Trip to Hawaii - Day 11 Sat Dec 11

This started out not so great. Apparently the taxi to the airport was going to cost us 28. Ouch! And the airport was a ½ hour in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. My bad. I’ll have to work out better transportation for next time.

But we finally arrive at the place of refuge. We paid 5 so we could park the car in the refuge parking area. The attendant told us how to get to 2 steps. Basically walk past the park entrance and then there’s a one way street. Take that street and you’ll see all the people on the rocks. But watch for the sea urchins in the notches in the rocks. I wouldn’t walk around with bare feet around here.

Note: there’s also an area on the left hand side of the two steps that might be helpful for getting in and out. But it is a little closer to the park so I’m not sure if they’d frown on using it as an entry way or not.

Back to snorkelling:
This was the BEST snorkelling we’ve done the whole trip. The water was clear and there was a multitude of fish. Steve spotted some dolphins to the far right of us. In deeper less clear water but we headed over there and did get some shots. Towards the edge of this area I believe I saw a small spotted eagle ray. But we had camera issues (again) so I’ll never know for sure.

And then, as I’m zooming in on some smaller fish underneath me, to my surprise, a group of dolphins swims just under me! I don’t think I’ve ever backed off the zoom that fast. And were they curious. I’m pretty sure that I could have just reached out and touch them.

But that’s not all.

I’m cruising around a little bit more and I see a turtle resting near some coral at the bottom. I show it to Steve and we watch it for awhile. But the turtle wasn’t moving around too much. And just as we’d both given up on him, he decides to come up for some air. Steve’s camera got some great shots with his camera (thank goodness).

By this time I’m getting cold so I suggest we head for shore. We clean up a bit and then use the restrooms at the park. We do a quick look around the place of refuge. Take a couple of pics – including one of a turtle up on the beach and decide we should head back.

I wanted to check out a little marketplace I saw when we were coming back from the airport. I even managed to find the Quilt shop that Karen and I visited the last time we were in Kona. I got some material for my future grandbaby – boy style and girl style. I'll sew something up when I find out which it will be.

It’s too bad we didn’t explore more, but we had to be back on board by 5.

Time really does fly when you’re in Hawaii.

Trip to Hawaii - Day 10 Fri Dec 10

WOW! Once again we did the car rental thing and discovered that we have the rapid sign in. Too bad we didn’t know that in Maui. So we were in the car in no time.

And it was a fabulous drive. We did the North end of the island.

First stop was the Hanalei Valley lookout. Great scenery, nice lighthouse - didn't go in it thought.

We stopped at Annini beach which looked like a great possibility for snorkelling. But, I thought we’d wait to see what Tunnels beach offered. Unfortunately the water was pretty rough by the time we arrived at Tunnels beach and it was pouring rain. So no snorkeling…

In fact it rained off and on for most of the day. But we still had a great time, exploring. We stopped at farmers market and then at a local festival - Waipa Kalo Festival. The people were so friendly! This is definitely the way to see the islands.

This is a very beautiful island with lots of great little beaches on the North shore. We'll definitely have to come back and explore even more of the island.

Trip to Hawaii - Day 9 Thurs Dec 9

We managed to be off the ship by 9:00 am! A pretty good feat considering the ship wasn’t to start docking until 9:00.

We had no trouble finding our pickup spot. Partly because I’d done it before and partly because they were a little more specific as to which hula girl statue they were meeting us. The van was full so we had to crawl to the back of the van. Unfortunately, that also meant we had a crowd with us. And there were more at the harbour. Oh well, it’ll still be fun.

The experience was a bit difference this time. It seemed more stressed. They seemed so concentrated on finding the dolphins that the opportunities to snorkel were short. They’d tell us to get in the water and then change their minds. It seemed we spent a lot more time getting on and off the raft, then we did actually in the water.

But we did see some dolphins. Not as many as the last time, and the visibility was reduced, but I did get some good shots. Even saw a turtle down deep. He was a bit hard to see so I’m not sure how the pics will turn out.

It's too bad the visibility was so poor - must be the time of year.

I even got to spend some time in the water with the dolphins by myself! I guess I was the only one who wanted to go back into the water when a pod of dolphins came around. They served us lunch and then drove us back to the cruise ship by 4:00.

So we headed back to the room and got cleaned up for our trek to Waikiki beach. Problem was I didn’t have a bus schedule because I didn’t think Steve would do the bus. But we tried it. And it did take a while. But we finally made it down to the strip.

Imagine: the Beach walk didn’t have anything to do with the beach. It’s actually just a strip of stores. But eventually we found our way down to the beach. It was dark by then, so the pics aren’t the greatest.

Our supper ended up being a shared slice of Upside Down Pineapple Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory! Very Very Very Yummy.

We jumped in a taxi to get back. I think it ran us around 16. We again got asked if we were on our honeymoon. I wonder if that’s a new line they use on the tourists.

Trip to Hawaii - Day 8 Thurs Dec 8

We’re up bright and early 6:50 am while on vacation…

We get off the boat around 8:15. But we wait 45 minutes to get on the shuttle. We were making good time until the shuttle shows up. And then proceeds to drive away! Not impressed as we had to wait another 20 mins for another shuttle. But we finally make it to the car rental agency. Only to end up waiting another 45 minutes just to get a car. Steve was not at all impressed. But we got into our ford fusion around 9:15.

(note: After our trip Budget asked us to fill out a survey about our experience. When i told them our experience, they apologized and sent us coupons for our next car rental. We thought that was pretty good as we really hadn't expected to hear from them again.)

So snorkeling is now out of the question. But we make it to the skyline eco-adventure with 15 minutes to spare. After a bit of a bumpy ride to the site thru lots of red dirt we’re ready to zipline. 8 ziplines! What a blast! We were the only Canadians and they poked a bit of fun over that. But we had an awesome time.

Back in the car and we’re off to Island Paperie which seems to have changed hands since 2007. It’s much smaller, but the selection of Hawaii good is still pretty good. The store appears to be ½ the size, and the penalty box for the guys was gone. Still managed to spend some money there though. Can’t wait to show it off.

Then we tried to get to see the Black rock (near the Sheraton). But we couldn’t find any parking. So instead we stopped at the first public beach area and walked the beach for a bit. The sun was setting behind an island so no sunset pics. Gorgeous beach, but I still haven’t seen the famous ‘Black rock’ snorkelling spot. Guess we’ll have to come back for that…

After watching the sunset, we headed back to Lahaina and checked out all the little shops there. A lot of fun. We even found a gelato shop that had raspberry and mango flavours. Yummmmmm.

We’re back on the boat around 9:30 and pretty wiped out.

Time to get ready for our dolphin swim tomorrow! I’m Soooooo excited.

Trip to Hawaii - Day 7 Wed Dec 7

Wow, where has the time gone. Let’s see There’s eating… then napping… then eating… Oh, and a little bit of reading too.

But today we arrive in Hilo. Found our shuttle. Not the easiest thing to do but we managed.
And, once again we received an ‘upgrade’. And I lose the term loosely. It was a White grand caravan! The caravan was bad enough, but did it have to be white??? I wonder if there's some way of indicating that some customers wouldn't consider a van an upgrade. Hmmm.

We headed straight for Richardson beach. Missed it by one road, but we could have walked to it. Actually, I did while Steve moved the "car".

But before that: There’s an old ramp cut out of the rock and just to the right of that we saw a good sized turtle. (thanks to the Hawaiian gentleman who let us know it was a good place for turtle sitings). It was a little rough, but we did manage to see a turtle, he was hard to see and as soon as I pointed him out to Steve, the turtle decided to take off. But at least he saw it before it left.

Note to self: I'm going to have to buy a pair of polarized sun glasses before our next trip. Steve's sunglasses were much better for seeing the turtles from above the water.

Richardson beach looked like a pretty good place to snorkel if the waves weren’t so rough we would have.

There’s a lot of little beaches on the way to Richardson. We did a little beach hopping around here. We had some really great sitings of turtles at a place called Keaukaha. Just a little down the road from Richardson beach, but this would be a good place for shallow snorkelling. There would be good odds you’d encounter a sea turtle.

(After seeing the pics from the gopro camera that Steve stuck in the water, we should have snorkelled! There were lots of fish down there. We didn't see it until we got home, but there was a small eel in the water, swimming along the rocks)

Once again, someone told us where there were 3 turtles. 1 large one and a couple of smaller ones. Another large one showed up too. Steve got some really great video with the gopro. We had just walked by the life guard tower when the gal told us.

We then walked a bit further to the right, there was a ladder for easy access to the water. The kids there were complaining that there weren’t any turtles. I would have told them about our find, except that they were very whiney.
But then a large turtle showed up at the ladder and the kids were afraid to get into the water. Steve got some really good video of this turtle.

It started raining a few times, so we jumped in the car and did some more driving. We even took the ‘scenic route’ which took us by the botanical gardens. We didn’t stop there, but it gives an idea of where we were. The route really was scenic. We saw lots of rain forest type foliage. And lots of awesome views of the ocean.

We did make it to Big Island Candies and bought tons of goodies for everyone back home. (And this time we actually brought it home - didn't leave it in the fridge THIS time).

And the Island Scrapbooking store wasn't bad either. Lot's of Hawaii related stuff. And a fair selection of Stamps. There were a couple snorkeller type stamps that I wish I had picked up. I don't think they do orders though. So I'll have to plan another trip to Hawaii...

Trip to Hawaii - Day 4 Sun Dec 4

Finally got out on deck!

It actually wasn’t too bad. Not as warm as you might hope for, but I didn’t have to get a jacket.

(this is all that was in my journal - guess we were really busy relaxing)

Trip to Hawaii - Day 3 Sat Dec 3

Scrapbooking is at 12. Kind of a strange time, but ok, I’m game. I arrive and there isn’t a cutter in site. Some scissors, some paper – heavy stuff, some corner punches and 2 glue sticks. I wish over and over again that I had brought my basics. There wasn't even a ruler and I couldn't find a pair of straight scissors either. I couldn't even show some of the gals there how to get the basics of scrapbooking. It's a good thing I brought my computer. At least i can get some electronic scrapbooking done.

I have to remember to send a letter to Carnival about their "scrapbooking". The lady teaching it didn't seem the least bit interested in scrapbooking.

I have some shopping to do when we get to Maui. Look out Island Paperie!

Ok, so scrapbooking was a complete flop. I wonder if I could get a job teaching scrapbooking on cruise ships. And maybe spark up the arts and crafts as well. That plastic canvas stuff is getting a little old.

It’s pretty rough out on the seas. Didn’t even bother to try to go out on deck.
I’m so tired I had to leave the show. Can’t keep my eyes open anymore. This relaxing stuff takes a lot out of you. Or maybe it's just the time change.

Trip to Hawaii - Day 2 Fri Dec 2

We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton St Pedro. Very nice hotel and the in house restaurant food was actually quite good. We found the prices reasonable. And the service was wonderful. We arrived late last night. Around 8:00 pm. The waiters made us feel very comfortable.

This morning we are still feeling the time change. We’re up bright and early and we don’t have to check out until 12. But we’re supposed to meet the shuttle at 11:45.

The view from our room is just as awesome as it was last night.

We took a bit of a walk before breakfast. The marina is awesome. We spot sea stars in lot’s of places and a couple of herons.

Then there’s this
little bird that’s swimming in the water. It dives down below the surface of the water and swims like a frog. Probably looking for food. I think it's a baby grebe.

After a quick bite of breakfast, again, very good, it’s time to head off to the port. Where we stand in line again and again. This time, we didn’t have to stay out in the sun.

When we finally get on board we find that they hit rough seas on the previous cruise and weren’t able to get into port on schedule. So everything is behind. But we do get into our room right away.

Pretty soon it’s time for dinner and we meet some of the other people who booked thru ‘Reggie’. Turns out to be a pretty good bunch of people.

Trip to Hawaii - Day 1 Thurs Dec 1

We head for the airport around 10 am. We have no delays and make it to the airport in tons of time. We make our connecting flight but it’s a little close for comfort. Just what is the protocol when you have a number in the A row and they’ve started boarding B? We jumped in at the beginning of the B line. Hope we didn’t tick too many people off.

The plane’s still on the ground ½ hour past take off time. Apparently they picked up some ice coming in from Ft. Lauderdale. So they have to de-ice.

We arrive in Los Angeles about a ½ hour later than expected. Our car arrives pretty quickly and we’re on the road.

The Doubletree by Hilton St Pedro is gorgeous. The rooms are clean and comfortable. We have dinner in the hotel and although a tad pricey, the food was good, the service excellent and everyone was friendly. They even hand delivered cookies that were still warm! (I know… I’m a cheap date…)

The view from our room is awesome. We can see most of the marina. Some of the boats are decorated with lights for Christmas.

Although it’s only 9 pm here, we’re beat. It’s about midnight our time so we hit the sack.