was pretty poor that day. Later I made my way around the western edge of the island, and cut back over through the tunnels back to Waikiki after dark.
Monday came fast, and I had to wake up at 4:45am in order to leave the hotel by 5am. We got to the plant just before 6am where we did the standard safety rundown, and did a quick walkthrough of the HRSG unit. The plant is a massive turbine that burns a thick tar-like oil byproduct from a neighboring refinery. They have to heat up the tar to inject it into a turbine which generates power. The exhaust is where my job comes in. The HRSG is a unit that extracts heat from the expelled gasses, and generates more electricity. The unit was offline for inspections. The days of work following this inspection were HOT, TIRING, HUMID, SWEATY, and EXTREMELY DIFFICULT UNPLEASANT WORK. To complicate matters, our neighbors weren't just the oil refinery. We also had a animal rendering plant, and a trash burning plant nearby. With the baking heat from the sun, and trapped by the humidity these elements provided extra olfactory simulation from the already smelly job. Some times were worse than others. One time I was inside inspecting the steam drum in a cramped confined space. It was dark, EXTREMELY hot, and generally unpleasant. I was anxious to get out after I had completed my rundown, but as soon as I took a whiff of the cooler air outside, I suddenly wanted to spend a few more minutes inside the torture chamber.
Most days were pretty grueling and exhausting. Leaving an hour before sunrise, and getting back to the hotel an hour or two after the sun had set. It wasn't the best Hawaii experience, especially with so many people muttering obscenities about how I got to "vacation in Hawaii" on the job.
On Friday, I had "off" but should have been writing up a report…. Which I didn't do of course. I was without a vehicle, so I spent the day on the beach near the San Suci hotel with snorkel stuffs. Visibility was also pretty poor, but the water was excellent. After putting away the fins, mask, and snorkel things became a bit more relaxing. I spent a long time floating on my back in the calm waves, then swimming out about a hundred yards or two to bounce around in the wave swells. After getting tired, I got back to read on the beach. I grabbed some late lunch, and equipped my kite with the digital camera which I sent sailing high in a park to take aerial photographs of the surrounding. The wind near the coast was too turbulent and random to fly a kite carrying a payload. After the wind died down, I returned to the beach to read a book and watch the sun set. That evening had the best and most colorful sunset during my entire stay, and was the ONLY evening I didn't have my spiffy new camera. The cellphone camera was the best thing I had, and was able to send off a few tormenting picture messages to people.
Saturday I had purchased a package deal where I would go hiking, biking, and sailing/snorkeling. The van picked me up and took me to a more remote part of Hawaii up on some private land. There we did a simple little hike up in the rainforest, or as the guide pronounced, "rainfarest" The plantlife was pretty impressive exotic stuff, but soon we had to head back. The biking section was next and we headed up Tantalus drive to the top. About a half mile down the road, we were faced with a "Road Closed" sign, and a police officer making sure nobody got through. Including us. We had to pack up the bikes and get to the top and then go down the other side. This wasn't as scenic, but it was still nice. It ended up raining on us, but didn't get too cold. The sailing trip was sort of canceled due to a lack of participants to make their break-even quota, but luckily two more people signed up during the day. The boat was a neat little catamaran, but had no sail mast due to repairs. It still had dual engines, and we made it to our oceanic destination. The swells were HUGE, and the tide was fierce. The visibility was TERRIBLE so we had to sail out to a different location. There the reef was about 30-40 feet deep, which hurt too much to go get a close look of things, but the water was clear. There were several fish in a school around the reef, but no turtles. What was more impressive was the outstanding current there. One had to struggle to simply keep up with the anchored boat. Most swimmers on the trip only jumped in the water for about 30 seconds before they became exhausted. Me being the fool that I am, stayed out for about 15 minutes. After going as deep as I could after two or more ear compressions, I simply tried to explore the sealife above the reef. I swam for some time until I heard a rhythmic thumping noise, and realized later that it was my heart pounding. I sat still for just a matter of seconds, and I was near slammed back into the boat due to the current. I would compare that current to being in parts of the green river. Eventually I got back to my hotel, and got ready for a date which never formulated. I ate at a sushi restaurant that evening anyways where I snarfed some delicious authentic sushi.
Sunday my coworker John took the car out again to do a bit of shopping for his family. I took my books and went to the beach again. I was mildly sunburnt, and didn't feel like going swimming quite yet. John returned with some things, and I took him to the airport. There I had to get my own rental car and took off for the evening. I ended up going straight north to the shore, and off to the west before the pavement ended. I was advised not to continue with my little sedan rental if I wanted to keep the oil pan intact. Instead, I relaxed on a beach, and later went for a hike in efforts to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the island for this. I climbed about 1400 feet, and the mountain seemed to just roll up and down for miles. Getting back before things got TOO dark would require some fast footwork. I was unprepared, no flashlight, no water, no food. LOL… Just a camera and GPS. I got to the car before it was completely dark, and headed back.
Monday I traveled east and around the island. I stopped at a beach with LARGE crashing violent waves. I packed on the sunlotion because it was HOT and sunny. I played in the waves and bodysurfed for a few minutes. Two consecutive wild whipeouts placed sand in spots of my body which shouldn't have sand in them, so I decided to drain the salt water from my sinuses on shore. There some lifeguard was advising people to play in the waves elsewhere. The current was too strong, and the waves were too big. Someone up the road a quarter mile had just fractured their back, and was being airlifted out due to a surfing accident. I got my things and headed down the road until I got to a neat pier. There I donned the snorkel gear and went for a swim. Instantly I saw more fish there than any other snorkel site I had been to. Water was crystal clear, and full of fish. Later I met up with several green sea turtles. A few of the younger ones (shells about 2-3 feet diameter) were a bit curious, and would approach VERY close to me if I remained somewhat motionless. I had to retreat a few times to avoid physical contact. There were also many large ones (shells close to a leg length in diameter) but they kept mostly to themselves. After feeling some of the sunlotion wearing off, and dehydration approaching, I decided to get out of the water. I chatted with some other diver there who said that this was his personal favorite diving site on the entire island his whole life. I got some water, and headed back on the road. As I approached Laei I had to take a few pictures here and there of the cool beaches along the roadside. I visited the Honolulu temple, along with driving through BYU Hawaii's campus. Shortly thereafter I picked up a young female hitchhiker. Apparently her bus was over a half hour late, and she needed to get to work. I was traveling along that way, so I had someone to talk to for about 15-20 miles. After dropping her off, I went snorkeling west of Turtle Bay. There were THOUSANDS of fish there, and many places with spectacular variety of depths and scenery under water. I was the only one swimming there, until about an hour or so, and then several dozen divers, snorkelers, and fishermen swarmed the site. I left on the road again. I passed up a few more great looking sites, but with daylight fading, I went to find food instead. I snagged some fresh tropical fruit from a local fruit stand and even got a yummy coconut to drink out of. I watched the sunset while reading, and then got some dinner at a Thai restaurant. I think I enjoy crab meat by itself, and Thai food with "standard" meats. It wasn't bad, but I'd prefer them separate next time. The sun was down, so I filled the tank at Costco and returned the rental, and got to my flight gate. I was an hour and a half early, so I busied myself by typing up my work report. Things were going well until a mother and her three toddlers arrived. Within minutes, three more mothers with their children met with her, and before you knew it, my once secluded corner of the gate was now a riotous nursery of fighting, squabbling, crying, screaming children. They were getting in my bags, trying to reach my laptop, and just too much to handle. I had to leave several times, but most of the seats at this point were already occupied with travelers on the 100% full flight. Thankfully, I slept for most of the flight to Phoenix, but going from there to Dallas was painful. I had a 2 year old kicking my chair and crying 95% of the trip, and a mother who would whisper an occasional "shush" to a raving wall of sound that rattled my backrest. I eventually made it back to Amarillo where I unpacked some things, and went to bed.
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