 |
| Operating westbound on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays-only from Honolulu to Guam, this week I got to finally experience a bucket list journey on United 154, the famed "Island Hopper"! |
 |
| My Boeing 737-800 in the foreground, specially configured for the route and carrying its own on-board mechanic along much of the journey. |
 |
| Departing exactly on time, a picture of the climb out of HNL. |
 |
| The Island Hopper consists of 6 separate flights with the first flight being the longest, lasting about 5 hours from Honolulu to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Breakfast is served on the first leg. Because the first flight takes you across the International Date Line, your first landing is on Tuesday morning and Monday is gone forever! |
 |
| On approach to MAJ, a coral atoll well to the southwest of Hawaii. |
 |
| If you're traveling the entire route to Guam, you're allowed to disembark at most of the stops. |
 |
| At Majuro there is a transit lounge with a small snack kiosk and a table with a woman selling local souvenirs. |
 |
| Nearly all the stops have you disembark via stairs, allowing you to get up and personal with the 737. |
 |
| Numerous atolls dot the Pacific Ocean in these parts. |
 |
| The second stop is Kwajalein Atoll, a United States Army base also in the Marshall Islands. Photos of the facilities are not allowed here and you have to remain on the plane. |
 |
| Leaving the Marshall's behind, we now flew into the Federated States of Micronesia. |
 |
| Kosrae is one of 4 states that make up the FSM. |
 |
| The terminal here had a woman selling snacks and a small selection of FSM souvenirs. If you've ever ordered something via mail order and clicked on "F" from a drop-down menu to click on Florida for your address, but FSM is there instead, there's a reason. The United States Postal Service provides mail service for a number of Pacific island nations so they have two-character state codes and U.S. Zip Codes. |
 |
| The fourth stop was Pohnpei, where we finally experienced some weather. |
 |
| I elected not to get out here due to the weather. Each flight on the Island Hopper is approximately an hour long (except for that first leg) and each stop is about 45 minutes long. Thus, the day goes by quickly. |
 |
| Unlike the atolls earlier, Pohnpei is ruggedly mountainous. |
 |
| We now headed northwest to the last enroute stop, Chuuk (formerly Truk) which is also still part of the Federated States of Micronesia. |
 |
| It has a famous lagoon for diving, filled with WWII shipwrecks. |
 |
| Chuuk has a larger modern terminal. |
 |
| These girls from Chicago, like me, were also doing the Island Hopper specifically to say they did it. For most passengers though, the flight is a transportation lifeline to the real world. |
 |
| The sixth and last leg ended at Guam, a U.S. territory and piece of America in the western Pacific. The day went fast and a good time was had by all! |
0 comments:
Post a Comment