November 17, 2012

We woke up at 6:30 this morning and headed to the Aloha Cafe for breakfast. It was very busy this morning as all of us would be disembarking by 9am. We managed to find a table for four, but since there were only two of us we allowed an elderly gentleman from Southern California to join us. After breakfast we went back to our cabin to pack last minute things and rest for about an hour before our turn to disembark.

We got loaded on our bus and our luggage got loaded onto a cube van. Hopefully our luggage shows up soon.  

Luggage showed up and I had to shuffle things between my suitcase and carry on bags so that nothing was over weight.

Went for lunch with Kandi, Heidi, and Janice at Cheeseburger in Paradise. 

Hung out and read. 

Went for a walk along boardwalk.

 The lower ledge at the top of this hotel was our scrapbook room.

 View of Diamond Head from the boardwalk.

 It was cloudy and rained off and on today. I think Ohau was sad to see us go.

A nosy tree.

6:30pm boarded the bus to the airport.

There was a long lineup at the airport. It took almost 1.5 hours to get through security. There was no time to fill the my water bottle before boarding the plane.

During the 6 hour flight to Vancouver i slept quite a bit, as did most as it was an over night flight. We arrived in Vancouver at 5am. No rest there either. Had to pick up our luggage, go through security and customs then re-check the luggage and get to the gate to board the plane. This time I managed to get water into my bottle before boarding. Trouble is when we were in the air and I opened my bottle to take a drink it sprayed all over me. Oh well, needed a shower anyway.

We arrived in Calgary at 9am.

I would recommend to anyone to make at least one trip to Hawaii at least once in their life. I would totally go again if I could.

Nawiliwilu on Kauai then Na Pali Coastline

November 16, 2012

Nawiliwilu on Kauai then Na Pali Coastline on our way back to Honolulu.

This morning we put 7:15 for the time we wanted our breakfast and we got the call at 7. We finally got it figured out, although this morning was our last chance for breakfast in our room as we disembark tomorrow and we will be going to one of the restaurants to eat as the staff will be busy taking out luggage and getting the rooms ready for their new arrivals.

Shopping and a swim before leaving.

Lunch farewell BBQ with Kandi then we were joined by Kay, Crystal and Trudy. 

Went to scrapbook room for cake and shrimp

Hung around taking photos of the sun. 5:15 ish group photo. I helped Allison with providing reflected light or shadow for some personal portraits.

Watched the Na Pali coast line as we cruised by just before sunset. 

Went to dinner with 22 other women and had a blast. We ended up at 4 different tables and at my table was Mel, Jennifer S, Joan and Bertha, and Janice. We had a blast and Mel and our waiter had us in stitches.

Immediately after we went to our wind up party where they were serving free cocktails for an hour.  After the cocktail party I went to the scrapbook room for a visit with those left and to say Good bye to Jennie as she's going to the airport first thing to fly home to New York.

Kauai

November 15, 2012

Nawiliwili, Kauai Hawaii

Got our wake up call at 6:30am this morning to say our breakfast will be here. It's getting earlier and earlier every morning. 

Kandi and I caught the shuttle to Hilo Hattie's this morning. 

We got back around 10:35.  There was no towel animal this morning.

There were 41 of us First stop Spouting Horn. Water sprays up and makes a sound like a whale spouting. Took video on phone.

Waimea Canyon. Too big to encompass in a photo. Beautiful, magnetic, lush.

Historic Waimea Driftwood Beach

The sand on the beach was crusty on the top in some areas and silky in the rest. Beautiful sunset and after sunset.

Dinner in Skyline with Jennifer, Celia, Kay, Kandi and me. 

Kona, Hawaii - Voyage in the Mayonnaise

November 14, 2012

Kona, Hawaii

This morning Kandi and I had breakfast in the Cadillac Diner then got ready to go on our "Voyage in the mayonaise" Kona was the only port we were tendered off and on the boat. The Lifeboats were used for this purpose.

There were 5 mini vans rented and we separated into groups. each driver had a communicator who sent text messages to the other drivers. i was in Corlan's Van with Denise and Linda as well as Jaron (Corlan's son). 

Each van was tasked with a challenge. Ours was the letter "O" the colour orange and the number 3. 

We headed south and stopped at a Pahoehoe beach.

Next we stopped at the St. Peters by the Sea Catholic Church. Our challenge here was to capture the church with one photo.

We went farther south and ended up at the Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historic Park.

We didn't have much time there, but we got to see a monk seal (1 of only 5 on the islands), 

some black crabs and three turtles. 

Then we drove back towards town and most of us had lunch at McDonalds since we didn't have a whole lot of time. 

 Poinsettia's grew as tall tree/bushes beside the road.

 They spelled my name wrong.

 The terrain changed from lush to lava.

We then headed north to a beach. Some swam and others just took photos.

We had to keep an eye on our time as we had to be on our boat by 5pm. We made it back to port around 4:15 enough time for a few to shop before leaving the island.

I really needed a shower so I did that while Kandi went to see if anyone wanted to join us for dinner. It was just before sunset so I grabbed my camera and went up to the 13th deck where our scrapbook room is located. I got there just in time to get some great shots and for Allison to get one of me. 

After photos Kandi and I went for dinner in the Liberty Dining room. I had the prime rib dinner. It was good and yes I ate my green beans too.

After dinner we went to the scrapbooking room to do some work, but I was getting tired and decided to go back to our cabin to write my journal entry and finish watching my movie. I then turned the light out and went to sleep.