We ran our show in the morning, at 10 am. The tech department doesn’t seem to take these rehearsals very seriously, and as expected, there were a few missed cues by the light and sound board operators. I don’t stop for those anymore, though, it’s just a waste of time to try to get cruise ship techs to care about a rehearsal.
Afterwards I gathered my folding bike and pedaled from where the ship was in Kahului to Paia – about a 10 mile ride against the famous Maui trade winds. It took 45 minutes to get there and 25 to get back. I was glad the wind was to my back at the end of the day.
Paia is an old, forgotten agricultural town in Maui. It’s been revived in recent decades by an increase in tourist traffic. Some time ago tourist were made to believe that driving to a place called Hana is a good activity in Maui, and the Road to Hana starts in Paia. Accordingly, there are lots of gas stations and tourist boutiques on the main stretch of Paia.
I’ve never taken the road to Hana. I’m sure it’s beautiful, but I’m also sure that it’s 7 hours of round-trip car sickness on a narrow, winding, windy road packed from one end to the other with rental cars and tourist, retiree drivers. Reportedly, when you find get to Hana, you find that there is absolutely nothing there. Then your tussled middle ear convinces you to vomit continuously all over the street, and it’s back in the car for the ride back to Paia!
No thank you.
I’d found that my swim trucks are totally uncool, so I bought a pair of board shorts in Paia. Then I went immediately to the beach to make sure they worked. They work very well. I laid on the beach a few hours, play in the surf, then got back on the bike and headed home.
We had only one show in the evening for too many reasons to explain, and then that was it. That was the work day – 1 hour in the morning and 1 in the evening and beach in between.
Awesome! You’re livin the dream! Rock On, Johnny John!