This travelogue presents transcripts of letters sent to family & friends by Alfred Staehle and his wife Lois,
relating their experiences of places visited on Caronia's 1961 Great World Cruise. Collated by and shared with us
by his grand-daughter, Sharon Atkins.
A.M.S…
The delightful day we spent on the beautiful island of Oahu and in Honolulu was certainly one of, if not the high spot
of the entire journey. Once in a while there comes along one day so full of happy and pleasant memories, a day in which
everything that happens from the time you get up until you fall asleep, seems just so right that you say this was a
perfect day
“This is one we will always remember!” That's precisely how we feel about 15 April
1961 in Hawaii.
We left the dock about 8.30am. Together with such a nice couple from Atlanta, we procured a comfortable big car and
were driven around almost the entire island, returning to the Green Goddess about 5.15pm - a rather full day in itself.
Later we made a night of it too! What made the day so perfect? It was, of course, many things which we shall try to
describe, but two factors certainly overshadowed all others - first, the beauty of this paradise island and second,
the good fortune to have spent it and shared it with such congenial and charming people.
We spent the day with Ruth and Willie Cox of Atlanta, and then the four of us joined Ann and Bill Giles of Los Angeles,
and Joe and Glad Cannon of Charlottesville, Va. for an evening “on the town”. Just as it was difficult in Japan to find beauty so it was impossible in Hawaii to escape it!
A.M.S…
Here, all the countryside, fascinatingly hilly, was a lush green. The beauty of Hawaii, or we should say the island of
Oahu, is far from dependent upon only the rich green verdure or upon the gradual, and at times, sharp irregularity of
the contour of the land which often provides distant green and azure blue vistas.
Sometimes the tops of the hills or mountains, even on this generally bright day, disappeared into low clouds or mist.
But that seemed to add rather than detract from the mood of beauty.
All this is only a backdrop for the exotic trees, shrubs, vines, fruit and flowers which grow in such profusion that is
beyond my meagre ability to list them, let alone describe them. My only hope that their names will be spelled correctly
lies in my dear friend, Miss Marie Healy, to whom I shall be eternally indebted for transcribing these notes.
I am sure that if the effort to record this eventful journey is in reasonably good English, correct spelling and proper
punctuation, it will be due to her editing. Here is but an inadequate list of some of these growing blessings which
nature has so lavishly put on display in Oahu… (we tried to jot them down as we drove along):
Trees
Palms (many varieties including coconut)
Eucalyptus,
including Norfolk and Australian
Pines (many kinds)
African Tulip
Banyan (one with so many branches taking root it looked like a small forest)
Mango, Bread Fruit, Monkey Pod
Kamani, Hala Umbrella
Shower and Banana
Flowers
Bird of Paradise, Hibiscus
Anthurium, Cattle, Orchids, Lantana
Plumber, Gold Buttercup, Lilies
Shell Ginger (red, white and yellow)
Gardenias, Canna, Poinsettia, Zinnia
Begonia and Rhododendron.
Vines
Philodendron and Bougainvillea. Never have we seen such huge Philodendron growing jungle-like
entwined in the trees
Other Flora
Pineapple and Sugar Cane - acre upon acre
Papaya and Taro.
A.M.S…
Please, my friends who may read these notes, don't say: “Didn't you see so and so?” We are sure we missed
either seeing or remembering many others. To be able to say we saw all this in one day's drive around the island of
Oahu, must convey some impression of its exotic charm.
Sometimes we drove along high mountain roads with long views, then into almost jungle-like vegetation, and, as in the
case of sugar cane or pineapple fields, along flat country that seemed like vast calm oceans of greenery.
At a roadside stand we ate fresh, cool, deliciously sweet slices of pineapple, probably picked within a few hours.
For those who may have indulged, no description of its delightful flavour is necessary. For those who haven't, let me
say that the canned or “fresh” pineapple you've eaten bears no resemblance except maybe in appearance.
Our driver stopped at his home a to pick some bananas from a tree in his own yard which, too, were more palatable than
what's generally available at the “shop”. However, the taste difference with bananas is not nearly as
marked as with pineapples.
How we wish our ability to convey the natural beauty of this country were not so terribly limited. One may see more
artificial or man-made beauty elsewhere such as in an artificially arranged and painstakingly nurtured garden, in an
arboretum or at a flower show.
It may even be, as we believe it is, that some of these trees or flowers have been brought to Hawaii from other lands.
Nevertheless, in none of our World travel on this trip, was there any place with so much natural beauty, except possibly
Madeira.
A.M.S…
The day had its sombre moments too. At the start of our day's trip we were driven to the rather extensive “National
Cemetery of the Pacific”. Here are buried many of our war dead, a stark reminder of Pearl Harbour. Ernie Pyle's
grave along with the thousands of others, flanked by two unknown soldiers or sailors
The markers on all graves are identical: a small, flat, granite slab, with name identification, raised about two inches
above the immaculately kept green sod. One interesting point: among the dead there were many loyal U.5. citizens of
oriental background who were Buddhists. Each such grave is marked with the characteristic Buddhist wheel and spokes,
whereas the Christian graves are identified by the Cross.
There was a single wet flower on Ernie Pyle's grave which we removed temporarily so that a photo of its marker and
inscription could be taken. Although we put it back, I felt our Hawaiian driver may not have thought well of this ever
so slight disturbance to the spot that marked the memory of this war correspondent whom so many loved.
Later in the day we drove near Pearl Harbour and saw in the distance, the above water portion of the “Arizona”
where some 1,100 of our sailors are still entombed in its hull.
Honolulu
A.M.S…
The town of Honolulu is not unusual. It has airfields, docks, a business section, a Chinatown, government buildings,
a residential section, and, of course, the Aloha Tower which is a landmark of the dock area.
Here and elsewhere on the island are extensive military buildings, airfields, Naval bases and Army barracks. In fact
there are Army and Navy village sections, supermarkets, gas stations, shopping centres, etc. etc.
A.M.S…
For the visitor the big attraction at Honolulu is Waikiki Beach. Probably many never get very far from this one spot,
and some of them may disparagingly say Hawaii is not much different than Miami Beach or Atlantic City. Well, that's
just not so. It is a superficial and incorrect observation.
The main differences are that Waikiki Beach does not have a lot of cheap hotels, masses of bathers sprawled all over
the beach, or any of the riff-raff found in the other beaches. It isn't anywhere nearly so commercialised. We have no
doubt that Waikiki Beach has changed.
When my parents were there in 1930, Mother said to me upon her return, “Hawaii is as close to Heaven as I ever
will get to on Earth”. There were doubtless far fewer hotels than now. I recall they stopped at the “Royal
Hawaiian” which, though a bit crowded in, is still a lovely, refined hotel.
Hotel Comparisons
A.M.S…
Incidentally, we looked at rooms in both the Hilton Hawaiian Village (big, modern, and busy) and at the Royal Hawaiian.
We also went to the Halekulani but couldn't see any rooms (full up). However, we feel sure that should we ever return,
this smaller beautiful hostelry is where we would want to go.
Rates are about the same: around US$32 a day per couple, European Plan. It has very nice grounds and a most attractive
dining room. An oddity: the rooms facing the sea are not the best rooms because they are the hottest on account of th
afternoon sun.
We mustn't forget to mention “Diamond Head” the promontory that is literally Hawaii's trademark. However,
new buildings, presumably hotels being built at the very point, threaten to spoil this famous landmark, or at least its
appearance from Waikiki
Hawaii literally seems to be wallowing in prosperity and inflation. New, multi-story buildings (offices as well as
hotels) are under construction, Our cab driver's modest little home, he claimed, would cost $23,000; it
looked worth not a cent more than $12,000.
The fashion for many female tourists and local people is to wear Muumuus. They're long, loose, ugly, nightgown
like affairs in which no woman could possibly look attractive. No fashion ever will be created that will do less for
womanhood. For years it has been native Hawaiian dress, but it's definitely not for the American woman!
Housing for the Poor?
A.M.S…
On our drive, just as we were leaving the outskirts of the town of Honolulu, we passed some rather nice looking two
storey apartments with small porches having a rather pleasant view toward the harbour. Our driver, pointing to them,
astonished us by saying, “that's where the poor people live”.
It appears this is a government project where those on relief, or others who can prove that they are poor, may rent a
three bedroom apartment for US$33.00 a month. We didn't have any opportunity to verify all this, but we assume there
must be some basis for the story. “Poor people”, we thought. “Indeed:” Our thoughts went back
to the terribly overcrowded refugees at Kowloon and to the pathetically destitute India.
An Enchanted Experience
A.M.S…
We had lunch at a nice little native restaurant called, “Pat's Place” right on the water's edge at Punaluu.
In the evening, we enjoyed a marvellous dinner and a beautiful Hawaiian floor show at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on
Waikiki Beach. Rogers, and Hammerstein's “Some Enchanted Evening” from “South Pacific” perfectly
described the mood of that evening, in fact, of the entire happy day.
Sunday afternoon, we sailed out of Honolulu Harbour, threw our leis into the water so that we might return…
Log Abstract… At: 12 Noon 20:00 (GMT) Position: 32.07N | 125.04W Travelled: 473 miles
Fresh Easterly breeze, moderate sea and swell, cloudy, fine and clear
364 nmi to Long Beach
Log Abstract… At: 07:00 (LT) 15:00 (GMT) Long Beach arrival Passage: 4 days, 14 hours Voyage Distance: 2,234 miles Average Speed: 20.31 knots
The End of Another Virtual Cruise
Long Beach was the final port of call on Al and Lois’ World Cruise.
Having transcribed Alfred Staehle's notes in their entirety, one thing becomes very clear. He and Lois made
an impressive hobby of their preparations for this cruise. I can imagine them spending many evenings together browsing
maps and brochures, indeed everything they could lay their hands on at their travel agents.
There was no such thing as the Internet back then so it would be a case of placing bookmarks into books and carefully
arranging things like pamphlets and air timetables. From this, they had calculated, for example, that going by air from
Singapore to Hong Kong would give them nearly a 3 day march on the Caronia.
What's entirely missing is their reactions to current affairs of the day. The problems in Laos and the crumbling
relations between Washington and Moscow, though quite significant, don't feature in their reports at all! I can imagine
Al scanning the “Ocean Times” each morning at sea. For somebody who is so politically aware, I find the
omissions a bit surprising.
For him to keep to only a discourse on the localities they had visited probably hid a growing disquiet. Of course,
this was not entirely the end of the cruise. The ship had yet to visit Acapulco and traverse the Panama Canal.
My thanks go to Sharon Atkins and the trust she placed in me to see this task through.
