2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 22

Tuesday

This is my last day: plan was to rent from Koa board, go surfing, come back and pack up, go to diamond head and possibly surf some more, bring back the board, then I didn’t know, maybe Waikiki beach or Diamond Head lookout or botanical garden at Koko crater. Then maybe a burger at the Kuhuku for dinner then head for the airport so I can get to the car rental around 7pm. Flight is at 9pm.

I’ve just checked out of the hotel, it is now past 2pm. I did rent the board from Koa, but I couldn’t fit it in my car; so I had to drive back to hotel, walk to Koa, and walk from there to beach. But the beach right next to it was quite crowded so I walked for about 10 minutes eastward, but the wind was coming from the north so the waves were not very strong. I “surfed” for about 45 minutes but I never got up because the waves weren’t strong enough. Oh well, it was fun to try without the help of an instructor. Boy does it ever require strength from shoulders and back, no wonder these surfers are so fit! It’s a nice sport, uses all of you body.

I’ll m going to the North shore for the rest of the afternoon, I’ll have a burger at Kuhuku Grill then make my way to the airport. I might stop by the Diamond Head crater for the hike, since it is open to visitors again. Aloha!

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 21

Monday

I had reserved a surf lesson while Carolyn and I were at the Waikiki beach yesterday, it was scheduled for 8:15am and was a half hour drive North West to the Kapolei area. I wisely left just after 7am because I wasn’t sure about the traffic, which can get quite heavy. Sure enough some construction detours were causing a huge lineup to enter the H1 highway so I unwisely decided to take another route; which lead me to Vineyard Rd entry to highway (one of the few English road names), and the collector lane was blocked off from the highway so I could not switch from the collector to the highway. I eventually found my way onto H1 but that was somewhat frustrating to say the least. I’m defiinitely getting to know the Honolulu roads a bit (more than I need). I made it without problem to the surf place on Nimitz beach, it was 8:15 by the time I got out of the car with my stuff!

The lesson was great, the Hawaiian Fire crew are very safety conscious. Got up on the second try, then after Lihue told me about a mistake I was making it became a lot easier. Tons of fun. Got a small cut on my knee when I kneed a coral. Didn’t hurt at all so I didn’t think much of it, but when we got out of the water I noticed it was bleeding a bit. After showering they sprayed it with peroxide, hopefully that will do. One thing that struck me is the camping near the beach; quite a bit of trash all around (like one piece in every 100 sq meter), disappointing as this was not what the rest of our trip had led us to believe, that Hawaiians are very careful about their environment. Populated areas are all the same after all, I guess.

Visited the region a bit by car; much dryer than the other regions I had seen so far, grass all yellow. Drove as far up as I could from Makakilo Dr; could not get a shot that could be captured in photo; interesting to see the water cisterns (I’m guessing that’s what they were). Drove north along the coast on 93, but at Nanakuli there was construction which was causing huge lineup in the opposite direction so I turned around; visited a beach park in Nanakuli, there were gravestones cimented among the lava stones on the beach, presumably ashes inside. Some had been broken open (desecrated or weathered? could not tell for sure, but they were less than 10 years old so weathering seems unlikely).

Visited the submarine museum at Pearl Harbor, fascinating. Got some good photos. I can’t believe anyone would want to work in this kind of environment, but it was wartime so anything goes.  Left around 2pm.

Headed back to hotel, had a nap, then Carolyn called about some stuff she coulnd’t find. I made some calls about her missing earring. Eventually walked to the Waikiki Beach Walk area, which we hadn’t visited yet. Holly molly, very beautiful in its “richness”, esp. at nightime with all the torches lit along the road and by the hotels. Couldn’t find anything inspiring so I walked for a while in that area, then along the beach, and ended up at the Westin Beach Bar, where I had some quite good shrimp (breaded, which was a bit of a disappointment), and the best bread pudding I have ever eaten, and I have had a few since my mom used to make great bread pudding. The music by Little Al was excellent, very mellow and relaxing. I was sitting under this humongous banyon tree.

Crashed around 11pm.

 

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 20

Sunday

Thought we were going to take some surfing lessons today; arranged something with Surf Suzy mentioned in our Hawaii guide but we only found out during another call that it wasn’t her teaching, she was on Big Island; we didn’t really like that she hadn’t been upfront with us about that but maybe it was only a misunderstanding; plus yesterday we saw no surf whatsoever, but maybe she knows the right spots. The Hawaii Fire surf was booked so that wasn’t an option; in any case we figured we would find something at the beach in Waikiki or maybe I would surf tomorrow.

Had breakfast at hotel then drove 5 minutes to the east end of Waikiki beach, where we parked. There were all sorts of festivities there: a cadet drill demo, some musicians, some arts kiosks, etc. Walking towards the arts area we met Liberty O’Sullivan, an older man with a walker; he had woven some baskets from coconut leaves and wanted to give us one; he refused any money. We spoke for a bit, nice man, then Carolyn and I shopped for a good hour. Nice things, and reasonable prices too (for lots of things). We each had a hotdog and smoothie at a little snack kiosk, that hit the spot.

Went to the beach from there, it was about 1pm by then. Relaxed on the beach till about 2pm, alternating between snoozing and watching people.

Returned to the room around 4pm so that Carolyn could start packing. We had to be at the airport for about 8-8:30pm. It was past 6pm by the time we had her luggage in the hotel lobby. We had dinner at the Siam Thai. It was quite good, though not as awesome as we have had it in Ottawa. Service excellent.

At the airport Carolyn checked in while I was parking the car. Looks like there are two main parking areas and of course I parked in the “Inter-islands” one, rather than in the “International Flights” one. So it was a bit crazy finding how to get to the airport, very bad (ie insufficient) signage. Eventually made it to the second floor near lobby 4 and by chance Carolyn was right there, by the elevator, waiting. We had a bit of time so had some Starbucks coffee. Carolyn crossed the security checkpoint around 9pm, her flight was scheduled for 10pm.

This would normally have been the end of the day for me but after Carolyn left I went to the Thrifty which was just nearby to see if they could change my car to something smaller. That worked, I got a Callibri hatchback instead, no change fees or anything. I drove back to the hotel, and took the exit 22, this was a mistake: it was dark and there were construction detours in several places (I guess the city workers do a lot of their work during the night time). So it was brutal finding my way back to the hotel as the roads in Hawaii rarely form grids (they do in small chunks only), and the road names are all Hawaiian so nothing was familiar, except one or two and I guessed wrong as to where they were going!

When I finally got to the hotel at 10:45pm, I was told by the hotel reception that Thrifty had called because I had forgotten my phone there. I was pissed at myself; now I had to drive back there, and I couldn’t call them directly (no direct line) to see if I could get it in the morning. The drive back there was equally frustrating as again there were new construction blocks that were not there earlier; and I misread an instruction from google so I missed the exit but didn’t know I had missed it, so end up going way past it and had to find way back. Anyways I eventually got there, got the phone, and drove back. This time I took the better exit (23 instead of 22, much more direct), but missed a turn, and again same problem as before, due to all the one ways and twisted roads and dark and no compass/gps meaning I lost my bearings. I eventually found Ala Wai and got to the hotel, it was passed midnight by then. What a waste of 2 hours. I had to remind myself that I was on vacation.

 

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 19

Saturday

Reserved a rental car from Thrifty during breakfast on the boat

Got off the ship around 9am, found the Thrifty shuttle easily; takes a while to get to the airport so that was worthwhile so we didn’t have to spend on a tax. Left Thrifty with our “full size” Charger, a bit too big of a car for my liking but we didn’t have any choice, that was the cheapest deal by far.

Visited Pearl Harbor memorial (Arizona), visited the museum, both free, was very interesting, especially the intro movie explaining the context of attack at the time. Carolyn was not interested in the submarine so we left after that, it was mid-afternoon by then.

Drove north towards Hale’iwa (via H2), but stopped at the Dole Plantation on the way. Nice garden showing how pinapples are grown, nice shop for souvenirs, and delicious pinapple sundays, which we had. Stayed for over an hour, maybe more.

Continued north through Hale’iwa and stopped at Waimea beach. There is a big boulder of lava rock that juts out from the beach, kids jump off the 20 foot drop into the water and seem to have a blast. They line up, sometimes jumping 4 a time. Carolyn and I lie down at the west end of the beach near another huge outcrop of rock, the beach is quite steep so it’s like being in a lawn chair. Beautiful beach for sure. Not very crowded, a lot of locals by the looks of it.

The sun was going to set soon (7pm) so we left (6:30pm) and drove to Sunset Beach which is not only a beach but a town. Beautful beach there too, probably a mile long. Maybe 20 people total in that whole span, very peaceful. Clearly a popular spot to watch the sun set. Found a spot to sit and watched the sun set, quite nice.

Drove eastbound on north coast until we got to Kuhuku, by then it was 8′ish. Carolyn spotted a burger place called “Kuhuku Grill”. We ate the best burgers ever; I had the pulled pork burger, Carolyn a different one I can’t remember but both had avocado and all sorts of good stuff. Highly recommend it.

Drove back to the hotel down the east coast.

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 18

Friday

We got up at 6:30am, got ready and had breakfast, and went to check at Excursions desk if there was anythnig available, there wasn’t according to the books but the rep gave a call to the op guy at the dock to double check if they could fit an extra couple for the 4×4 hike in Wai’ale’ale. While Carolyn was checking this I went to get our stuff at the cabin. Turns out they could fit us in!

At 7:45am we left the dock in a 4×4 van, picked up one chap from a hotel and drove into the mountains. Stopped by a nice lookout along the river, lots of chickens, was funny t see. Down below could see old Monarchy area, no buildings just a “place” where they use to hang out and have ceremonies and such. Road eventually became very bumpy, we were all being tossed left and right, having a good time. Nick the guide from Aloha Kaua’i Tours was extremely knowledgeable and told non stop about the culture and the plants and sites and such. We crossed two small rivers in the van, the road covered in almost a foot of flowing water. Saw a plant, Hele Hele, that contracts instantly when you touch it.

We eventually got to a wider part of the road and parked there and hiked to the end of it, where we had an amazing view of 4 waterfalls that were coming down Wai’ale’ale mountain in the distance, the water plunging a couple thousand feet, some of the highest falls in the world. There was a little river there, would have been nice to swim. We walked gently back, 3 mi round trip, took a couple photos and drove back. The amazing thing in Hawaii is the scarcity of wildlife on land or air, though Nick mentioned that they have deer and such, and we have seen lots of free-roaming chickens and apparently there are many ferel pigs. Got back arund 12:30pm.

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 17

Thursday

Got up at 6:30am, breakfast at Aloha, got to excursion booth at 8:15am and met Ryan who was going to take us on our Na’pali Coast tour for this day in Kaua’i. He drove us in htis little ford focus to Weimei, there we signed in and we got an orientation and Ryan drove us the harbor just down the road. There we met Sean (Captain) and Rick (co-captain), put our stuff into a waterproof bag and embarked. During trek north, we saw a pod of spinner dolphins playing around lasted 10 minutes. so beautiful, one was doing lots of spins, jst a few meters from ship! We saw the coast all the way to XXX, then back down to beach. Spectacular and stunning coastline. Snorkeled not far from that beach, didn’t see many types of fish but one type like the treats that the captain was throwing to the fish. Bright yellow albino of same species, swam 6 in from face as though we weren’t there! Back to ship around 4pm. Was almost 5pm when we tried to book hiking for the next day but no availability or finished too late or not what we wanted.

Ended up having a drink with Meryl and Mark around 5:30pm at the Saloon, each had a nice Bahama Mama cocktail, then had dinner at the Lanai (food from Aloha), but it was a bit windier than usual so wan’t as pleasant. Very nice couple from Australia. Once back at cabin around 9pm, tried writing about trip but was too tired.

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 16

Wednesday

Got up early and made our way via tender to the pier. We were at the bagnon tree meeting point by 7:45am, $4 Kona coffee, met guide, drove to harbor, got into zodiac, went to find the dolphins, which captain Paul could contact directly via cell phone, so we found them in under 10 minutes. We jumped intot he water and we saw several groups of a dozens spinner dolphens swim by under us. Got back in boat and Paul knew where they were headed so he took us ahea of them and we jumped in and saw them again, repeated process once more. The best is to swim out far enough ahead of the boat because that’s where the dolphins will come to the surface for a breath, so the last of the 3 rounds I was swimming just behind them near the surface. They are so beautiful. Then we went snorkeling not far from the harbor near a reef, gosh was there lots of interesting fish there. We snorkeled near another area which was common for manta rays but saw none. Saw several turtes from the ship though.

Got back to cruise ship and bumped into Meryl and Mark and Jessica and Chris, and ended up having dinner together at the Skyline, then seeing the Perfect Couples show.

 

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 15

Tuesday

Had breakfast at the Skyline. Ship had just docked at Hilo. Found the “C” Big Island Tours (CBIT) guide no problem. Met Chris and Jessica from Chicago, as well as Meryl and Mark from Queensland, and our driver Rett, native to Hawaii. Had a great excursion, best one so far. Rainbow falls, Mackenzie park on the coast, Lava Trees park, and Fire Lava Park (Kumai) where we walked on 30 year old lava that now covers the black sands beach that was on this part of the coast. The sand is totally black.

Stopped by the Macadamian Factory on the way back to ship but didn’t have time to do the self-guided visit just had some lunch and chatted. Finally, all of this got tied together by a wonderous flight in 7-seater cessna flown by Dale, airport just south of harbor. Went over the areas visited by car which was awesome to see how it all fit together, then flew over the active crater and saw the red lava coming out, and finally zigzagged over the river which has many arms and lava tunnels and water falls, just beautiful.

After a nice dinner at the Aloha, buffet style, we played some darts, then went to Tim Kaminski comedy show where I laughed so hard I had tears down my cheeks the whole time, esp. the part with the two women pretending to have his arms. Then some 70′s and 80′s music (Billy Joel, etc) at the Waikiki bar; I was so tired that I fell asleep for a few minutes, and when I woke up Carolyn had left, likely annoyed at me for falling asleep. I listened to some more music then went back to the room.I thought Carolyn would be at one of the shows, but she showed up about 5 min after I got there. When I confirmed that I was going to bed she left with barely a goodbye. I don’t know why she takes this stuff so personally.

 

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 14

Monday

Woke up at midnight sweating, Carolyn had cranked up the heat to max! adjusted that, but still had pain in right shoulder, fell asleep again and we woke up at 3am wondering why we had sign up for this. Once in the bus though we didn’t regret it; Bob the driver was awesome, very funny and loves trivia and people. Got to the crater around 4:45am so we had to wait an hour alng the fence to keep our spot, it was quite cold so we were glad we had our sweater and coat and long pants. It was only about 7 deg C up there. The sun finally rose at 5:45am. It was quite beautiful but I wouldn’t say spectacular. As Bob mentioned you never knw what you are going to get, and I believe based on his comments after the event that there have been better ones but I don’ know how often they are awesome vs ok.

If this were it for the sunrise excursion it would be somewhat disappointing. But we did 3 other stops on the way back down: 2 at other lookouts, and 1 at a mompop shop that sold yummy though rather expensive snacks. The lookouts were spectacular. One of them was into a crater that had more craters inside it and a hardened lava flow that seemed to be just a few years old.

We got back to ship  around 9:45am. Had some breakfast, spent sme time in one of the several hot tubs, spoke with an interesting couple from Bristol (the ones who snorkeled in Red Sea), hung out around the pool a bit then decided we would try a little jaunt to the Paia region for the Ho’okipa beach which was recommended by a surfer. Howveer when we looked at the bus schedule it was clear we couldn’t make it back on time without rushing like crazy. And $60 for taxi didn’ interest us so back t ship.

We went to an art auction which was quite interesting, but everything worth having was way over our budget. One set of Izaac Turkey went on sale for $300 but this did not include shipping or framing, the total woud be close to $1000. We weren’t that keen on becoming “collectors”, let alone of someone whose art we don’t really know. Rather nice trio but I wouldn’t spend a grand on it on our current budget.

Nice dinner at Skyline, same table as night before by coincidence, and same Jazz band but without Coutney and her singing parner. Server was George, also Jamaican, nice chap but quite reserved.

Went to 7:30pm dance show in which Brad played. Nice tap dancing though I would have wanted more! Loved the show, though I dozed off a couple times as I was so tired from the Haleakala trip at 3am. I went to bed (was after 10pm by the time I got all my stuff ready for next morning) and Carolyn went to the next show, the one about knowing your partner, and sounds like she had a blast.

 

2012 Trip to Hawaii: May 13

Sunday

Breakfast at skyline; yummy; Mercy our waitress again, so nice; gave us a salmon sandwich to take with us fr lunch, I took only cream cheese but later when we ate it I regretted not taking one too!

Molokini crater snorkel: funny bus driver, a bit hickish; then boat to crater; quite nice, lots of fish, but all relative (spoke to couple who went to Red Sea snorkling and thought this was not as good – though still quite good; the ship crew w3ere very nice and informative; snorkel for an hour; then went to another site where there were turtles, Carolyn got great shot of a turtle a few meters away from her, but I wasn’t near when that happened – but the photo is undeniable evidence Then had great bbq lunch, saw from the boat some turtles swimming, then returned. Very nice excursion.

Dinner at Skyline with live Jazz by Courtney and David, whom we had a nice chat with; met Brad, a dancer that knew the musicians, very nice chap was excited o hear that Jeremy does dancing! Server Devon Hamilton, nice chap from Jamaica.

Hung out for a bit then went to bed, as we were going to get up at 3am for the Haleakala trip.