hawaii - last day

On Monday, we had to head back to Oregon. We had time for a last walk on the beach before heading to the airport. Our flight was delayed but we finally made it back to Portland and drove home. We had a great time in Hawaii, with lots of time for relaxing, chatting, family time, and beautiful weather and things to see. Thanks for taking the time to read about it!

Hawaii Day Seven

Our last full day in Hawaii. After more tennis, we drove to Wailea and wandered around the shops there. We had a nice lunch at Longhi's. Back to the condo and then Susan and Elizabeth walked south on the beach and connected with the Wailea beach trail, which goes by some very luxurious condos and hotels and has beautiful views of the beach. The round trip was about 5 miles. For dinner we tried to use up all the food we had bought and then did a little last minute souvenir shopping. It rained hard this evening and we were grateful for the great weather we had had all week.

Hawaii Day Six

The day started with tennis for mom and dad, relaxing in privacy for the kids. About 10 we were all sitting quietly in the condo when we felt the place shaking. Yep, an earthquake, later found to be 3.8. Not too impressive, but the first one for the kids. We packed up again and decided to drive a small part of the road to Hana. We stopped at Hookipu beach and watched the surfers and then went further along the road. We stopped to hike to both of Twin Falls, and then ate our lunch, and a smoothy, at the trailhead. Next we headed "upcountry", stopping in Makawao for gas and benedryl for Nate, who was continually plagued with hives. We went as far as the Tedeschi Winery, where we sampled some pineapple wine. Back we drove to the condo to make dinner and do some shopping in the evening.

Hawaii Day Five

This was Friday. Jeff and Susan played tennis at the condo courts, as we did for the next few mornings. Even early in the morning, it was hot! Then we packed up and drove south to Big Beach. We did some sunbathing and swimming and relaxed on the beach. Nate got stung by a wasp and we all tried to not get sunburnt. In the afternoon we relaxed at the condo and then drove to Lahaina. We explored the town and revisted some places from our honeymoon. Then we went to the Old Lahaina Luau, a very nice luau. The grounds were lovely and right on the beach. We were greeted with leis and drinks. The buffet dinner was delicious and the entertainment was professional. We all enjoyed it a lot and had a lovely evening together.

Hawaii Day Four

This was the favorite day for all of us. We got us early and met our guides and boat from Blue Water Rafting at 6:30 am. We headed out on the boat, a large inflatable that holds about 20 people. We got to see whales quite early and then headed to the Kanaio coast, which has awesome volcanic rock and is an area you cannot drive to. We got to go inside of a cave and see all the amazing rock structures. Then we headed to LaPerouse Bay which was our first snorkle stop. Great fish to see. Then we headed to Molokini Island, a popular snorkeling spot. We got to snorkle on the back side, where few boats can get and the water is over 300 feet deep. It was very awesome and the kids favorite thing on the whole trip. Then we headed around to the "inside" of Molokini and did some more snorkeling. We had a final snorkle stop at a place where turtles are often found and did indeed get to snorkle with some big green sea turtles! Then we headed back to the dock but on the way we got to see some whales and dolphins. Whale watching season had just started and we were lucky to see some. We watched humpback whales play around in the water and breech (jump out of the water) three times. So beautiful. We were back at the condo by 1 pm to rest after all the excitement. Jeff and Nate played tennis at the condo courts and later Elizabeth and Susan walked a couple miles down the beach. We made an evening run for Shave Ice to Local Boys.

Hawaii Day Three

Well, back to our trip. I'll try to do it with less pictures. If you want to see A LOT of pictures, you can go to my facebook album here.

Wednesday we set out for the Maui Ocean Center, an aquarium not far away. It was nice and we got to see turtles, including baby ones, sharks, and lots of fish. Not as impressive as the Sydney Aquarium, but nice in it's own way. We got a snack and then hit the road, driving through west Maui, past Kanapali Beach, where we stayed on our honeymoon 32 years ago. Things have definitely changed and there are tons of hotels and condos and people everywhere. We stopped for some lunch in Kapalua and then went to Slaughterhouse Beach, a nice small, quiet beach, where Nate swam in the water and the rest of us enjoyed the view. We drove by Honolua Bay and watched the surfers some and then around to the Nakalele Blowhole. We continued on Highway 34 around the north end of west Maui. The road got narrower and narrower and curvy and frequently one lane. We bought some banana bread, a coconut, and some pineapple from roadside vendors. We finally made it back to civilized roads and then back to our condo. We fixed dinner, relaxed, swam and walked on the beach.

Hawaii Day Two

The next morning we headed to the beach for some sun and snorkeling. Saw a few fish and Nate and Elizabeth got to try snorkeling for the first time. After lunch we drove to Iao Needle park and walked around there and at a strange nearby cultural park. We stopped at a fruit stand along the way for some local fruit. Then we drove back south and stopped at Maalaea Bay and hiked along a boardwalk and the beach. We spotted whales out in the bay. Then it was back to the condo for dinner with our tropical fruit,and hot tub time.

Hawaii Day One

I'm going to attempt telling about our trip to Hawaii - mostly for my benefit, since I tend to forget what we did when and this way I'll have a record of it. It may take a awhile to get it all down. . . .

We left Oregon on a cold day in December, the 13th to be exact. We had a direct flight to Maui from Portland. The flight was full but the free mai tais near arrival were nice. We picked up our rental car, which was "upgraded" to a Dodge Charger (we would have preferred the downgrade) and headed a few blocks to Costco, where we loaded up with groceries. Then we drove on down to Kihei to our condo at Kamaole Sands. The grounds were beautiful and our condo was nice. The beach was across the street so as soon as we were unpacked and ate our pizza from Costco, we headed to the beach. The water was warm! We walked around on some rocks nearby and spied our first turtle. He was huge! We explored some more and then made a run to a nearby grocery store for the rest of our supplies and then we were readyfor bed!

Happy Holidays!

Well, it's been awhile since I've been here. We'll start with a Christmas post and hopefully move on to our Hawaii trip. This first picture is one of us with our gifts from Aaron and Kim - mostly books, hurray! And here's the kids with gifts from Grandma and Grandpa--Benjamins!

In the afternoon we went over to our friends, John and Roz Hadley. We had a great dinner and games and enjoyed their dogs, Spicey and Ober! We had a nice day.

BVI reflections

Now that we're home again and have had time to process things, I can think of some of my personal favorite things from the trip.

For me, the best part was the snorkeling. I loved observing all the underwater life and the diversity of the fish. It was always amazing to be above the water and seeing all the wind, boats, people and chaos and then putting your head under the water and watching the calm underwater life going on. We were often surprised by a large fish swimming by, but I loved the small ones and the schools of fish swimming together.

I also liked the birds we saw, especially the pelicans we watched diving and the laughing gulls that came to our boat at mealtime and would grab any scraps we offered. They were very pretty and intelligent looking birds and great aviators.

It was great to spend time in warm water and be able to just climb in off of the boat. The salt water was so buoyant it was easy to swim around. We had some good sailing times and the constant breeze was nice.

We had some lovely meals, most fixed by Rachel and I on board the boat. We were able to improvise and put together some great food.

The things I didn't like were mostly the heat and humidity. It was hard to always be sticky, either from sweat, from sunscreen, or from salt water. It was sad to see that the main emphasis in the BVI is on beach bars and drinking. The cruising guides mainly told you where you could eat and drink. We felt like the San Juan Islands were just as beautiful and there were more things to do ashore. Also, things were quite expensive, from showers to mooring balls to groceries. The length of travel was also an issue and all the time going through immigration and customs. The people there are certainly on "island time" and nothing is done with much speed. While I am very glad we went and we got to experience a lot, I think we were all in agreement that we have no desire to return to the same area again.