Saturday, May 4 Honolulu

We ported back in Honolulu around 7:00 am this morning.

Port of Honolulu

In less than an hour we were off the ship and on our way to the Ohana East where we will stay for the next 2 days.

We stopped by the hotel and stored the bags and then we were off for another day in Honolulu this time away from Waikiki.  We boarded the local trolley for a tour of the area beyond Diamond Head.  The trolley driver was a great tour guide and took pictures for us at every stop.

Trolley

Our first tour stop on the route.

Beautiful Day - Finally Able To See Peak Of DH

We drove up to Diamond Head but the access was closed due to another medical emergency.  It is amazing how many people need to jump off into the ocean even though they are repeatedly asked not too.  I hope that they are charged for the rescue.  The flight crews are always in the air rescuing one idiot or another.

One of the first public beaches in HI

Amelia Earhart Memorial

After leaving the Amelia Memorial we drove through the richest area of Honolulu.  The homes were all very beautiful and have values in the millions that is staggering.  The gate in the following pictures is made from sea shells - gorgeous!

Our last trolley stop was the local farmers market.  Unfortunately, we only had about 45 minutes at the market as law requires the market to close prior to noon to ensure the safety of the food.

Just a few of the many orchids at the market

We are not able to bring any plants or produce onto or off the islands.  In fact, we will have to complete another declaration prior to leaving the island that states we are taking nothing with us.  We did purchase some local honey and a few other items but nothing that is not preserved.

We finished our morning tour with a walk through one of the many gardens.  Hawaii is a rain forest so what is with all the cactus?

We were not able to board the trolley back to Waikiki so we ended up walking about 3 miles back.  A nice walk but were dragging when we got back to our area of town.

We checked into the hotel - very nice and then an evening walk on the beach.  We stayed on the beach until dark then had a quick dinner and back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Friday, May 3 Kauai

We have a short day on the island today as we have to be onboard at 1:30 for a 3:00 sail time.  Thursday night it sounded like a good idea to get up and watch the sun rise on the beach.  We got up at 5:30 and walked to the beach a few blocks from the port.

And, another beautiful day on the island begins.  We walked the beach for the last time then headed off to the local breakfast shop for breakfast.

Breakfast On The Island

Backside of The Restaurant Facing Beach

We had the "Loco Moco" and Portugese Sweet Bread French Toast for breakfast.  The loco is 2 huge scoops of rice, beef pattie, fried egg and topped with gravy.  It was OK but not great.  The sweet bread is an island favorite.  The story goes that the Portugese ladies gather on Saturday mornings outside and bake bread in stone ovens.  We have seen several of the stone ovens so it may be true.

It is time to get back on the boat and prepare to sail.

Afternoon Entertainment - Buffet Wannabe

Little Pool Time

The following are pictures from the Napoli Coast as we were leaving Kauai.  We were escorted out to sea by a couple of baby dolphins.  Very cool watching them jump in the water right next to the boat.  I think they were saying goodbye.  They followed us about a half hour and then we didn't see them anymore.

See The Dolphin - He was pretty little.

Napoli Coast

Napoli Coast - Not Inhabited

Lots of Caves For Explorers

Aloha, Kauai

We have not been able to see the tops of the mountains as it is very humid and the clouds hang over the hills.  It is beautiful on land but the mountains are always in a mist.  Guess it is because it is spring.

Back to the cabin to pack up as we need suitcases out by midnight. We port in Honolulu at 8:00 tomorrow morning for disembarking.

Thursday, May 2 Kauai

We ported at Nawiliwili (Na-vili-vili) at 8:00 a.m.  As usual, the majority of the guests were on deck or on their balconies watching for the first views of the island.  Good morning, sunshine!

Approaching The Island About An Hour From Porting

Early Morning As We Approach Island 

We Pass Close To Island Before Cove Where We Ported

Another View Of Island As We Approach 

Port 

Coast Guard "Tiger" Boats Helped Us Port At Each Port

We did not schedule any excursions for today so today is a beach day.  We need some down time as we have been climbing or walking miles every day - time to enjoy the views from the beach.

Picture At The Cove - Great Cove For Stand Up Surfing

Cove In The Evening When The Tides Kick Up A Bit

Taken From The Cove - Notice No Homes On The Hills

Local Picking Plumera For Fresh Leis

We spent the afternoon walking around the island.  We stopped for "happy hour" at a local pub and watched the NBA game.  Basketball is huge here, especially the Lakers - cheering for Golden State now of course.

Does Your Jade Plant Look Like This?

Wild Rainforest Flowers Are Everywhere

The islands are overrun by "farrow" chickens.

We stopped for happy hour at a local pub and watched the NBA game.  Basketball is big here especially the Lakers but there sure were a lot of Golden State fans.  Funny how that works!

Back to the boat for dinner, Face Time and a little pre-cleanup of the cabin.  One day left. (;

Wednesday, May 1 Kona

May 1, Kona

Today we are on the other side of the big island, Hawaii.  The western side of the island is dry so no rainforests or jungles on this side. 

Our tour today is Kona Mocha, coffee and chocolate farms.  Our tour guide today was Mike.  He was not a native, in fact, had only been living on the island for 5 weeks.  Welcome to American and Gray Line tours.  This was our first Gray Line so if we were to do again we would be careful that we were on an island tour instead.

Our first stop was at the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory.  The owner and his wife moved to Hawaii in 1995 without a plan of what they would do.  Bob was a golf course superintendent in North Carolina.  They had traveled many times to HI and loved it and wanted to live there.  The land that they bought had cacao trees and their story started. 

Great tour through the orchard where the cacao (ca-cow) trees grow through the harvest and ending with the production of chocolate. 

Cacao Fruit

Cacao Nibs Drying In Sunlight - No Dryer Needed in HI

We were then on to Kona Joe’s coffee plantation.  We were greeted with fresh brewed Kona coffee and homemade banana muffins made from bananas that grow on the plantation, of course.  Kona Joe has a patent on the growing process of the coffee trees.  He came from the Napa Valley wine growers so patented the growing of coffee trees similar to grape vines.  Coffee is a “cash crop” on Kona so almost everyone has coffee trees for a yard either in front of or in back of their houses.  They sell the beans to the coffee buyers so defer some of their living expenses.  Kona is not a poor island – more wealth here than at the other islands.

Coffee Tree Orchard

Coffee Beans Drying

After dinner we went to a Jersey Boy type of show and then to the piano bar to listen to some classics.  Both were very good.

Kauai tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 30 Hilo

April 30, Hilo

Our tour guide today was Todd.  Todd is a native Hawaiian who grew up on a farm on the big island.  He was very knowledgeable about the island from a very different view than Dawn from Maui as he was not quite as political.

Todd

Our first stop was at Rainbow Falls another pretty small waterfall but the largest that we have seen so far.  A short walk up the hill took us to the top of the falls to look down from the top.  All of the stops that we made today were all Hawaii State Parks.

Our next stops were a couple of beaches where we saw the first of the lava rocks.  The cliffs and views were spectacular!

Lava Tree Park is where the lava flowed down but since it was farther away from the volcano only part of the jungle was destroyed.  If you look carefully at the pictures you can see that the tree trunks are coated in lava but the tree is still trying to grow.  It is hard to believe that trees would still grow after being bathed in hot lava.  The park is still part of the rain forest so very much so still a jungle.

See The Tree Still Growing

Kilauea is the volcano that erupted in 1991.  The lava flow covers just a massive part of the island.  We walked for about a quarter of a mile to the ocean on top of the lava fields.  We were not able to get close to the volcano as it is still active and there are no longer roads that go up as the roads were destroyed by the lava flow.  We did finally get to the “black sand” beach.  The sand is a result of the breakdown of the lava flow due to wind and human traffic.  You are able to drive on the lava field with 4-wheel drive vehicles.  I imagine the ride is very rough but we did see trucks on the field.  Hawaiians are very superstitious, so there is a legend or story for almost everything.  The story goes that you cannot take any of the black sand with you or you will have many years of bad luck.  Todd encouraged us to respect the Gods and legends and they have proven to be true. 

Black Sand Beach

After a few more tops to look at overlooks, we headed back to the ship for dinner and volcano watching at night.  We passed by the volcano about 10 p.m.   All the lights on the ship were turned off so everyone could get pictures and a better view of the hot lava flowing into the ocean.  Amazing! 

Lava Flow Taken From Ship

Monday, April 29, Maui

Monday, April 29, Maui

It is our second day on the island and no plans for a guided tour.  Our server at breakfast suggested that we take the city bus to Lahaina a small town along the west coast of the island.  The all day fare for the city bus was $4 so a very inexpensive way to see the island.  We found the bus stop and boarded only to have to get off and change buses a few blocks later.  The drive to Lahaina took about an hour but lovely seashore along the ride.  We drove by several small neighborhoods so we got a flavor for how the natives live.

Lahaina is a typical tourist town with shops, galleries and historic sites.  The historic coral fort walls where interesting.  After a beer, we were back to the bus stop for the ride back to the ship.  It was a short day as we got a later start and needed to be onboard by 5:30.  The round trip for the bus ride was a little over 2 hours.

It was Captain’s night so typically a formal night where you can take pictures with the Captain of the ship.  We skipped pictures but did have a very nice dinner in the Liberty Dining Room.  We had dinner with a couple, Dave and Sally, from Indiana and knew we were in for a long evening when they were horrified that we were having wine with dinner.  It is a long story for another time.

After loosing Dave and Sally, I really didn’t say that, we walked around the 6th deck for some air and then back to the room balcony to relax before bed.

Tomorrow is volcano day – we are excited to see the black sand!

We need to publish without pictures for now as the wireless is very poor.

Saturday, April 27 Honolulu

Saturday, April 27 Boarding

A great time mingling with people from different countries all boarding at the same time.  The set sail party was very quiet compared to our previous cruise.

Boarding Boat

Real Lei

We had a very nice dinner of Mahi at one of the huge restaurants – excellent food.

The ship is your basic size, about 2400 passengers and crew of 750 approx.  One of the glaring shortcomings is the pool area. It is very small.  They have a second one aft (rear) of the ship but again it is maybe 20 X 20 ft.  Not exactly the ideal situation for so many people.  The cruise’s function is transportation from one island to another so onboard entertainment is very limited.

We sat on our balcony and watched the sunset and a few miles of ocean go by.  No seasickness for us – I don’t even feel the ship moving in the interior.  Ted says that he can feel the ship moving but not anything that would make you ill.

Sunday, April 28, Rainforest Tour

Sunday was a day of adventure. We took a walking tour in the rainforest to see a couple of small waterfalls with our Tour Guide, Dawn, and three other couples.  The other couples were from Edmonton, Sidney and Pennsylvania. 

Our first stop was at a surfer’s beach, Ho’O’Kipa, that supposedly gets waves as high as 30-40 feet during the winter.  There were tons of surfers on the water so must be a local favorite.  Stunning, beach shore as well.

We started out on pretty nice trail through the jungle but soon found ourselves crawling up rocks and tree roots.   The size of the plants and flowers were unbelievable!  I loved it all!  You can’t believe the amount of vegetation that is edible.   Along with eating parts of trees and plants, we picked and ate Sugar Banana,  Guava, SugarCane, Ginger and Mangos. 

We ate lunch after the toughest part of the climb on the top by one of the waterfalls.  We had a smoked turkey sandwich and homemade chocolate chip cookies from a local farm – delicious! And of course, more fruit picked from the trees. 

At the second waterfall, everyone was encouraged to jump in and cool off.  I walked in a ways but the water was freezing and about 2 feet in I couldn’t see my shoes so opted out of the cool of in the pool.  About half of the group did go in but agreed that it was pretty muddy.

Ruby In Pick Suit

We heard then saw a “bull frog”.  If that is a bullfrog, then I have never seen one before.  It was about the size of a MN turtle and the sounds it made sounds like an air horn on a semi truck.  No croaking for that big boy!  The noise stopped us all in our tracks.  I was sure that we were going to run into a wild boar. 

By the way, there are no snakes, poison ivy or oak and not many bugs of any kind on the islands.  They did have the MN bird in the forest though. 

Back to the ship for anniversary dinner at the steak house then listened to some bad Elton John music on the main deck.