OK, this post is going to be very long, but it summarizes the itinerary of the trip that we took to Hawaii during the last 3 weeks of April. We went to visit our friends Mel & Murray on Maui but decided that stopping part way there and back would give us a more relaxing trip.
I'll only add a few photos below with the descriptions of what we did, in chronological order. At the very bottom of this post are some links to a
highlights photo album and another to some of my
more artistic shots.
Apr. 10.
San Francisco was our first stop - to see some tourist attractions and to begin changing over to the Hawaiian time zone. After arrival in the somewhat chilly city of San Francisco, we wandered around near our
hotel next to Fisherman's Wharf then had a great dinner at the
Boudin (a famous sour dough bakery and restaurant).
Apr. 11.
After a good sleep, the next morning we took a bus tour to the
Muir Woods redwood forest, just outside of the city. Muir woods is a fantastic place to visit. Very peaceful and very aromatic!
After lunch and shopping in Sausalito, we got back to Fisherman's Wharf and took a boat tour over to
Alcatraz Island and wandered around the prison with the audio tour playing in our headsets. I think Wendy enjoyed this tour more than she had expected she might.
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| The cell where the most famous escape began. |
Apr. 12.
The next morning we took a stroll around the area, visited Ghirardelli Chocolate, and climbed up the steep hills to then walk all the way back down Lombard Street.
We took a mid-afternoon flight from San Francisco to Maui and arrived late in the evening in Kahului.
Apr. 13.
The next day we toured around the town of Pa'ia and took some pictures at the beaches.
That evening we flew to Honolulu and checked into our
hotel a few blocks from Waikiki beach during the biggest thunder and rain storm they had experienced for a long while.
Apr. 14.
Today we took the whole day to tour of Pearl Harbor. The weather turned out to be very pleasant, and we got the chance to go over to the Arizona memorial.
We also toured the USS Missouri battleship, the Bowfin submarine, and the aviation museum.
Apr. 15.
Today we took an organized
photo tour of Oahu, spending about 5 hr. travelling around the island with a photographer/guide, stopping at various spots to see the sights.
That evening we took yet another flight (#4 so far!) back to Maui for a day of relaxation.
Apr. 17.
One of the highlights of the trip started when we flew over to the island of Hawaii to Hilo. We got picked up by our resort (the
Inn at Kulaniapia Falls) and went over to Liliuokalani park and the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory before checking in.
The resort where we stayed was just starting to try out an "all inclusive" option. This worked great for us, as it included all food and drink, plus multiple tours (all were private) throughout the time that we stayed. Kulaniapia was a fantastic place to stay and the staff were wonderful!
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| Liliuokalani park |
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| Our resort. We were in the top floor of this building. |
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| Kulaniapia Falls, just outside our window! |
Later that evening, we were taken to the Kilauea overlook and steam vents, the Jaggar lookout and museum (at the Halemaumau crater). This active volcano erupted only a few weeks after our visit - it was definitely starting to do something while we were there! This area is no longer open to the public.
Apr 18.
One of our tours was a private snorkeling trip with Hilo Ocean Adventures. The water was VERY cold just outside of Hilo Harbor, and not surprisingly, it was also somewhat rough. Too rough for Wendy's stomach, in fact.
The same evening, we went stargazing trip to the Mauna Loa volcano - about a 1.5 hr drive away. Most visitors head to the taller Mauna Kea volcano to see the observatory, but the crowds and early closing time made it not worth the trip. The observatory is also not open to the public.
On our way, we headed up a narrow and winding but glass-smooth single lane paved road. Because of the altitude, we were required to take a 30 min stop to acclimatize at about 9000 ft. We arrived safely at a clearing in the volcanic rock around 11,000 ft and set up a large telescope. It was quite chilly, so we put on some very heavy full body snowsuits and laid on ground to watch the stars and Lyriad meteor shower. We got a few shots before the stars disappeared behind heavy clouds.
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| Laying on the ground at the top of a mountain in snowsuits in Hawaii. How cool is that?! |
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| A meteor with a background of stars. |
Apr 19.
We took a drive to the
Hilo Coffee Mill for a quick lunch then headed out for a private Lava Tube tour. After stopping in the middle of a meadow out in the middle of nowhere (private land but prearranged with the owner), we got geared up and crawled down into a hole in the ground.
We spent about 3 hours underground, in complete darkness. Surreal views everywhere you looked. Most of the time we could simply walk, but there were a few areas where we needed to crawl or climb.
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| Weird volcanic formations - looked like hematite! |
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Midpoint on our tour - the ceiling broke through at this point.
Oddly, nobody knows where this hole in the ground is located... |
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| Hot and wet, we survived! |
Apr 20.
Wendy, Mel, and Murray went rappelling down the 120 ft waterfall on the resort property (Eric spent the time taking pictures).
The afternoon was originally planned to be a lava tour (walk out to see active lava), but since the lava had retracted and was hard to reach, we decided instead to take a drive around with one of the staff members to see the area around Pahoa. This is the area where the volcano erupted in the 1980s, and was also where the active lava came out in May 2018 (2 weeks after these photos).
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| A little Hawaiian humour - the sign says "Keep Off the Grass". |
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| The sign just above the nude beach at Kahena Beach. We saw nude people, but the climb down was too treacherous for us. |
Apr 21.
We checked out and went to airport for a surprise Blue Hawaiian Circle of Fire Helicopter tour for Eric and Murray. This trip gave us fantastic views of the lava - including a triple lava waterfall into an old lava tube (at the Puʻu ʻŌʻō vent).
That afternoon, we went back to the airport and flew back to Maui.
Apr 22.
A nice, slow, and relaxing day of shopping in Lahaina.
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| Shave Ice is all the rage in Hawaii. It is ice cream topped with shaved ice with flavour on top. |
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| A random concert under a banyan tree. |
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| This banyan tree is over 140 years old. |
Apr 23.
Today we drove along the coast on the Piilani highway. It was very windy but the views were spectacular.
Apr 24.
Today we ate a very early dinner (3pm) at the exceptionally high end
Mama's Fish House in Pa'ia. We realized it was high end when we saw that they had
mandatory valet parking. The meal was spectacular, and the fresh flowers on the urinals surprised Eric!
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| Fantastic restaurant on Maui |
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| Odd place to see fresh flowers... |
Apr 25.
We headed to Makena landing beach for some snorkeling. Wendy almost got eaten by a turtle! Later, we headed for some shopping at Wailea, and ate at the
Wailea Golf Club.
Apr 25.
Saying goodbye to Hawaii, we headed to Vancouver for the final leg of the trip. We stayed with Wendy's aunt and uncle in North Vancouver and were able to visit with her two cousins and their families.
Apr 26.
We drove to UBC to take in the
Museum of Anthropology and later drove up Cyprus Mountain for some sightseeing.
Apr 27.
Our Iceland Trek friend Penny recently moved to Vancouver, so we took a bus to her place to have lunch and a quick hike around her area. It was great to be able to catch up and to see her again!
Apr 28.
After 3 long weeks and 8 separate flights (plus 1 helicopter tour), we arrived home via Toronto and got back to Dundas just in time for Eric to start teaching his spring/summer courses at McMaster.
Check out our Google Photos Album for highlights from this trip:
Here is a Google Photos Album with some of my more artistic photos:
