Our last excursion from the ship to the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, got us going at 7:00 this morning. Not many people opted for this early outing after last night's late luau. As we drove into rain on this island that gets 400" of rain in the highlands, the first stop was Spouting Horn at Po'ipu Beach. The sucking noise generated here by this blow hole sounded like there might be some critter - legend has it, it's a lizard - trapped here.
Next stop was Hanapepe Valley, one of the film locations for Jurassic Park. No sun poked through until the shopping stop in the village of Hanapepe with its authentic and somewhat disheveled stores.
Then we headed into the Waimea Canyon on another nice winding road. Despite the overcast conditions, the views were impressive.
Only in America!
One final stop brought us to a coffee plantation.
The ship sailed at 2:00 to return us to Honolulu via a circumnavigation of Kauai. Fortunately our stateroom was on land side so the views continued.
We sailed past the extreme Napali Coast, once again famous for Jurassic Park footage. Interestingly, this sail past was one of the highlights of the trip. National Geographic has named this one of the top 50 most beautiful places on the planet. It's amazing!!
Although we're not yet off the ship, when we arrive in Honolulu, we'll be going straight to the airport for our flight home, so this posting effectively closes down this version of my travel blog. I'll finish off with a couple iconic Hawaiian images. Mahalo!
Friday, October 28, 2016
Waimea Valley
Just a quick footnote to begin today. The free range chicken were not always so. The hurricane of 1992 destroyed every chicken coop on the island and they never managed to rein them in.
Kauai
Kauai is the smallest of the four major islands of Hawaii and also the most unspoiled. It was also inhabited 500 years before the other islands. There is development here but nothing can be built higher than the coconut trees. We docked here a little ahead of schedule, but late enough in the morning that we got spectacular views of the coastline.
Before our organized excursion today we actually had time to take a walk to the Nawiliwili Bay harbour shops and the beach. One curious and unique features of all of the islands is the abundance of wild chickens. I suspect they are as annoying as our Canadian geese, but they are quite beautiful birds. And, of course, the mascot greeting us from the ship today was also a chicken.
Our 2:30 outing today took us up the Wailua River and ended up with a luau at the Smith family ranch. Stop number one was at a waterfall feeding the Wailua River. Then we got on the river boat for a trip to the fern grotto.
From the river, we drove to the Smith Family Tropical Plantation adjacent to the river, where we were greeted by pretty girls in coconut bras - finally.
Then we took the Tropical tram tour around the 30 acre grounds admiring samples of every Hawaiian plant. We are now officially on tropical plant overload.
At 6:00 we had the Imu Ceremony where they dug up the pig that had been cooking in a pit with hot lava rocks and banana leaves and then covered with sand, since early morning.
Next was the Luau Feast with all you can eat and drink, featuring live entertainment, Mai Tais and of course the kalua pork.
Finishing off the evening was the Aloha Show. This was held in their lagoon setting theatre where the audience was protected from the elements, but not the performers. The wind did kick up a brief rain storm but the show went on. It was a highly entertaining show!
Before our organized excursion today we actually had time to take a walk to the Nawiliwili Bay harbour shops and the beach. One curious and unique features of all of the islands is the abundance of wild chickens. I suspect they are as annoying as our Canadian geese, but they are quite beautiful birds. And, of course, the mascot greeting us from the ship today was also a chicken.
Our 2:30 outing today took us up the Wailua River and ended up with a luau at the Smith family ranch. Stop number one was at a waterfall feeding the Wailua River. Then we got on the river boat for a trip to the fern grotto.
From the river, we drove to the Smith Family Tropical Plantation adjacent to the river, where we were greeted by pretty girls in coconut bras - finally.
Then we took the Tropical tram tour around the 30 acre grounds admiring samples of every Hawaiian plant. We are now officially on tropical plant overload.
At 6:00 we had the Imu Ceremony where they dug up the pig that had been cooking in a pit with hot lava rocks and banana leaves and then covered with sand, since early morning.
Next was the Luau Feast with all you can eat and drink, featuring live entertainment, Mai Tais and of course the kalua pork.
Finishing off the evening was the Aloha Show. This was held in their lagoon setting theatre where the audience was protected from the elements, but not the performers. The wind did kick up a brief rain storm but the show went on. It was a highly entertaining show!
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Kailua-Kona
Still on the big island of Hawaii, we moved today to Hawaii's western city, Kailua-Kona. This was our only destination where they was no port for the ship and therefore our day started with a tender ride to the shore.
Once ashore it was a divide and conquer day. Dawn went off on a land excursion to learn about the history and culture of the island, while I headed back out on the water to do some snorkelling. Because we've been relying on telephone connections to write and post the blog this time - and I've now resorted to composing with my phone - we can't access the photos Dawn took with her IPad, but she did see sea turtles which I didn't and she got to taste many types of Kona coffee. She also went to the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Park focusing on traditional Hawaiian life. While she was doing that, I rocketed off in a zodiac to explore the beautiful shoreline.
On our first stop we encountered a pod of about 15 spinner dolphins. These are the smallest of dolphin, but until they jump or cavort you'd swear that dorsal fin belonged to a shark.
Further down the coast, a final 20 kilometres from our ship, we swam with the colourful fish amongst the coral reef .
This was the spot where Captain Cook landed and was eventually killed, thus the memorial.
It was another hot sunny day with ocean temps in the low 80's F. By the time we met up again at the dock I was exhausted from the sun and swimming , but fortunately not sunburnt thanks to numerous applications of sunscreen.
The Pride of America sailed away from Kona at 5:00 headed for Kauai.
Once ashore it was a divide and conquer day. Dawn went off on a land excursion to learn about the history and culture of the island, while I headed back out on the water to do some snorkelling. Because we've been relying on telephone connections to write and post the blog this time - and I've now resorted to composing with my phone - we can't access the photos Dawn took with her IPad, but she did see sea turtles which I didn't and she got to taste many types of Kona coffee. She also went to the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Park focusing on traditional Hawaiian life. While she was doing that, I rocketed off in a zodiac to explore the beautiful shoreline.
On our first stop we encountered a pod of about 15 spinner dolphins. These are the smallest of dolphin, but until they jump or cavort you'd swear that dorsal fin belonged to a shark.
Further down the coast, a final 20 kilometres from our ship, we swam with the colourful fish amongst the coral reef .
This was the spot where Captain Cook landed and was eventually killed, thus the memorial.
It was another hot sunny day with ocean temps in the low 80's F. By the time we met up again at the dock I was exhausted from the sun and swimming , but fortunately not sunburnt thanks to numerous applications of sunscreen.
The Pride of America sailed away from Kona at 5:00 headed for Kauai.
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