Monday, December 31, 2007

Hawaii - Trip End


Saturday, December 29, we disembarked the ship at around 9 a.m., loaded all five of us - with luggage - into a minivan taxi and headed for the car rental at the airport. We then went straight to Pearl Harbour and the USS Arizona Memorial. We stood in line with hundreds of others but by 10 a.m. we were told no more tickets for tours were available that day, come back at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. Well, we had other plans so we headed over to the Battleship USS Missouri Memorial. We did a self-guided walking tour and got to see the exact place the Japanese surrendered on the deck to end the war.

Afterwards we headed for our hotel in Waikiki, did some laundry (let's not bring up the panic attack I nearly had when we got back to the room and found our son had left and was somewhere on his own in Waikiki), after we found him we had a grumpy supper at KFC and then attended church services at New Hope Christian Fellowship. Bed was welcome.

How could such a nice looking young man
give his parents such a hard time?


December 30, we slept in. The plan was to go to the North Shore. Four of us did and included a stop at the Dole Plantation. I, however, spent the day in bed, nauseated, head swimming. By noon the queasiness went away and I slept. Turns out it has lasted (see note below on mal de debarquement syndrome) By supper everyone else was back and I felt up to joining them at Smorgy's - an obscure smorgasbord with a lovely garden setting outdoors under thatched roofs.

December 31, we celebrated MIL's birthday by hiking up Diamond Head Crater. The climb to the summit of Diamond Head (Mount Leahi) rises 760 feet above sea level. We ascended the .7 mile long trail. It is unpaved and has an uneven rock/dirt surface that was loose and slippery in places. It led through a dark tunnel and involved climbing 271 steps through a narrow spiral staircase inside an unlit bunker. The entire hike took about 1.5 hours. The reward was a fantastic panoramic view of south Oahu from Koko Head to Barbers' Point. Then hubby & FIL went to the zoo and MIL, our son & I swam at Waikiki beach. Sigh. It was wonderful.

Then we shopped, dropped off our rental car and flew home.

I continued to suffer a mild form of Mal de debarquement syndrome which literally means "sickness of disembarkment" or land sickness. It refers to the illusion of movement felt as an after effect of travel by ship or boat. It impacts mostly women between 40-50 and is a rare condition which includes the sensation of bobbing, rocking, swaying, swinging, floating and/or tumbling after leaving the ship. It may be accompanied by unsteadiness, disequilibrium, difficulty concentrating, and other things. Some people suffer from this for weeks, months, even years. After a massage therapy treatment today (Jan. 2) including two 20 minute sessions of an electronic "brain tuner," I haven't had any more sensations, so hopefully, it's over. :-)

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