aLOha...

Hello Everyone!

We are back from our Hawaiian vacation! We had a fantastic time!

Here's a quick overview and a few pictures!

We took an island-hopping cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of Aloha visiting Oahu, Kauai, the Big Island and Maui. The ship could use some improvement but the itinerary was awesome!

Oahu - Honolulu (2 days)
Drive North Shore, see Banzai Pipeline, Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay, snorkel at Shark's Cove, drive to Haleiwa, have yummy garlic shrimp from a shrimp truck and had awesome "Shave Ice" (snow cone) with vanilla ice cream, visit Dole Pineapple Plantation and have fabulous Dole Whips, snorkel at Hanauma Bay. Snorkeling is fantastic in Oahu! Water is so clear. Next day in Oahu, we hiked up Diamond Head (a volcano). Tough hike for me! Then we got on the ship! We played Horse on the basketball court and I won!

Kauai - Nawiliwili (1.5 days)
There are chickens everywhere on this island from the hurricane in 1992 that did a lot of damage. People didn't secure the coups, so the chickens are wild and everywhere now! We drove to Ooepaka and Wailua Falls...beautiful! We drove through Waimea Canyon, such a beautiful example of God's handiwork! Tried body boarding on Poipu beach, had a delicious Puka Dog (http://www.pukadog.com/). Drove to spouting horn (a hole in the beach rocks that water "blows" through. Visited the ubiquitous Hilo Hatties. Also visited Kapalaka beach. Fisher "caught" the banana virus...this is the new version of the bird flu for him. I made a shell lei on the ship today with a matching bracelet. Shave ice was not good!

Big Island - Hilo (1 day)
Visited Volcanoes National Park and the world's most active volcano, Kilauea. No lava to see though! It was like a sulphur-smelling desert! The steam vents were really cool! They're how the volcano releases pent up steam/energy. Some of the rocks were hot! We also went through a lava tube (a tunnel left from a flowing river of lava).

Big Island - Kona (1 day)
We went snorkeling today! We snorkeled at Captain Cooks' Monument in Kealakekua Bay. There were spinner dolphins here (they jump out of the water and spin)! And a pod of dolphins (30-40) swam right underneath us! We saw some really neat fish here! Needle fish and eels! Eew! Yummy shave ice, again, times two!

Maui - Lahaina (1 day)
Tried surfing! Not the sport for us! But it's cool to say we've tried it! Snorkeled at Kaanapli beach. Good snorkeling here too! Had delicious shave ice! Went to the Old Lahaina Luau! What a fun experience! Food was tasty and show was really cool!

Maui - Road to Hana (1 day)
Drove the long windy road with lots of one lane bridges to Hana and saw lots of waterfalls and great overlooks (ocean on one side, lush green land on the other)! There were people running a marathon up the mountain. We ran into them on the way up and the way down! Saw a black sand beach. Drove to Lahaina to get shave ice again! Stopped at an overpriced Taco Bell!

Oahu - Honolulu
Ship docked again, and we went to Pearl Harbor and left for home.

Whew! We're exhausted!