We did a full day snorkeling excursion with the Pacific Whale Foundation.
It started out to be a lovely day, but it quickly turned a little windy.
Hubby enjoyed the snorkeling:
I did get into the water, but not for long. It was too cold and windy!
So I became the onboard photographer instead. I know, I know. Total wimp.
Our first day in Maui was an early start as we booked to go on an early whale watching tour with the Pacific Whale Foundation. They are a non-profit organization and all money spent with them goes to whale conservation, education and research.
I was giddy with excitement as our vessel/boat moved across the ocean. It was cold and windy, but our eyes were fixed on the waves as we looked for the misty spray from a whale.
I told you it was windy! I was constantly battling to keep my hair out of my face.
The whales did not disappoint us. There were playful baby whales.
We also saw mama whales and the males who tried to impress the ladies.
The most amazing thing happened when an adult humpback whale suddenly breached right in front of our boat and then another one right next to her. Unfortunately our camera was set to zoom and we only managed to capture one of them.
I will never forget that moment.
Well, that set the mood and so we spent the rest of the morning at the aquarium.
I fell in love with this little guy:
A baby sea turtle!
When we got back to the shops at Wailea near our hotel, I could not resist having my first piece of key lime pie.
I also found the perfect memento to always remind me of Hawaii.
A Plumeria rose gold necklace from Hawaiian jewelers Na Hoku.
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We did not rent a car as a lot of our excursions were escorted. The holiday got off to a great start when our airport transfer man stopped at a stall near the beach where a lady sells pickled mangoes. Of course we had to try some and then buy some more as a snack in our room.
We stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani, which is a beautiful hotel. We were greeted with a lei before we were showed to our suite. That's right, the whole hotel has suites. Of course the camera came out (I apologize now, this is probably going to be a really boring post).
Although we only had a partial sea view from our balcony, it was definitely not a bad view to wake up to.
And, we saw some spectacular sunsets from here.
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By this time we have been going non-stop and the tiredness really started to set in so, we decided to spend our last day on the Big Island by relaxing at the hotel in the morning and then browsing some local shops in the afternoon.
We had the most amazing dinner at Sansei a very popular seafood restaurant. They are on some of the other islands as well and I cannot recommend them high enough (this is coming from someone who is fussy when it comes to fish and seafood).
We finished the day with a walk on the beach. The sand was soft like flour under our toes and the ocean was warm as it pushed out over our feet and the path back to the hotel was pitch black which meant we had to feel-feel our way back in the dark but, what an amazing time we were having. Not once did we worry about anything. Hubby never complained about any pain (except a bit of sunburn). It really started to feel like a new chapter in our lives after the two years of cancer worries. We experienced so much, we laughed so much, we ate so much and we loved it all so very much. Next stop: Maui.
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We went to the Big Island of Hawaii hoping to see a live volcano but, unbeknown to us, the active volcano stopped the lava flow for four months which during the period that we went. So, we saw lots of steam, smoke and hardened lava instead, which was still interesting.
So this is the closest we got to the live volcano. I had a strange sulphur taste in my mouth the whole day that we were in the park, which has to do with the volcanic fumes produced by the volcano.
We also saw several steam vents in the park.
The Big Island of Hawaii is still a growing island because of all the volcanic activity. There was plenty of evidence of the islands' volcanic activities over the years:
Just imagine this as a volcanic lake. Pretty awesome right?
We also got the opportunity to walk through a lava tube (underground tunnel formed by lava).
A very interesting day which ended with another great sunset.
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Our time in Oahu seemed to fly by and I felt a little teary eyed the morning we were due to go to the Big Island of Hawaii.
I did not want to throw away the lei that we got the day before at the PCC and the Hubby had a great idea.
The Hawaiian people have been telling us all week who they all live off the land (aina -island) and give back to the land. We have noticed some statues around Honolulu covered in lei's and decided to go and place our lei's on the statue of Duke Kahanamoku on Waikiki beach as our way of giving back to the island.
The Duke Kahanamoku statue was created by sculptor Jan-Michelle Sawyer and in 1990 on the 100th anniversary of the Duke's birth. The statue honors Duke Kahanamoku as the father of modern surfing.
This was our way of saying Aloha and goodbye to Oahu.
After the lush green of Oahu, the Big Island felt very different. We stayed on the Kona side of the island. When we landed and as we drove to our hotel, everything just looked black and burned to me with all the black volcanic rock everywhere.
It was a strange experience to drive on the 'wrong' side of the road (In the UK and South Africa we drive on the left). I was so glad when Hubby agreed to do all the driving as the car's steering wheel was also on the 'wrong' side and it was an automatic (I'm used to a manual car). He did a very good job.
But, as we approached our hotel, it got greener:
I bet these bougainvilleas at our hotel are beautiful when they are in full bloom:
We had a lovely ocean view room from where we could hear the ocean. I slept quite well here with sea breeze and the sound of the ocean.
It was wonderful to observe the colours of the sky change at sunset.
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We spent our last day on Oahu at the Polynesian Cultural Centre which is located on the north of the island. It was about an hours' drive from Honolulu and took us past film locations of '50 First Dates', 'Karate Kid 2' and 'Jurassic Park', which was quite exciting.
(Taken from the bus).
The north of the island is so beautiful, I would love to go back and explore more.
I was not sure about this excursion but it ended up being a highlight of our stay in Oahu. I loved the opportunity to learn more about the different Polynesian cultures in a very fun and creative way. There was a lot of laughing, singing, dancing and I loved all the colours and patterns of their costumes and in the decor/architecture. I will share some of my photos with you:
We had some excellent Hawaiian food for lunch and dinner while being entertained by dancers and musicians.
We participated in several traditional events and Hubby even got a 'fake' tattoo at the Maori village:
In the evening, we saw their spectacular show Ha - Breath of Life!
If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it!
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I thought it was time to break up the holiday posts a bit by sharing some examples of Hawaiian quilts with you. These were seen at the Polynesian Culture Centre on Oahu. I apologize for the yellow colour of the photos, they were not taken in the best light conditions.
Aren't they beautiful?
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We headed out of Honolulu to the rainbow valley for a hike to Manoa waterfall. This involved a hike through a rainforest with a steady climb up to the falls. Of course, being in a rainforest, we had some rain, but it was still a wonderful experience.
As we crossed a bridge, I noticed that someone had laid hibiscus flowers all across, which made it feel as though we were entering an enchanting forest. I show another photo here.
We got covered in mud on this hike, but loved every minute of it.
You walk and climb for about an hour and when you suddenly look up, there it is:
Manoa falls. When we drove back to Honolulu, there were rainbows over the valley and our guide told us that it was known as rainbow valley because of all the rainbows.
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We started the day by attending the sunrise service on Waikiki beach.
The service was held by various churches in Oahu who came together for the Easter Sunday. There were lots of people but it was a very special experience for us. Many of the familiar worship songs were sung in English and Hawaiian. They re-enacted how the first missionaries came to Hawaii on the sea, it gave me goosebumps. It had rained the night before and there was a rainbow behind us over the sea for the duration of the service.
After this we had a lovely breakfast before we caught a boat out to take a ride on a submarine.
The water was so choppy that we both felt a little green before we even got to the submarine but, once the wonder of the underwater world unfolded, we momentarily forgot about all of that.
We saw loads of fish, sea turtles, coral, ship wrecks and an old airplane wreck.
The sea is this blue because the sand is so white and reflects the sunlight.
The rest of the afternoon we enjoyed being on solid ground and wondered if it was such a great idea to go on the sunset dinner cruise that we pre-booked for the evening. We kept feeling like we were still going up and down.
It turned out to be a lovely romantic evening of steak, lobster, Hawaiian entertainment, a little dancing and watching enjoying the sunset.
Oh, I wish I was back there now *sigh*.
xx
