Dec 4-15: Hawaii Vacation

Honolulu, Day 1
For our 25th anniversary we gave ourselves a present of a trip to Hawaii.  We flew from Phoenix to Honolulu and boarded a Norwegian Cruise Line ship.  Our cruise was for one week, departing Honolulu and stopping at 4 ports, Maui, Kona and Hilo on the big island, and Kauai.

A toast to our first night on board the ship

Our room on board the Norweigen Cruise Line

Maui: Day 2

Entering port of call around 8 am

Each day after having breakfast on our veranda watching the ship enter the port, we left the ship and toured the island on our own.
Our first day here we went to Haleakala National Park to see the volcano.

The Haleakala National Park ranges through 5 distinctly different climates zones. The road to the Haleakala summit holds the world record for climbing to the highest elevation in the shortest distance (38 miles). The dormant volcano's vast moonlike crater floor with its towering cindercones is a geological wonder. From the 10,023 foot summit, the Big Island of Hawaii can be seen.

Barb standing at what appears to be the top of the world.

The colors and landscape of the volcano were eerie,
 almost like the surface of the moon.

 Along the way to the park, we viewed many beautiful flowers.

 

 On the way back to the ship from our day's outing, we stopped at a scenic beach where the the surfers were enjoying the waves.

 Once back on ship, we had cocktails and wine on the veranda and watched the sunset.

The room steward would leave us a towel animal each day.

 Maui: Day 3

Today we decided to drive the Road to Hana.  We only had 1/2 a day since the ship left Maui around 2:00pm.  We saw some beautiful waterfalls and the vegetation that Hawaii is famous for.

Back on the ship we were greeted by our second day's towel animal.

The Big Island: Hilo, Day 4

After having breakfast on the veranda and watching the ship come into port, we spent our day on Hilo driving to an active volcano and then to the Akaka Falls.

Morning sunrise at Hilo port

The volcano at Volcano National Park was actively spewing lava and sending it towards the ocean.  We were only able to see the steam from the lava where we were.  We found out once we returned to the Mainland that the lava did reach the ocean about a week after we left.  It was a very exciting and unusual event.

Our next stop was to drive to the 442' high Akaka Falls. We had to walk a short distance to get to the falls. They were awesome.

Our welcoming towel animal back on board the ship.

The Big Island: Kona, Day 5

As we entered Kona, we experienced the most amazing sunrise. 

 It seems like at every port the rowers were out practicing in the morning.  Their formations and synchronized movements were fun to watch.

As we departed the ship in the morning, we received the traditional lei greeting from friends , Judy and Frank.  They own a condo on Kona and were vacationing there. 

They took us to breakfast. We then spent the rest of the morning walking around town with them and seeing the sights in the Kona area.

In the afternoon we chose to participate in a shore excursion provided by NCL. We boarded a zodiac boat and raced along the shore line and then into the ocean.  Then the zodiak took us to a marine sanctuary that can only be reached by sea so that we could go snorkeling. 

 It was a most exhilarating experience. 

There were many pods of dolphin following the zodiac.

Who is this???

 We saw many more fish than these photos indicate.  But these are the best photos that I could get with the camera I was using.

We loved snorkeling and hope to experience it again.

Continue to the next blog entry (click on "older post" on bottom of page):

Kauai, Days 6-15