Hawaii, Day Eight

Doing a little blog catch up here.  Last night we saw some fabulous fireworks.  The Waikiki fireworks are spectacular and we were able to enjoy them quite nicely from the hotel balcony.

Today we spent several hours on a Circle Tour of the island.  We went to Hanauma Bay, several other beautiful beaches and lookouts that I lost track of the names of, and the Dole Pineapple Plantation.  The tour was a good way to see the island and our guide Steve was very knowledgeable.  We also drove past Pearl Harbor, but we're taking a tour there tomorrow.  We visited the North Shore, famous for its huge waves.  Unfortunately, this is the wrong time of year for the big waves and the water was calm as a bathtub.  I did take the kids picture standing in the water of the  North Shore though.  That was at Sunset Beach.  Without the tour, I doubt we would have seen nearly as much of the island.  I would have liked more time at the pineapple plantation.  The pineapple ice cream was seriously yummy.  I also would have liked to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center.  However, with our Pearl Harbor tour tomorrow we can't be back in time to catch the shuttle and we have no car.  We'd have to rent a car to get there and it is quite a drive from Waikiki where we are staying.t's suggested you plan on at least half a day there as well.  Guess I'll just have to plan a return trip to see the things I miss this time around!  We fly home Wednesday night.  Is our vacation reallyn almost over?  It has been an amazing eight days, ten if you count our traveling days. 

Bye Bye Maui, Hello Oahu

We left Maui this morning to fly to Oahu for the remainder of our vacation.  I have to say that Maui was probably the most beautiful place I've ever visited.  We really enjoyed the laid back pace.  The people were friendly, the weather was perfect, the house we rented was beautiful.  The view from the summit of Haleakala Crater was unbelievable and something I'll remember for a lifetime. 

Yesterday part of the group took an ATV tour of the up country, then hubby and brother took J, N, and cousin M deep sea fishing.  J caught a 26lb wahoo and M caught a 20lb wahoo.  We had it for dinner.  J, who claims to hate fish, ate some since he caught it and decided it was delicious.  Honestly, it wasn't the tastiest fish I've ever had, but it was decent.

This morning we flew to Oahu, where we will remain until Wednesday afternoon, when we will head home to Florida.  Our hotel is in Waikiki, about two blocks from the beach.  We have a tourof the island planned for Monday and a visit to Pearl Harbor is on the agenda for Tuesday. 

Hawaii, Day Five, Black Sand Beach and Haleakala Crater

Warning!  This post will be long!  We saw some amazing sights yesterday that I can't tell you about in just a few words. 

The day began back over on a beach in Lahaina, where several from the group went parasailing.  Since I am a big chicken and afraid of heights to boot,  I sat on the beach and watched.  A played in the water and got enough sand in her bathing suit to build a deluxe castle.  At one point we saw a seal swimming near the shore.  Since I have a love of animals, marine animals in particular, I was very excited and ran down the beach to try and get a good picture.  I only managed to get a shot of his back as he dove back down in the waves.  How cool to have seen a seal in its natural habitat though!

After a picnic lunch, we set out to find a black sand beach.  We drove through some beautiful areas in Wailea and Makena before coming to Makena State Park.  After bumping down a dirt path that passed for the road we came to the beach.  It was worth the bumpy ride.  The black sand was beautiful.  It's fiiner than white sand and brushes off your feet very easily.  It was very soft to walk on.  We didn't go in the water since the surf was rough, but we were able to wade in the edge. 

The next part of our day was a drive up to the summit of Haleakala Crater, a dormant volcano with an elevation of 10,000 feet.  We wanted to reach the summit in time to see the sunset.   The drive itself was amazing and harrowing all at the same time.  Rembember, I'm a chicken, so the drive up that twisting , narrow road had me white knuckling it the higher we climbed.  It was strange driving up through the clouds and there were some amazing views.  After an hour or so we finally reached the summit.  The temperature was in the low fifties and the sun was setting as we got out of the car.  It was one of the most amazingly beautiful sights I've ever seen.  It felt almost spirtual up there above the clouds.  In fact, A was waving to the angels.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I've never seen anything like it before.  It was like what I imagine heaven must be like.  So peaceful and beautiful and bathed in light.  I'm so thankful I got the chance to see it and that the kids got the chance to see it.     

Hawaii, Day Four

Hard to believe we're this far into our vacation.  It's going so fast!  So far, we're having a great time.  Yesterday was no exception.  (In case you hadn't realized, with the time difference I'm writing blog posts a day behind.)

We slept in a bit yesterday after our jam packed day of snorkeling and luau.  The kids were scheduled for a surfing lesson mid morning so we headed out to watch.  My boys, along with their cousins, M, B1, and B2, and my brother all toook a lesson from Ino at Maui Wave Riders.  The lesson began in the park above the beach where they learned to techniques of paddling and standing up on their boards.  A was not scheduled for a lesson but Ino didn't mind that she put her boogie board down and participated anyway.  Next they learned to carry their boards dwn to the beach and into the surf.   Ino accompanied them and they waded out to a good spot.  Eveyone did pretty ngood but N turned out to be the surfing star of the day.  He managed to rise up, do the switch, and ride his board all the way in several times.  Now, in case you're picturing giant Hawaii waves, these weren't.  The waves were gentle yesterday.  We will be visiting the North Shore when we go to Oahu where we're told we'll see those legendary Hawaiin waves.  I've already told J and N they will NOT be attemtping to surf those waves! At the end of the lesson Kyle, also from Maui Wave riders, went out on a board with a camera and took awesome shots of the kids as they surfed.  He gave us an excellent deal on two cds with all the images he took.  You'll have to wait til I'm back home where my comouter has a cd drive to see those.  In the meantime, here are a few shots that I took.

J riding a wave in.

N the surfing star.Cousin M

The group with their awesome instructor, Ino.

The kids loved the surfing lesson.  If you're ever on Maui and interested in a lesson, Maui Wave Riders was awesome.  The kids learned a ton and Ino and Kyle were great. 

After the surfing lesson and lunch, we headed out to tour the island some.  Our first stop was Iao Valley State Park.  We saw some beautiful scenery as we climbed up and down the paved pathways.

Next we set out to find a waterfall my brother had read about.  By that point in the day, everyone was getting a bit tired and cranky.  We were sniping at each other a bit and tempers were starting to flare.  We pulled over at a scenic lookout spot to regroup and try and figure out where the waterfall was.  We didn't find the waterfall, but we found this instead.   It went a long way towards soothing everyone and restoring peace and harmony to the day.  

 

Awe inspiring, isn't it? The kids climbed all over the rocks and for once I wasn't a nervous nellie and let them have fun.  

 

Hawaii, Day Three, Part two

That's J above, pictured with one of the hula dancers we saw at the Royal Lahaina Luau last night.  After the snorkel trip, we dashed back to the house to shower and change for the luau.  We'd all been looking frward tothis.  After all, what's a Hawaiin vacation without a luau?  This luau didn't disappoint.  We arrived for check in about 5, and waited for the gates to open.  Once the gates opened, our picture was taken and we were shown to our table.  A waiter came with drinks, which were included.  Except for blended drinks, which were $15 and came in a souvenir cocnut with free refills all night.  I ordered a pina colada, minus the rum so the kids could enjoy, too.  The pre show started,and featured music and a hula lesson given by the mistress of ceremonies.  A was eager to participate in that and now considers herself a trained hula girl.  After the pre show, the buffet was opened.  It consisted of salad, fruit, rolls,kalua pig, kalua turkey, chicken, hawaiin steak, sweet potatoes, fried rice, noodles, macaroni salad, and dessert.  There was a kid's buffet as well with kid favorites like hot dogs and mac and cheese.  Everything was very tasty and during dinner the hour long show began.  There were male and female hula dancers and a fire show at the end.  The kids really enjoyed the show and afterwards the dancers were available for pictures.  You can see some of our luau experience in the photos below.

 

Hawaii,Day Three, Part One

Sorry this blog post is a bit late.  Yesterday was jam packed from morning til night.  The day started out with a snorkeling trip on a 65 ft boat.  We checked in our group of 16 at the Lahaina Harbor at 7:30 and boarded the boat about 8.  There were several other people on board for the half day snorkeling adventure.  The day was clear and sunny with a wonderful breeze as we set out.  The crew set out a continental breakfast for our enjyment as we cruised out of the harbor.  Fresh fruit, muffins, and juice were enjoyed as we moved at a nice clip towards our destination.  After about an hour we reached our first stop, the Molikani crater.  Those who wished could get off the boat to snorkel.  The kids loved this, even A.  Wearing a life jacket and her own tiny fins, snorkel, and mask, she swam with her daddy and saw all kinds of Nemo fishies.  Her words, not mine. 

I did not get off the boat, but stayed aboard to take photos from the deck.  I should tell you that I did not bring my dslr camera on the snrokel trip.  Not being sure what to expect, I was worried it could get damaged so had to be content with the rest of the group'soint and shoot cameras.  I will tell you the scenery was beautiful and I wished I had brought it along and taken the risk.  We did have some underwater cameras but those photos will have to get developed and scanned in back home.

After about an hour, everyone reboarded the boat and we set off ofr our second stop.  While we were cruising, a dei style lunch was provided and was again delicious.  We reached our second stop, which the crew simply referrred to as turtle town, in about an hour.  Unfortunately, the wind was a bit high, so the captain made the decision to move onto another turtle town, so called because of the large number of sea turtles in the area.  At the second stop, I even got off the boat.  I love sea turtles and the chs nce to see them in their natural environment was too tempting to resist.  I used a boogie board with a "mask"  viewer nd was able to enjoy all the beautiful sea life and corla.  I didn't see any turtles while I was in the water, but saw several from the boat deck.  Guess they all hid with eveyone splashing around!

I must include a description of the surroundings in this post.  The mountains and beaches we passed were beautiful of course.  But it was the Pacific Ocean that was the star of the day.  The water alternated between a deep sapphire blue and emerald green, depending on where we were.  Colorful schools of fish were visible even from the surface.  And below the surface was a whole world of magical creatures and colors.  And let me tell you that water was cold!   Living in Florida, I've been in the Atlantic plenty.  The Pacific is definitely colder!

We returned to the harbor about 1:30.  The first part of our day was over and it was time to head back to thenhouse to get ready for the evening.  A traditional Hawaiin Luau.  See the next post for details on that.

Hawaii, Day Two

Our adventure today was a scenic ride on the Sugar Cane Train.  Contrary to the name, there was no sugar cane lesson or anything remotely relating to sugar cane.  The ride was a scenic one through the old whaling town of Lahaina.  After the ride, we visited the Cannery Mall for a little lunch and shopping.  N and A both opted for a ukulele as a souvenir.  Yikes!  What was I thinking?  A also got a grass skirt and a tiny coconut bra to wear and dance the hula.  Like a typical teenager, J opted to buy sunglasses and t-shirts. 

After the shopping, part of the group headed back to the house while the remainder stayed in Lahaina to visit the whaling museum.  They are still not back so I have no idea how it was.  On the way home,we stopped at a little farmer's market and got a coconut for A so she could drink the milk.  She'd been saying she wanted to drink milk from a coconut for weeks prior to the trip.  Coconut milk is now her favorite drink she says.  At least it was until she drank some after eating potato chips.  Then she decided it was nasty.  I guess salty chips just don't mix well with fresh cocunt milk.

Tomorrow's adventure is an all day snorkeling trip, followed by the Royal Lahaina Luau.  The boat will take us out at 8am and we will stay out til mid afternoon.  Breakfast and lunch are included.  Then we have a few hours to relax and get ready for the traditional Hawaiin Luau.