We booked our shore excursions on line ages ago, when we first got confirmation we had a cabin on the Pride of America. We are doing something every day.
On Sunday we got up early and had breakfast at the Aloha Cafe, which provides a buffet style breakfast. Some restaurants are 'free' and some have a cover charge; we're still working out which is which.
At 8 am we went to the Hollywood Theatre on Level 5, and a nice lady explained the process of going on tours and took each tour group down to the Embarkation point on level 3. We swipe our room cards to get off the ship, and swipe them again (and go through a security check, including x-ray screening of bags, to get back on).
There were lots of tour groups heading to different places, and we joined the group going on a bus tour to Haleakala Crater. Our bus driver was Henry (his middle name; his Hawaiian name is much longer, hard to pronounce, and harder to spell). He drove us from Kahului (where the ship is docked) out along highway 37 and 378 to Haleakala Nationa Park.
Henry talked pretty much all the way there. He was very entertaining and knowledgeable, talking about the history of Hawaii and Maui, local farming (used to be sugar cane and pineapples, but they can't compete on a global market; Hawaii has one of the biggest beef cattle industries in the US; tourism is now most important source of income for Maui), local mythology, and local celebrities (Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Willie Nelson) who have houses here. As we went uphill we saw a lot of cyclists coasting down: they go by bus to the crater for sunrise, and then bicycle downhill all the way home.
The last part of the bus trip goes up very steeply (Haleakala is over 10,000 feet above sea level, and they warn against altitude sickness) through a lot of hairpin bends, and Henry drove expertly. He pointed out Australian eucalpyts planted to prevent soil erosion by the CCC (conservation group) – it made us a little homesick. A lot of the plants we saw were exotic; for example, they grow proteas for cut flowers. In the national park they are trying to restore native vegetation. There are about five distinct zones of vegetation, because of the different altitudes. At the top of the crater (volcano is now extinct, so there's no lava or heat) it looks like a moon landscape – lots of rock, and coarse sand where the rock has eroded. It was cold (because of the altitude and wind) so we spent most of our time sheltering from the wind in a sunny spot, and admiring the view.
At the car park of the visitor centre there was a horse trailer and several horses, which are used by the Park Rangers to travel around the park. There are also horse-riding tours, apparently.
The trip downhill was hair-raising and Henry stopped talking. We saw hang-gliders launching from the side of the road, someone flying model airplanes, and some cyclists going uphill (apparently in training for a cycle race). Once we got to the flatter road Henry quizzed us on what we'd learned and gave out CDs of Hawaiian music as prizes.
We got back to the ship about 1 pm and had a late lunch at the Cadilllac Restaurant (a diner with an Elvis Presley theme). We found the library and borrowed some books (there's a good selection). Deborah played scrabble with Glenda from Brindabella, then updated this blog and Jo found a sun lounge in a sheltered spot (it was very windy) and that took care of the afternoon.
We found the Skyline Restaurant, which is a “free” restaurant with an a la carte menu. It's very popular, but we were able to get a table for two. Deborah had soup and then duck, Jo had scallops and then lobster.
At 8 pm we went to the welcome cocktail party for our Harmony in Hawaii group, next to the swimming pool. They had great cocktails and Cindy Hansen, our tour leader, encouraged us to drink and be merry. We met our faculty (Cindy Hansen, Kim Hulbert, Zing (female quartet) and Vocal Spectrum (male quartet)) and the quartets performed.
At 9 pm we retired to our stateroom for a little rest before our first rehearsal at 9:30. We did warmups together and then split into separate mens' and women's choruses to rehearse. The women's chorus is directed by Kim Hulbert, and we think she's great. She's the bass of Affinity quartet (placed 9th in this year's comp) and the Director of San Diego, placed 7th. She's very direct and didn't let the chorus get away with anything: made us start over a few times when we started off hesitantly.
One of our show songs is Lazy Day. Here's what she told us in the first rehearsal:
breathe in tempo at the beginning
repeated notes (eg in the bass part) are like holding a sustained note, and we need to build them
when a line descended, the lower notes should build (coning)
we need to lift our soft palate (and not any other part of our body) – think out not up
lead part covers a wide range and the transitions are important; leads don't need to be loud when singing high notes; when singing low notes that are in bass range, leads should sing like basses
exceptional tenors are able to sing pure vowels up high; this is something all tenors should strive for
exceptional baris have huge voices but they also blend; also, baris need to pay attention to whether they are above or below the lead
basses need to pay attention to rhythm and timing; in this song they provide the instrumental accompaniment, and they need to understand which instrument they are playing at any point.
About That'll Be The Day, Kim said that the style is American rock and roll, and shouldn't be pretty. Tenors need to be cake, not frosting. To help basses get their low notes, Kim had us do vocal frieze (low phonation, no pitch) and then sing the note. It did help.
At the end she had everyone say their name and where they're from. There are a big mob (about 23) from Brindabella Chorus and a good mix from all over everywhere else.
The blokes came back in, Zing and Vocal Spectrum performed, and that was the end – we got to bed around midnight and slept like logs.
1 comment:
One of those cyclists you saw might have been Amanda. The downhill cycle run was on her "to do" list while she is in Maui.
Thanks for doing the blog Deborah - it's great to hear what you are doing, and the notes from your rehearsals are especially useful. Sounds like you're both having the best time!!
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