Hawaii Afterthoughts

It was quite windy during our time in Waikiki, although it was warm enough that it was still quite pleasant. Our tour director said it was windier than usual.

There sure were a lot of Japanese in Waikiki, especially in our hotel. A lot of them were teenagers. They must have been on some kind of organized trip.

One thing we found unusual was the lack of sea gulls. You would think being on beaches and boats that we would have seen a few, but we never saw one the whole time. There were a few pigeons/doves in the city, but not clouds of them like you see in some other places.

Celeste & Glenn’s Hawaiian Adventure

Here we go again! Celeste felt that she wanted to go to Hawaii for our next vacation. For one thing, she likes the idea of not having any language barriers in speech or in reading signs. Since we have never been there, I thought that it would be a good idea to take a package tour to get a broad overview rather than going to just one place. So, we picked up some brochures and found a tour that fit the bill. We went with the “Best of Hawaii” tour from Trafalgar because it hit the high points on three islands, had some built in down time for relaxing, and fit the time frame we wanted. (Celeste is still working, so our time was somewhat limited.)

Note that, since I didn’t write this until I got home, it is written in conventional format, beginning with the earliest time, rather than the normal blogging format with the latest date at the top because it was added most recently.

February 15, 2007 Vancouver

My Dad picked us for the trip to the airport at 1:30 for our 3:40 departure. We had a stopover and plane change in Calgary, where we ran into a short delay. Apparently, the labour shortage there is so acute that they are short of people to clean the airplanes between flights. We arrived in Vancouver about a half hour late at 6 p.m. Pacific Time (8 p.m. our time). Sue met us, as well as a friend of hers that was on the same flight from Calgary. We dropped off her friend and drove to Darren & Sue’s place, where we made arrangements to meet Sue’s parents for dinner.

We were quite excited to meet Sue’s parents. Although Darren and Sue have been seeing each other for about eight years and have lived together for two or three, we parents have never been in Vancouver at the same time. We walked to a nearby restaurant, arriving about 8 p.m. Sue’s parents, Don and Lynn, arrived soon after. We had a very enjoyable evening getting to know them. It is obvious where Sue gets her good looks and pleasant personality. We finished up around 10 p.m. and returned to Darren and Sue’s place where we visited until about 1 a.m. before turning in.

We learned a couple of interesting things during our visit. First, Darren and Sue had made an offer on a condo that had been accepted, although the paperwork was still not complete. Also, Darren had been in Columbia for a few days for some anti-kidnapping training in preparation for the time he will have to spend in Brazil in the future. It is reassuring that they are being proactive, but disconcerting that it is necessary!

February 16, 2007 Waikiki

We were up at 5:30 (7:30 CST) for Darren to drive us to the airport by 6 for our 8:15 departure. The timing was just about perfect to check in and get through American immigration and customs, pick up a snack, and have a few extra minutes at the gate. Once on board though, we were delayed waiting for the arrival of a connecting flight from Edmonton which was delayed by weather. We departed sometime before 9 and were fed a nice breakfast an hour or so later. We encountered some light turbulence that interrupted service on the second half of our flight, but it was otherwise uneventful.

On our flight, they showed the movie “Man of the Year” starring Robin Williams. It fell short of being good because it was so overly simplistic and preachy, but it helped kill the time on a 6.5 hour flight. You know the type: celebrity comedian who bashes politicians on talk show is drafted by his audience to run for President as an independent candidate. He has all the quick and easy solutions to all the complex problems. Meanwhile, an evil corporation wins the contract to supply a computerized voting system while conspiring against the whole population of America and the world to hide a fatal programming flaw. Of course, the comedian is elected in error and the plucky heroine tries to expose the flaw while the evil corporation tries to discredit her and hunt her down. If you guessed that the comedian does not accept the office, that the heroine is vindicated, and that the evil corporate guys go to jail, then you got it.

We arrived sometime before 1 p.m. Hawaii time (CST minus 4) and were in our hotel room by 2:30. We settled in, changed into appropriate clothing, and took some pictures of our view. Our 37-storey hotel tower shares the block with an 18-storey condominium that is across the street from the beach. A couple of miles north of us is a range of low mountains that is always cloud-covered as it catches the moist north wind out of the northeast while the beach in front of us experiences only occasional broken cloud. We went out to explore and get a bite to eat at “Cheeseburgers in Paradise,” a legendary Hawaiian chain that is expanding to the mainland. Then we took a long walk along Waikiki Beach to take in the sights, including this sea lion swimming along the shore in an area where there were no swimmers. We took in the sunset and then some traditional entertainment on the beach. We packed it in by 8 p.m. after a long day.

February 17, 2007 Waikiki

We were up early to get breakfast before our 9 a.m. departure on a bus tour of Oahu Island. Our first stop was a historic site near Honolulu. In the process of uniting the islands under one rule, one chief’s forces drove his rival’s forces up a narrow valley. They were cornered with their backs to a 1,000 foot high cliff and forced to surrender or jump. Many chose the latter. It was extremely windy there as the prevailing wind funnels through this pass.

From there we made our way to the Dole Plantation. Silly us! We actually thought there would be a pineapple plantation there. However, Dole no longer grows any pineapple there, although there were some other pineapple fields in the area that grow for local consumption. What we did find was a very large souvenir store!

From the Dole Plantation we drove to the north coast where the best surfing beaches are. We only stopped at one because parking is difficult, especially for two large tour buses. Here is a picture of Celeste and me at Sunset Beach.

From the north shore, we drove down the east coast, observing the rain forest on the northeast side of the mountain range and arriving back at the hotel at 4 p.m. We rested for about an hour, and then went walking, returning to the hotel to change for a group supper at 7 p.m. We returned to the hotel at 8:30 and were in bed by 9.

February 18, 2007 Waikiki

We were up at 7 for our buffet breakfast at 8. Buffet breakfasts in each of our hotels are included in our tour. They run upwards of $17 USD per person, but it doesn’t hurt as much when you have prepaid it as part of the overall fee. This hotel features the “Oceanarium,” a two storey high aquarium with some fairly large fish, including three rays.

It never ceases to amaze me how well I can sleep when on vacation. At home, when I wake up after six or seven hours, I can rarely go back to sleep as my mind buzzes with all the cares of the day. When I wake up on vacation, I can usually go back to sleep without trouble until I am fully slept out after nine or ten hours. When I finally get up, I am totally rested. I love it!

We explored the hotel, and then went to the beach at 10:30. We had decided to only stay for an hour to avoid sunburn and because we had booked an activity for the afternoon, so, after an hour, I waded in for a dip. Although the beach was beautifully sandy, I soon found that the bottom was actually hard rock or coral almost as soon as you got into the water. The water was also quite shallow, so, although it hurt to walk, I couldn’t swim. I thought of the water shoes that I had left at home because I didn’t think I would need them on these beautiful sand beaches. I waded half way to Australia and the water was still hardly past my knees, so I gave up and returned to shore. When I got back to Celeste I found that I had taken a large gouge out of the ball of my left foot and earned two other long but shallow cuts, one on each foot. Limping back to the hotel, we ran into some lifeguards who gave me some gauze patches and bandaids.

With my injuries patched up, we caught the shuttle for Atlantis Submarines. Although we had previously ridden on boats with viewing windows below the surface, those boats never actually went under water. I was quite interested in the opportunity to actually dive 120 feet below the surface. The bottom is actually quite flat off Waikiki Beach and would not normally attract fish. However, the submarine company has sunk various structures to build an artificial reef. There were two concrete structures, two steel structures, a couple of ships, and a couple of airplanes. We saw plenty of smaller reef fish, a shark, and five turtles.

If you look carefully, you should see two turtles in the centre of the picture, resting on a sunken ship.



On returning to shore, we were greeted by a sales girl offering free chocolates if we would go on a tour. Free chocolates!? Off we went for a tour of a jewellery factory called “Maui Divers.” We saw a short film, took a tour (although there was no one working because it was Sunday), and then had to walk the gauntlet of the sales area. Fortunately, neither one of us is a big fan of jewellery, and we escaped unscathed. Most of the jewellery features local corals in gold settings.

We are staying in the centre tower of this picture.

February 19, 2007 Waikiki

This morning we had our breakfast in another restaurant in our hotel called “Shogun.” It is directly above the Oceanarium and overlooks the top of the aquarium. It served the same basics as the downstairs buffet, but deleted some of the frills and replaced them with a lot of Japanese dishes like fish and noodles. Carla and Tyler would love it.

At 9 we left on a bus tour to Pearl Harbour. We had to be at the Arizona Memorial early to get our tickets, and then we were free to check out the visitor centre and nearby exhibits around the submarine USS Bowfin. The Arizona tour began with a very good film and segued into a boat ride out to the memorial. There really isn’t much to see at the memorial except for a list posted in a sort of chapel of those who died. And it’s a good thing too, because there are so many people that it would really ball things up if there were exhibits to encourage people to hang around.

There was much more to see, including the battleship USS Missouri, where the Japanese surrender took place at the end of WW II, and a museum at the Bowfin. However, our time was limited and we departed for a tour of the downtown. There we heard about some island history and observed some historic and government buildings, including this royal palace. Our tour ended with a bunwich at a place that looked kind of familiar when we pulled up. Yup, I was right. Maui Divers again. The bunwich was OK, but I would have preferred chocolates.

We got back to the hotel at 3 and Celeste turned on the TV. They were running trailers for their movie channel and we got hooked watching them. It took us an hour to get through them all. We then went out walking again, grabbed some supper, and finally returned to the hotel at 8 and soon went to bed due to an early morning tomorrow.

February 20, 2007 Kailua-Kona

Up at 5:30 this morning, off for breakfast, and picked up at 7:30 for transfer to the airport for a 9:50 departure for a 45 minute flight to Hilo on the Big Island. Our flight was on an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737-200. I thought it best not to mention that this was the airline and airplane that lost a large piece of its fuselage in flight a few years ago killing a few people and scaring the rest of the passengers half to death before miraculously making a safe landing.

Hawaii, the Big Island, also has a rain forest side, which receives 130 inches of rain annually, and a dry side, which receives 10 inches annually. Hilo is on the wet side. Sure enough, it had just rained there and everything was soaking wet. We boarded our bus and drove to the Volcano House on the edge of the Kilauea volcano caldera for a buffet lunch.

After lunch we took the Crater Rim Road around the caldera. The caldera is the collapsed peak of the old volcano with several smaller and newer craters within it. The caldera is no longer active, except for steam issuing from a few cracks and vents. The last lava flowed here in 1982, although there have been flows within the last few years from the side of the mountain about ten miles away. We stopped to walk through a lava tube. Very cool. These are formed when lava flows down a ravine. The exposed crust cools and hardens while the lava continues to flow underneath. Eventually, the fluid lava stops flowing and the remains flow out the bottom end, leaving a hollow underground tube of rock.

We returned to the highway and proceeded towards our next stop. After a while, I noticed that we were driving on quite a washboardy road – or so I thought. Our tour director noticed too and convinced our driver to stop and investigate. It turned out that the road was fine, but that we had blown an oil seal which caused the bus suspension to malfunction. When we stopped, we soon left a puddle of oil on the side of the road. Fortunately, there was an empty bus back in Hilo that was able to pick us up in half an hour.

On our new bus, we proceeded to our next stop, Punaluu Black Sand Beach. This was a very nice spot with black volcanic sand and rock formed from cooled lava. It is also a favourite spot for Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles to sun themselves. They are protected by law and you are supposed to stay at least 15 feet away. It is hard to gauge their size without something to compare them to, but their shells are about three to four feet long and they probably weigh 200 to 250 pounds or more. We were soon on our way again to the resort at Kailua-Kona, arriving in our room at 7. Tonight included a buffet supper. Three buffets in one day – by the third one, we could hardly eat! After supper, we took a short walk down the main street and turned in at 9:30.

We sat with two ladies who were traveling together. One was from Vancouver and the other from Toronto. They had met on a previous trip and had decided to make this trip together. We have also struck up friendships with a very nice and very friendly couple from Wisconsin, a couple for England, and a couple from Wainwright, Alberta who had been on that delayed flight from Edmonton.

February 21, 2007 Kailua-Kona

Today was a day off, so we took our time getting breakfast and took off for a walking tour of the town about 10:30. We did some shopping, picked up some treats, and returned about 1:30. Celeste was looking for some inexpensive souvenirs, so we found Wal-Mart in the phone book and the map and went for another hike up a hill about 3. We grabbed supper at Quiznos and returned about 6 to drink our “treats” on the balcony, read a bit, and watch some TV. Here is the view from our balcony. And here is our hotel.

February 22, 2007 Kaanapali

Our alarm did not go off at 5:30 as planned, but, fortunately, we woke up a few minutes later and made it to breakfast and back in time for our 7:30 bus to the airport. There we caught a 9:20 flight to Maui on a Dash 8-100. About 25 minutes later we arrived in Kahului, the largest town on Maui. Our bus stopped in the Iao Valley where the local warriors had been driven during another battle in the war to unite the islands. Many of them also killed themselves by jumping from the Iao Needle rather than be captured.

From there we drove south, west and north to the warm sunny beaches on the opposite side of the mountains that formed the valley. We stopped in Lahaina, an old whaling town, for lunch and had a few minutes for a quick tour around the main square and whaling museum. We arrived at our hotel by 3, but not all the rooms were ready, so they gave us a chit for two free drinks in the bar, so we retired there with some of our newfound friends. After a while, they gave us a second chit because the rooms still weren’t ready.

We finally got into our room about 5, unpacked, and went for a walk. We found something to eat at an outdoor mall on the beach about 15 minutes away and then explored the mall and surrounding area. We returned to explore the hotel grounds also before returning to our room about 9.

February 23, 2007 Kaanapali

Today was a day off from the tour, but we booked our own whale watch tour. We were up by 8, but got a slow and relaxing start to the day. By the time we got down for breakfast, there was a line-up that slowed us down some more. By the time we were done, we just had time to get ready for our 11 a.m. pick up.

Nearing the harbour, someone spotted whales from the bus. Sure enough, you could see two whale tales sticking out of the water and splashing as they “stood on their heads.” It seemed like an auspicious beginning.

At the wharf, a naturalist gave us a short talk before we boarded the two hour excursion at 12:30. Within ten minutes we had whales in sight and we saw whales continuously until we neared the harbour on our return. We saw several dives where they showed their tales, a few breaches where they propel their whole bodies out of the water creating a huge splash (two of them fairly close to our boat), a behaviour where they lie on their side and slap the water with their pectoral fins, and a bunch of activity that the naturalist described as mating activity as two or three males jostled each other while they followed a female and calf.

Although much of this activity took place under water, where all we could see was their backs, and the camera shutter was too slow to catch much of the other activity, it was quite exciting and interesting anyway. On the way back to the port, one of the volunteers said that, on a scale of one to ten, our cruise was a 25. When the naturalist addressed us, she rated it a 15 on the same scale, so we felt pretty lucky.

We returned to the hotel at 3:30 and prepared to meet our group at 5 for admission to the Luau on the hotel grounds. It included entertainment, a buffet that included a traditionally roasted pig, and an open bar. It was a good evening, but I wasn’t really blown away by anything.

February 24, 2007 Kaanapali

Today was another day off. We went to the beach in the morning, but didn’t stay too long to avoid sunburn. We saw several whales from the beach, but they didn’t do anything real exciting.

At noon, we caught the shuttle to town and did all our souvenir shopping and some touring around. We had been shopping off and on all along, but chose to buy very little until our last stop so we would not have to lug it all around. The shuttle retuned us to the nearby mall at 5 p.m. There we toured a small whaling museum that was really quite excellent. They had excellent exhibits accompanied by informative explanations. We returned to the hotel at 6, later walking to a nearby strip mall for a light supper before returning to pack for tomorrow’s departure.

February 25, 2007 over the Pacific Ocean on Air Canada 058

Going home today – but our flight doesn’t leave until 10:30 p.m.! That is a lot of time to kill with all your luggage packed.

Here is our hotel. We had an early breakfast and went to the beach from about 9 to 11, then returned to our room to shower off the salt and finalize our packing. We had to have our luggage ready for pickup and be checked out by noon.

We walked the beach for an hour, and then walked to the nearby mall again, returning to the hotel bar around 4 to use our second drink chit and have a snack. We then went for another walk before sitting down to visit with the couple from Wainwright who were waiting for the same shuttle we were.

The airport shuttle arrived at 7 and we were all checked in, through security, and settled in the waiting room at 8:30. The flight actually left a few minutes early. They served us supper at 11 and we then watched the animated movie “Flushed Away.” Well, we sort of watched the movie. Both of us were pretty tired and dozed off occasionally throughout. After the movie, we tried to sleep, but the seats were not real comfortable and we weren’t too successful. We expected that they would have the same headrests we found on previous oceanic flights with the moveable “wings” on the headrest to keep your head from flopping over when you fell asleep, so we didn’t bring our inflatable pillows. Another lesson learned for the next trip - take them anyway.

February 26, 2007 Home At Last

We arrived in Vancouver just before 6 a.m. Pacific Time (CST minus 2) and cleared customs and immigration by 7. Air Canada had sent us passes for the Maple Leaf Lounge because of the travelling we did on our previous trip, so we headed for the lounge. They had cereal, yogurt, toast, and juice, so we had some breakfast. We read magazines, had a catnap, and I caught up on my email on one of their computers. At lunch they had soup and salad with some bread, so we had a light lunch. They also put out beer, wine, and liquor which we had to sample. We left the lounge at 1 for our 2 p.m. departure. Our flight to Regina was direct and we arrived at 6 CST. My Mom and Dad picked us up and we were back at home by 7.