Oahu - February 5-12, 2011

This was a much better week this year than last year. I, at least, was well and we were able to go places. Of course Sunday was spent watching the Super Bowl and it was raining outside so that was great. We stayed at the Marriott Ko’Olina and it was beautiful.


We continued our morning walks. We usually walked from the timeshare to the Marriott Hotel and back.

These two wedding chapels are right along the path we took.





We went north one day through the middle of Oahu. We stopped at the Dole plantation and it was very interesting.

We watched a pineapple cutting demonstration.


They plant 28,000 pineapples per acre and they take 18-22 months to grow. They plant year round so that pineapple is available all year for the markets.


I also picked a pearl out of an oyster and got black ones, two in one. We got a pair of earrings.

We continued to the north shore as far as Sunset Beach. We drove into Waimea Valley, a very beautiful area.




This is an ancient Hawaiian religious site or heiau. It dates back to 1470 a.d. and is the only fully restored heiau to this diety.

There is a hike to the water falls that we didn’t take. We stopped to take some pictures of the waves and the surfers. We never seem to tire of watching the waves.





We stopped in Haleiwa and the way back and had shaved ice for the first time. I really loved it but Bob wasn’t impressed.

We went to the Cultural Dinner Show called Fia Fia at the Marriott resort.

We had a delicious dinner and a wonderful show led by High Chief Sieiu Avea.


He had all couples married over 25 years to come on stage and we received flowers and then danced to the Hawaiian wedding song.



We have gone to a luau each time we have come to Hawaii and we thought that the Old Lahina Luau on Maui was the best until we saw this one.





It was an awesome evening.

We went into Honolulu and toured the ‘Iolani Palace.

It is the only royal residence on US soil. There are many, many items missing because they were sold or given away when the monarchy was replaced by the Hawaiian republic but there were quite a number that have been recovered. No pictures were allowed in the Palace but I particularly loved the quilt that was made by Queen Liliokalani during her imprisonment.

We were able to spend some time at the pool on two different days. We want to come back as there are more things to see in Honolulu and the rest of the north and east shore. We flew to the Big Island of Hawaii on Saturday, February 12.

Three Week in Kauai

We left Indiana on January 13 and drove to Deb’s in Nashville. It was between snow storms so we thought we had better go. We stayed with her 2 nights and she dropped us at the airport early on Saturday morning. Praise the Lord, no weather delays and all connections went smoothly. I couldn’t even tell any difference in the security. We actually arrived in Lihue, Kauai about 8 pm Hawaii time and checked into the resort about 9 o’clock.

Of course we were again met by the chickens and even heard them early in the mornings. They run free all over the island and are really beautiful.


The views around the resort are relaxing and beautiful.

The ponds had many koi in them.


We walked between 1 ½ and 2 miles most every morning.

We walk along the ocean watching the sunrise to the Hyatt,

walk around their pool and then back to our property along the coast quite often seeing whales.



This bird flew to the ponds at our resort. We were able to snap a picture but we don not know what it is.

This year we spent extra points and had an ocean view unit. One afternoon we watched a whale slap his tail for over 20 minutes. We can’t get pictures because by the time we see them they are gone.

We were able to attend Kauai Christian Fellowship two times while there. They are a very friendly church. It reminded me a little of Chiang Mai Christian Fellowship.
We drove north through Kapa’a to Princeville crossing the one lane bridge into Hanalei and the taro fields.





We spent some time exploring the shops in Hanalei and ate our packed lunch at a picnic table.
We went to a beach park and watched the huge waves.



I think they were the biggest we have ever seen, raging but beautiful.

We took a day trip to Waimea Canyon, again marveling at God’s handiwork. It is often called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.




We didn’t have as much trouble getting there as this truck did.


We usually only went to the state park and then back. We didn’t know about Kalalau Viewpoint about 5 miles further. We could see the Na’Pali Coast from the viewpoint.


One day we explored Hanapepe’ and I walked across the swinging bridge.


Bob took pictures and was able to walk a few feet out onto the bridge. The town is full of art stores and galleries. We also stopped at the Kauai Cookie company and Kauai Coffee.

We were able to eat at our favorite restaurant once each week, Keoki’s and always had the hula pie. The hula pie is free when you bring your receipt and order two entrée’s. I had saved a receipt from last year to start us off.


We spent some time at the pool, did some reading and cross-stitching. I couldn’t get my nerve up to try snorkeling as the ocean was pretty rough most of the time. We left Kauai and flew to Oahu on February 5.