The post Harvey rebuild was almost complete. Lets go to Hawaii.
We signed up with Norwegian cruise lines to explore the islands. We flew in a few days early to explore O'ahu and spent a week or so after the cruise to see more of Kaua'i and the island of Hawai'i. On O'ahu we stayed in the the Equus Hotel which was close to Waikiki beach.
Waikiki beach with Diamond Head in the background.
Our hotel was pretty small. This was a bar in the evening and a coffee shop in the morning.
Martini night
Linda wearing the sorting hat island.
A statue of King Kamehameha
A macadamia store where they let you crack some nuts in a nice area behind the sales area.
Chickens run wild on the islands. They can be pretty bold
We took a bus to Diamond Head, an extinct volcano.
There were quite a few mongoose around the visitor center.
We hike to the crater rim from here.
No trip to Hawaii is complete without going to Pearl Harbor. He got in very soon after it opened and had to leave as it was closing for the day. We could have spent a few more hours at the museum.
A native Hawiian of Japanese descent saw the attack when he was a small boy and described what he saw and its after affects.
The Arizona memorial was closed for repairs.
Poignant letters from young Kamakazi pilots shortly before they took off to try and kill our young sailers.
Looking toward the Arizona memorial.
The Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945.
A WWII sub
We took several Lyft rides around Honolulu. Most of the drivers were in the military and worried about the high cost of living in Hawaii.
And before we go a picture of our Spam breakfast at McDonalds.
We boarded the Norwegian Cruise Lines Pride of America.
Helicopter ride
The horse shoe shaped shoal (Molokini) is where we went snorkeling.
A pineapple plantation. The only working pineapple plantation left on the islands.
Our guide drove us to Volcano and and interesting Artists shop where we also had a lunch served. The lunch was in a tent and it was a bit wet due to the recent heavy rain. It was good.
The hurricane was getting closer. We tried to get a helicopter ride but it was called off about the time we were going to board because of changing weather. We did some shopping and then back to the boat. Technically the coast guard had already closed the port but the cruise ship got a bit of extra time.
The two hurricanes put a small kink in our trip. Hurricane Norman headed north and Olivia touched on Maui as a tropical storm. We had to leave Kaui early and spent a day at sea before we could dock in Hawaii.
We signed up for a tour. It was raining really hard soon after we started but let up later. We went to a coffee exhibit, had lunch at an artists compound and went to an arboretum from Kona and did a submarine excursion (Atlantic) island tour from Kona.
Breadfruit
The painted church.
We stay after the cruise and revisit Kuai'i and Hawai'i.
We stayed in an airbnb on a golf course in Princeville. A great location.
Chickens roam all over the island.
The nene goose is the official bird of Hawai'i
In the little town of Hanalei
Chickens roam all over the island.
Waimea canyon
Looking toward the Na Pali coast. This view is at the end of the road after you go through the Waimea canyon.
Na Pali from a helicopter and the town of Kanaha. We tried to go there but they had major mud slides that had closed the road. It was now open but only to local traffic. We didn't know about the closer until we found a long line of traffic parked on the road just outside Hanalei.
A lu'au. Tony and Joan took us along with Nicole and Cham.
Back to the Island of Hawai'i. We flew into Hilo and rented a car.
We had rented a place called the Jungalo. It took us a while to find the place and we were getting a bit worried what it would be like. Our friends, Carrie and Stuart, had recently told a story about a stay in a similar sounding place and what a disaster it was. It was wonderful. The place was screened in on three sides. We had limited solar powered electricity but it wasn't a problem.
The coqui frogs serenaded us at night.
Our hosts said that there was a weekly community gathering that evening at Uncle Robert's Awa Bar and Farmers Market about 20miles away. It was a lot of fun. There was a definite current of anti-statehood but it was a friendly and fun atmosphere.
The Awa Band
Before leaving from Hilo we found the Pacific Tsunami Museum.
On the way Kona from Hilo we passed close to Mauna Kea (right) and could see Mauna Loa (left). We drove up one night to Mauna Kea to star gaze. You are supposed to take a rental car all the way to the top. The entry road to Mauna Kea had signs advocating anti-statehood.
As we fly away we pass by Mauna Kea (13,803 ft) in the foreground with the observatories barely observable and Mauna Loa to the left.
