2015 - March 9th-12th - Hawaiian Islands

Our first port stop on this fabulous 15 day cruise was the Big Island of Hawaii at Hilo on Monday, March 9th.
              
We were able to get a taste of the island but very sure we missed more than we saw! As we approached the Big Island, the landscape was beautiful. We had a few whales that we saw in the ocean from the ship. The long bodies would surface followed by their tails but unfortunately did not see the full breaching of the whales. It was hard to get photos, but at least we tried!
A whale off of our starboard cabin entering into Hilo Bay
We were anxious for our first debarking in the Hawaiian Islands to begin a day of exploration!

Pam &Fred and Mary Anne & Larry debark in Hilo on The Big Island of Hawaii
            
            
We decided to take the Hoppa-On, Hoppa-Off bus to see some of the near sights of Hilo. There were several stops to get off and on and enjoy the sights.
On the bus, we passed the most fascinating trees that reminded us of huge umbrellas. We really don't know the name of the trees, but to us, they will always be the Umbrella Trees!

Our first stop was at the Rainbow Falls. It was a gorgeous scenic spot with beautiful waterfalls. The Hawaii love starts here!
Continuing on, we stopped at the Hilo Bay Park.

King Kamehameha the Great in Hilo Bay Park
              
There are more unusual tree growths that we spotted on our trip.

The Lili'uokalani Gardens - To the memory of Queen Lili'uokalani and her enduring love for Hawaii's people was our next stop. The park is beautiful and we all really enjoyed leisurely walking around the park and absorbing all that we saw.
                  
                  
            
            
Hoppa-On, Hoppa-Off next stop was at Richardson Ocean Park where we took in in the black sand and black rock beaches. We were not fortunate enough to spot any giant sea turtles; guess they were all out for a swim! We were able to walk around the area and take in that unusual black sand. The houses across from the park had Coconut Palms and Papaya trees which are spectacular to see. On the park grounds, coconuts had fallen to the ground and were sprouting new trees for the area. Sure they will be enjoyed in about 20 years!
                             
The Big Island would be a great return trip to drive around the 240 mile loop perimeter. There are many sights to be seen that could take 3 or 4 days to make the entire trip. The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with site stoppings to Kona on the west coast and the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory plus much more make this a welcome place to visit in depth some day in the future.

We left The Big Island in the early evening to sail to our second port, Honolulu on the island of Oahu.
              
We docked in Honolulu on Tuesday, March 10th. Mary Anne was up early for taking stunning pictures of Oahu at sunrise from our Grand Princess stateroom balcony.
            
           
We only had one day in port and had decided to spend most of our land time at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Our bus ride tour took us through Honolulu seeing their version of "Rodeo Drive", shopping areas, hotels, restaurants and traffic very similar to downtown Los Angeles. It was great to view all of the buildings we passed on our way to the Pearl Harbor Military Base. The base is still an active Navy base so there were restrictions on the pictures that could be taken on the bus once we entered the base grounds on the way to the Memorial site. We received our tour tickets to visit the USS Arizona Memorial for 2:15 this afternoon. That gave us plenty of time to view and tour the USS Missouri Memorial that is permanently moored at Pearl Harbor. There are many pictures in the complete photo album that won't want to missed at the link at the end of this blog section.
             

On board the USS Missouri a plaque commemorating the site of the signing of Instrument of Surrender terminating the end of World War II on September 2, 1945 is displayed. The tour gave many interesting facts about the USS Missouri and how this is the official site of the signing of the papers in Tokyo Bay ending World War II.
              
                            The war is ended
              
We were able to wander the Memorial grounds and take in all of the displays of this historic site. Pam was struck by the beauty of the Hibiscus flowers on the path to the USS Missouri. One of the guards got into a conversation with her about how these were Hawaiian hybrid Hibiscus plants and gave the website of lady who grows them. Certain ones can be shipped to the mainland. They really are beautiful. The site is at http://www.thehybiscuslady.com.
          
We then had lunch and before checking in on our tour to ride the boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial. There was an informative film that we watched before boarding. The USS Arizona Memorial can be seen sitting in the bay. As we approach, silence drops over all passengers. Once on the memorial, parts of the ship can be seen below and breaking the waterline; oil still comes to the surface after all of these years. The solemn reverence is apparent. The marble wall of those interned and those survivors who then chose to placed at death with their shipmates is awesome reverence.

                  
                  
USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor - To The Memory of the Gallant Men here entombed and their Shipmates who gave their lives in Action on December 7, 1941 on The USS Arizona
On the bus, we passed the famous Waikiki Beach. We learned that there were no natural sand beaches in Hawaii and that all of the sand at the Waikiki Beach was brought in from California when the tourist business started to boom many, many years ago.

Our next stop was at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific known as The Punchbowl for the volcano crater which the cemetery lies. This is part of the VA National Cemetery System. The National Cemetery of The Pacific (The Punchbowl) has the Lady Columbia statue with the inscription below the statue, taken from Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby, reads: THE SOLEMN PRIDE THAT MUST BE YOURS TO HAVE LAID SO COSTLY A SACRIFICE UPON THE ALTAR OF FREEDOM.
                      
                      
On the return to the ship, we were taken by the Iolani Palace and saw it with the King Kamehameha statue.
               
So ended our day in Honolulu on the island of Oahu!

The morning of Wednesday, March 11th, we reached our 3rd port to stop, the island of Kauai in the town of Nawiliwili.

Arriving to Kauai, the lush green island is apparent from the ship. Outstanding views of the island are absorbed as we approach.

My good friend from working days, Jan Smith, had told me of a great adventure to take in Kauai: riding inner tubes through the water canals. We had made reservations for this adventure before leaving home. Upon arrival on Kauai, we grabbed a cab to take us out to the Kaua'i Backcountry Adventures. Our cab driver was very friendly and told us some things about the island and the pristine emerald green interior scenery that we were passing. In about 25 minutes we arrived at our destination. We checked in to begin our fun adventure time.

We boarded the transfer van to take us to the site of our tubing. On the half hour plus drive, one of the guides told us about the island and the back-story of the sugar cane industry. This area is where the backdrop was for such movies as Jurassic Park, King Kong, The Descendants, South Pacific, and others. We stopped for great views of the valley ... gorgeous!

We arrived at our site to enter the circa 1870's waterway consisting of open ditches, tunnels and flumes all of which were engineered with backbreaking labor in the old Traverse Lihue's old sugar cane plantation. We donned our helmets with miner's headlights and hopped in our tubes to begin our two mile journey down the canals that were used to bring water to the sugar cane through open fields and the rock mountains tunnels.

                
                            
                     
     
After this fabulous adventure and absorbing all of the sights on the journey plus enjoying all of the information and plenty of jokes by the tremendous guides, we boarded the transfer van to be whisked away to an enchanting picnic area next to a calming river. The area was fabulous! We had a filling picnic lunch, enjoyed the scenic surroundings, had changing areas, horseshoe games, volleyball area, and plenty of seating to enjoy these pristine surroundings.
Here we also enjoyed the free-roaming roosters and chickens with their chicks that we saw all over the island. As the story goes, after a big tsunami the fowls were set free with all of the downed fences. There were so many that they were not able to be captured. With the lack of any natural prey, they have grown in population over the years and are part of the charm of Kauai.
Returning to the Kaua'i Mountain Adventures offices, we called for our cab driver that had brought us out to return for our pick-up. Not a lot of cabs on this small island, but she eventually arrived. We had a great New Zealand couple from the ship who had taken this adventure too join us on the way back as their cab never arrived. We had met on the ship and our paths crossed often. Hopefully we will get an email from them so we can stay in touch ... great couple. Before retuning to the port, we had the cab driver stop by the local firehouse so that Fred & Pam could pick up a Kauai Fire Station tee shirt for son Freddy, an Orlando, FL fireman.

Our fourth and final port in Hawaii is Maui.
Our approach to Lahaina Maui was spectacular again. It is the only port that that we had to take the boat from ship to shore.
            
Lahaina has a lot of history and is a tourist dream for shopping. The shopping area is right at the end of the dock with many things to see. With time constraints we were not able to tour the island and see places such as Haleakala National Park with it's volcanic landscapes, Molokini Crater and other island offerings. But we did bask in the enjoyment of walking the historic sites and shopping all of the stores!
            

We had been looking for a Honolulu Cookie Company store and were able to find one here on Maui. All of the cookies are shaped like Pineapples in different tropical flavors and some with chocolate dips too. The kids and grandkids enjoyment in what we were to bring back for them!
                  
While strolling, we passed a small in-town beach and we could see our Grand Princess.

All around the island we saw historic Banyon Trees. In back of the Lahaina Museum there were so many and afforded a great resting area for the weary travelers!!
              
                
After hours of shopping, strolling, reading historical markers, going through the museum, and much more, we had lunch at the Pioneer Restaurant at the pier. Great setting, great fish and chips, and great weather!
               
We re-boarded The Grand Princess to await our departure and begin the last four days at sea before entering our last port stop in Ensenada, Mexico (that will be the next and last blog entry for this 15 day cruise). So long Hawaii ... we got to know you and find a taste of your many islands. To the day we return for staying on your land and venturing out to the areas we got a taste of ... Cheers!

There are many pictures of all four islands in our Hawaii photo album that I could not possibly put them all here on the blog. Take a rest, sit and relax, open up and enjoy the full album at this link. Aloha!