Next morning, in daylight, we were able to check out the view. Wow! Check this out!
We started the day with a meeting of the group with our Tour Guide, Pam Thompson. It was a bit chaotic to say the least. It was a large group of about forty. We arrived at the 8.30am meeting at about 8.20am but it was already underway - sort of. We grabbed a seat and picked up a more detailed itinerary as well as a list of the options available to us during our holiday. She was planning to go through the optionals so we could make informed choices of what to do, but it soon got out of hand, with people not listening, asking the question just answered and having their own conversations. One thing that amused me was Pam insisted we were on the budget tour and that we wouldn't get a sea view, but, if we did, could we not mention it as our fellow travellers might get annoyed. Well, get annoyed-away - see if I care. This IS a great view!
People seemed easily sidetracked about whether or not liquids could be taken on the plane (didn't they fly here?) and the like. At 9.50am, we had to leave as we were due to take a submarine ride and our pick-up at a nearby hotel was at 10.10am. We made it for 10am and at 10.10am the trolley arrived. Unfortunately they'd stopped to tell us that owing to big swells that would disturb the sea bottom (making it hard to see) the submarine was cancelled. Rats! It might run the next day but was unlikely and we'd need to call the office to check.
Disappointed, we returned to the hotel and found the meeting was still in progress so we rejoined till it finished at 10.30am. I think everyone was pretty confused by this point - I know I was and I'd done it before! So, with a free day on our hands, what to do now? We'd skipped the optional at the Polynesian Cultural Center as it would have left before we got back from the submarine. The assistants weren't that keen anyway and I went last time. We knew there was a zoo and an aquarium nearby so figured we'd maybe give them a try.
We wanted to check out some dinner options as well, as we'd had a thirty-minute wait at yesterday's dinner location. We already knew The Cheesecake Factory was across the road and Di had found The Hula Grill in a nearby hotel. As expected, the Cheesecake Factory didn't take reservations but said it generally got busy after 6.30pm so to come early. We were able to make a reservation at the Hula Grill on Saturday night.
We then ambled alongside Waikiki Beach, checking it out, watching the surfers.
I couldn't miss this Hawaii 5-0 opportunity now could I? Below centre is Duke Paoa Kahanamoku - an Olympic swimming champion from 1912 to 1936 and the world's fastest swimmer. As Father of International Surfing, he introduced surfing to Eastern America, Europe and Australia. He saved eight lives from a capsized launch in 1925 using his surfboard. He made movies from 1925 to 1933 and was elected Sheriff of Honolulu for thirteen consecutive terms (1934-1960). Blimey, what an underachiever!
Late morning we arrived at Honolulu Zoo. We spent a good three hours there and found it a pleasant enough way to pass the time, although it's not a huge zoo. We saw some Wonga Pigeons but we didn't ask 'em for a loan (apologies non-Brits who probably don't understand that). Below right is a Common Hill Mynah - he wanted me to show you his plumage.
The cages for the birds did seem a little small to me, but I'm not an expert. Maybe these are couch potato birds? To the left is a Laughing Kookaburra. The chap in the middle is a Luzon Bleeding-heart pigeon as he has that red gun-shot mark on his chest. I think the guy on below right is a Cockatiel (useless assistant failed to make a note - why do I keep these people on?)
Bottom left is a Golden-Breasted Starling - pretty, eh? Bottom right is a Hammerkop (a Hammerhead) from Africa.
We stopped for lunch at a snackbar and David ordered a hotdog while Di and I shared some fries. They were hot and fresh so nothing to complain about! They had other stuff available too, including salads. They had a nice children's area which the kids seemed to be enjoying (so I didn't muscle in.)
After lunch, we headed into the Savannah area. The next animals were simples to recognise. Meerkats! Love these guys - even when they're not selling me insurance.
The enclosures here seemed better - more roomy, not huge, but adequate I thought. This baboon seemed to be showing disdain for me and my assistants, but the Fennec foxes didn't even notice us. They are pretty cute though. The lions were like mine at home - mostly asleep too.
The klipspringer was kind of cute - they are good climbers and can jump twenty-five feet! Apparently unique to this zoo is the two-headed ostrich. What? It isn't? Are you sure? I was sooo impressed, but it seems it's actually two ostriches. Shame! Talking of egg-layers, bottom right is a Nile monitor lizard. These can grow six-feet long but are quite maternal and help their hatchlings get out of their shells. Apparently they'll pretty much eat anything so I didn't stick around too long.
On the open grassland, we spotted several giraffes and some zebra. We got the feeling it must be nearly lunchtime when they all headed to one end of the pen and stood waiting patiently. Maybe a bus was due?
We saw flamingoes as well as hippos and tortoises. To be fair, though these pens weren't huge, I've not often seen hippos or tortoises do very much (or cover a lot of ground) - but what do I know?
It was nice to watch the elephants. They had two sections with a kind of tunnel between and that was where the best leaves could be found - just out of reach! At least that's what the elephant was thinking - reaching up as far as the trunk would reach, but it was not quite enough.
They had a tyre the one elephant kept playing with and there was a pool of water they could access. At one point I watched as the one elephant sucked up some water in his trunk and sprayed it out into a hole into which he'd put his foot then he played up and down with his foot in the water. Well, it looked like playing to me. A mud-pedicure perhaps?
We visited the reptile house, but it was pretty dark so the photos weren't any good, so you'll have to go see for yourself.
We finished our visit in the gift shop - big surprise! They had quite a range of stuff, but nothing for me - except a large stuffed elephant Di said wouldn't fit on the plane, so we left. It had filled a good three hours. They lost a Ted owing to the size of some of the pens, but the animals seemed happy enough, though I'm no animal behaviourist. The food we had was very good and hot, which surprised me. A good way to spend the morning.
We thought of going to the aquarium that was supposed to be across the road, but we couldn't see it and we were a bit tired from the heat anyway so thought we'd head back - it was about 3pm. We set off back up the coast road towards the hotel and our first stop was in Starbucks for a very welcome icy frappuccino. We dipped into a few stores and Dave got himself an $18, made in Hawaii, Hawaiian shirt - it turns out this was the bargain of the trip!
We returned to the hotel with some beers from the ABC Store and after a couple hours chilling out in the room, we headed across the road for an early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. They don't take reservations but had told us earlier that it got busy around 6.30pm so we arrived about 6pm - there was already a thirty minute wait! We took a seat at the bar and tried the local beers - I had a Longboard Lager and Paul had a Fire Rock, from the Kona Brewing Company. Hmm, we'd find out more about these when we got to the Big Island.
It wasn't too long before our pager went off and our table was ready. Di had a beet and feta appetizer salad (they have a lot of veggie stuff) but I had the more meaty Classic Burger. A bottle of red wine was $30. The wine is a little pricey and I don't like to wait - even for cheesecake - so I dropped 'em a Ted.
As is our way, we ordered cheesecake to go (we had a fridge in the room). This time I chose the Caramel Pecan Turtle cheesecake. It had an Oreo bottom (not my fave) and a swirl of some chocolatey stuff on top that was a bit sickly, but I managed to force it down, eventually! Oh dear - I forgot to take a photograph of it. Oops!
Dave and Paul returned to the hotel, but I'd spotted a place called Teddy Bear World as we arrived, so I figured I should check it out.
What a weird place! They have, they claim, 800 animatronic bears, all appearing in different situations. You enter via their gift shop and go up an escalator to the next floor for the experience. I was met by a bunch of hula dancing bears.
It starts (well, Di and I started, as it was totally unclear if we should turn right or left!) with a small theater experience. Outside they had a large Elvis and a cabinet full of little Elvis Bearsley! They also had a big red Go button to start the show - is this normal? Maybe it was the button-pusher's night off? The place was a ghost town. The performance started it was an Elvis Bearsley show with a couple of songs. You can see a little more in my TeddyBearWorld movie below.
Once that was over we headed into the rest of the exhibits. They seemed to stop and start ramdomly as we approached, as though with a motion detector, but sometimes they stopped as we got there so maybe they were just on a loop. There wasn't anyone around to ask - I think we had the place to ourselves.
The formal-looking bears represented the APEC 2011 delegates (a business conferencey thing). There's an underwater exhibit with a snorkelling bear and a mer-bear in an oyster shell (below). With some of the displays there is a regular teddy bear with a history behind him/her. Alfonzo belonged to Princess Xenia, daughter of the Grand Duke of Russia. The two were inseparable and visited Buckingham Palace in 1914 (her mother's cousin was George V), remaining in London after World War I broke out. In 1921, the Princess moved to America and married. When she died in 1965, Alfonzo was passed to her daughter. In 1989, Alfonzo was auctioned at Christies back in London - raising a record £12,100. Alfonzo moved to Teddy Bears of Whitney and they commissioned a limited edition Steiff bear of him, to sell in their shop. Below right is Alfonzo, enjoying a party.
RMS Titanic sank on her maiden crossing of the Atlantic in 1912. The German teddy bear company Steiff created the Teddy Black to be given as mourning gifts. One of only six hundred bears made was sold at Christies of London for $96,000 (£91,750).
I got to meet the boss - they explain the story of Theodore Roosevelt (below left), who refused to kill a bear on a hunting trip and the story hit the media of the day in a cartoon. Rose and Morris Mitchtom discussed this and overnight created "Teddy's Bear"
This led to production of the first Teddy Bear. Demand was so high, they sent the original to President Roosevelt for his children and asked if they could use his name. He agreed, though he didn't think it would help sales, so into production they went. We bears have never looked back - and that first bear is now in the Smithsonian in Washington.
These bears (below centre and right) are enjoying the countryside. My Twitter pal Mr Bear @MrBearandRocky would dearly love his own bearpool and this exhibit made me think of him. He'd soon move this guy (below right) and take over.
I moved swiftly on to the polar bears and penguins exhibit. There was a little bit of information about polar bears and saving the planet, but mostly it looks to be about them having fun (great slide!) Not convinced they really get along in the wild (as they are from different poles!) but the ones here were having a great time.
I got the assistant to take this shot (below left) but was a bit concerned after the event as I look like I'm about to be a shot on goal! Next stop, China and a whole bunch of pandas - spinning plates, climbing, playing. Again, not sure why, but why not?
We entered Dinosaur Park. I was right to be wary when Di suggested that would be perfectly safe. I suppose I did survive. Fortunately, the sharp-toothed guy was one of those dinosaurs that didn't move! I'm not totally sure why these bears are camping with dinosaur eggs (except they make for a bigger fried egg) but what do I know? (Don't answer that.) Then, it was time for a nice peaceful shot, in front of this Teddy Bear World sign. Di, why are you backing away. Di? What's the problem? Di? Di? Uh-oh...
We headed to the great outdoors, with motorbikers on what is likely to be Route 66, while a hangglider flies overhead, mountain climbers and campers with their RV. Maybe this is Yosemite? Then we are in very familiar territory at Kennedy Space Center with a Space Shuttle on the launch pad (interesting cargo!) Then we were at what must be Mount Rushbear. They have an extra face here (five, not four heads), but Roosevelt does look a bit familiar! It is in South Dakota near the Black Hills so I guess that may explain the cowbears and indians.
The Presi-bear here was giving a speech on the steps of the A-bear-ham Lincoln Memorial over the Mall in Washington DC. He even has a Secret Service Bear.
Not far from Washington is the Big Apple of New York City. You kind of get a feel for the hustle of Times Square, The Empire State Building and the Statue of Li-bear-ty.
Just time for a few sports, before heading to San Francisco, with its sea lions and cable cars.
It took about an hour to see everything. To give you a sense of the place, I put together a little movie about Teddy Bear World.
My overall impression was one of the weirdness of it all. It was bizarre. It seemed to be very much targeting the non-English tourist - it's hosted by a Korean company. There was seemingly no context as to why this had been done, if that makes sense, such that it seemed very incongruous. There were a very few visitors too, so maybe there would have been more atmosphere with more guests, but as it was it seemed like an animatronic teddy bear ghost town!
To exit, you had to go back down the escalator and into the gift shop. Another disappointment! I had assumed they'd have some good stuff for bears, considering their whole teddy bear theme, but boy was I wrong! They had bears, but no stuff actually for visiting bears, and you're not telling me the people visiting Teddy Bear World don't already have an affinity for the small furry ones? So why not cater to them by at least offering one Teddy Bear World bear-sized t-shirt! I would have bought one!
The whole thing was one big, weird, disappointment! I really wanted to like it, and to recommend it to my stuffie brethren, but I really couldn't give it more than three Teds. I can't see it staying open long if it doesn't up its game. I know we were late getting there - about 8.30pm - but they are open until 10pm - why not be, you know, actively open? It was like stepping into an episode of the Twilight Zone! Maybe I need a little more whimsey in me?
A few of you stuffies may well get a kick out of the place, but I don't think your humans are going to get much out of it. I guess it depends a little on the human. Weirded out, we headed back to our hotel room for the rest of our evening. It took a few beers before I was fully recovered.
