Hawaii Vacation - Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Claude and I awake this day in Kona, Hawaii. Hawaii is called the Big Island. Our tour guide would tell us that it is big enough that if you placed all the islands that make up Hawaii (this includes all the little ones we really don't name or think about usually) they wouldn't take up all the land mass that is the island of Hawaii. Kauai is the oldest of the islands. It is believed to be an extinct volcano. It is never expected to erupt again. All the other islands are dormant volcanos meaning they could erupt again. Hawaii however is an active volcano. It is the newest of the islands. Kona is on its eastern shore and the word means 'leeward side' in Hawaiian. As we disembark the ship we are greated by a young man in native dress.

We were a little later leaving the ship today. There is a temple on Kona for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many in our tour group left the ship very early to enjoy a session in the Kona Hawaii Temple. Claude and I decided to stay on the ship and were asked to make sure those who chose not to go to the temple were able to disembark the ship and catch the bus to pick up those who attended the temple.

At the end of the temple parking lot was a great view of our ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Kona has a shallow harbor and the ship can't dock there. When this happens the ship anchors in the harbor or as close to the harbor as they can safely get. Then 'tenders' are lowered from their storage place in the ship and they are used to ferry passengers to and from the ship throughout the day. The ship had 3 'tenders' or little passenger ferry boats. We met those who were traveling with us in the Pink Champagne Lounge and got our tickets for the tender together. Then we made it to the dock and found our bus driver with my bright yellow sign that said 'LDS Travel'. Then we were off to pick up the remainder of our group at the temple. Below is a picture of the beautiful Kona Hawaii Temple.

We drove through the town of Kona and were taken to a little shopping area right on the water. Claude and I had lunch overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I had the best fruit salad with an interesting dipping sauce for the fruit. Then we boarded the bus again and headed to the Painted Church. Along the way we passed a lot of interesting things. One of them was this hill of poinsettias. When in Jamaica we also saw huge poinsettia trees. Most of us think of them as being the potted kind we get at Christmas. But on tropical islands they grow well and much larger. The other interesting thing in this picture is the rock wall beneath the poinsettias. This wall is made of lava rocks. Living in Kentucky we have miles and miles or rock walls made of the limestone that is found 6 inches below the clay dirt. These were built originally by the Irish settlers that came to the area and would have learned how to built them on their land in Ireland. These are designated as historic now in Kentucky and they must not be moved. Seeing the lava rock walls in Hawaii reminded me of the rock walls in Kentucky.

Our first stop was the Painted Church. This is St. Benedict's Catholic Church. It is in Honaunau, Kona. It is called the Painted Church because of the murals and frescos painted inside. It is a beautiful little white Church on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There is a beautiful little cemetary in front of the church.

When you enter the church the ceiling is painted so that you focus toward the front of the little chapel. Along each side wall are murals depicting scenes from the Bible. The one I'm including with this blog is of the Temptation of Christ.

The grounds of the Painted Church have beautiful flowers and some statuary. This picture is of the entry to the parking lot and buildings.

From the Painted Church we drove back down by the Pacific Ocean to the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau or Place of Refuge. Think back to when the children of Israel in the Old Testament were finally given the Promised Land. Each tribe was given a share of the land. Each of these areas was to set up a City of Refuge. These cities were for people who had broken the law and were seeking refuge to plead their case. Hawaiians had a system just like this where Pu'uhonua o Honaunau or Place of Refuge was set up. A pu'uhonua was a massive wall that separated the royal grounds from the place of refuge for defeated warriors, noncombatants in times of war, and those who violated the kapu or the sacred laws. The site we were visiting was home to the ali'i or royalty of the Kona district. Kapu means forbidden. There were many things that were kapu regarding the ali'i. A common person could not look at or get close to a chief, his shadow could not fall on the palace grounds. Women could not eat foods reserved for offering to the gods. Women did not eat with men. When a kapu was broken the penalty was always death. Otherwise the gods might react violently with volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, famine or earthquakes. The people would pursue the kapu breaker until caught and put to death or until he made his way to a pu'uhonua. If he made it to a pu'uhonua a ceremony of absolution was performed by the kahuna pule (priest). The offender could then return home safely, usually within a few hours or by the next day. The spirit of the pu'uhonua was respected by all. This was a beautiful, intriguing, and thought provoking place to visit. We were given a brochure with 16 sites described in it. As we walked through this National Park we looked for the little posts with a number that corresponded to our map and explanation of each spot. As is our custom, I walked and snapped pictures while Claude walked and read our brochure.

The picture above is royal ground. The lava rock wall protects the beach used by the ali'i from the Pacific Ocean. The picture below is a replica of a temple used by the ali'i. It wasn't particularly large.

This large rock has bowls or kanoa carved into it. It is thought these bowls may have been used to hold dye, or to evaporate sea water to make salt, or to pound the 'awa root to make a cermonial drink.

Now Claude and I are royalty standing at the keone'ele or cove where the royal canoe landed. This would have been a forbidden spot for commoners so we MUST be royalty.

There beautiful ponds called heleipalala were a mixture of springwater and saltwater and held food fish to be eaten by the ali'i. They are found all along the shores in Hawaii and the other islands. Many have been destroyed with building. But when we saw one, it was always beautiful.

Hale o Keawe is a reconstructed temple and mausoleum housing the bones of 23 ali'i. Ho'okupu (offerings) were placed on the lele (tower). Two ki'i (wooden images) stand watch over this reconstructed temple.

In front of this temple is the Pacific Ocean with an outcropping of land across this little bay area. This would have been where a person who committed a kapu would need to swim to get to the Place of Refuge. Claude is standing there looking and reflecting on this crossing to safety.

This picture is of the Ka'ahumanu Stone. According to legend, Queen Ka'ahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I, swam a great distance to the pu'uhonua after a quarrel with her husband. She supposedly hid under this stone, but the barking of her dog gave her away. Her husband found her and they soon made up. Now we both looked at where our friend is sitting on the stone. Queen Ka'ahumanu was one really BIG lady. We are thinking there is no way she could have gotten under this rock unless it laid a lot differently than it does today!!

This is papamu is an original stone used in the game of konane.

As we left the ali'i side of this interesting site, you can see on the left the stone wall made of lava rocks separating the people seeking refuge for kapu from the ali'i. Between where I'm taking this picture is the pond of water for holding fish for the ali'i that was shown above. There is another one of these ponds behind where I'm taking this picture. This view is also shows the place where the royal canoe would have landed.

This is the other pond for holding fish.

The final picture I'm posting of Pu'uhonua o Honaunau is the halau. This a work structure. Inside, hanging from a pole near the top are ti leaves. These would have been tied to a rope and used to drive fish into the shallows. This fishing method is called hukilau. Inside the halau is a Hawaiian teaching people who pass by about the work they did. There are two types of canoes housed in this building.

As we waited at the dock for our turn to take the tender back to our ship, I got this picture of Claude in his Cabelo's hat. Somewhere along the way, I think at lunch, he picked up this orchid. He put it in his hat and wore it for several days that way. Now the important thing to note is he is wearing the orchid on the side that the Hawaiians wore to say he was available. If he had wanted to say he was married or taken he should have worn it on the other side of his head. Remember this ladies when you put a flower behind your ear. Single and available go behind the right ear. Taken and not available go behind the left ear.

Hawaiian Vacation - Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Our second day in Kauai we would drive from Nawiliwili to Wailua. There is an old hotel along the beachfront highway that is closed to the public except for specially requested tours. The name is Coco Palms. This is where they filmed the Elvis Presley movie 'Blue Hawaii'.

We drove past this spot and up the mountain. We came to a special place and the bus drive pulled over to the side of road. The bus driver explained this was a sacred spot to Hawaiian's many years ago. It is called Holo-Holo-Ku. It would be called a heiau meaning a sacred spot or temple. The part in the picture below was the birthing rock. A king would take a young bride. When it was time for her to give birth she was placed on this rock. If the child born was male, his umbilical cord was cut and shoved into a crack in the rock face above the birthing rock. During the night, if a rat came and ate the cord, the male child was deemed not a prince and was executed. If a rat did not eat the cord, the male child was to be a prince and the next king.

We continued our drive up this mountain to the Opeakaa Falls. The name means 'rolling shrimp'. They were beautiful, much more than the little picture I'm showing you below. In the background you can see a mountain covered with clouds on it's top. This is Mt. Waialeale. This mountain gets over 400 inches of rain each year. The water run off from this mountain helps fill the river we will ride on later to get to Fern Grotto.

Across the highway from the falls in an overlook. You can see the convergence of the Wailua River and the Maunakapu River. When we take the boat ride to Fern Grotto it will be up the big river seen in this picture which is the Wailua River.

As we walked back to our bus I went to the end of the parking lot for the Opeakaa Falls where you could see down the mountain to the town of Wailua and then the Pacific Ocean. Again there were more purple bougainvillea. But there were also chickens and roosters. Our bus driver would explain to us that there were 65,000 permanent residents in Kauai. And there were 75,000 free range chickens roaming the island of Kauai. When some people settled in Kauai they brought fighting chickens. Eventually this practiced was outlawed and the chickens were set free. Then a hurricane came across the island and spread the chickens around. Now they all just roam free. My question was...if they are 'free' range chickens and belong to no one, can you decide you want chicken for dinner and just catch and dress one for your meal? Never got an answer. Some of those chickens and roosters had the most beautiful colors of feathers I have ever seen.

Then our tour bus took us back down the mountain and over to the Wailua River. The Smith Company has a boat service to Fern Grotto. We boarded one of their boats and up the river we traveled.

Can you imagine having this beautiful white home on top of this mountain? Below was the Wailua River and out to one side would be the Pacific Ocean. All this lush green foliage. It was just gorgeous.

Our little boat took us down the river passing people boating the river in canoes. Very pleasant ride. We got to the dock and then had to hike back to the falls. There is a really nice paved path and lots of great plants and flowers along the way. Here are a few...

a white Bird of Paradise like flower,

a Chenielle flower a Banana Tree with a bunch of bananas and a bright pink banana blossom hanging down from the bunch of bananas (we saw a blossom while in Costa Rica but had not seen one hanging from the tree before), and a Red Ginger blossom (These were prolific and came in red and pink. They are not the kind of ginger you use as a spice in cooking),

Then we came to the actual Fern Grotto. They have built a really nice large deck for you to stand on to see. This protects the vegetation around. If you several years ago, there was a path built along the edge of the rock face of the mountain to the Grotto and you could actually walk the ledge path and then into the Grotto. There they would sing the 'Hawaiian Wedding Song'. However, a storm came and washed out the path and some of the Grotto was damaged. The path was never repaired and it is totally grown over. Had they not pointed this feature out to us we would never have known it was once there. The storm also blew down and broke off many of the ferns. They are now growing back. They used to be up to 15 feet long hanging from the rock face of the cliff. Now they may be up to 5 feet long. No matter, they were still beautiful. Below I have a close up picture where you can see the opening of the Grotto with ferns hanging around it and some of the vegetation growing in front. Then I have a picture showing the Grotto at the bottom and the rock face with the ferns.

After just standing on the decking and observing the beauty of this place, a guide told us the story of the Ali'i (royalty) that once occupied this area. This Fern Grotto was a sacred place to them and they have found bones in the cave where Ali'i were buried. Then the guide was joined by two other gentlemen and they sang 'The Hawaiian Wedding Song' to us while we stood on the deck. It was just beautiful. While they were singing a man crouched over and tried to sneek behind them, then he stood up and smiled and opened his arms as if he were touching the singers on their shoulders. A camera flashed in the background, the man crouched back down and quickly tried to sneek away. We all just chuckled at the silliness of mankind. These 3 men would accompany us on our boat ride back to the dock to catch our tour bus. All the ride back they would sing Hawaiian songs and a beautiful lady would perform hula dances to many of their songs.

On the way back we were serenaded with some of those free range chickens and roosters. We're all walking back down the return path and looking at the trees and plants when we hear and rooster crow. Then another tried to top him. Then the chickens joined in the chorus. Everyone was laughing and chuckling all the way back to the boat. I don't think anyone in our tour group was expecting chickens and roosters to be one of our strongest memories of Kauai.

A plant I took a picture of on the way back to the boat was the 'Traveler's Palm'. It is a unique kind of palm shaped like a fan. Water would collected in the base of the branches.

As we got to the boat I verbally noted a crab I saw on top of our boat and wondered if it were alive. It was missing a claw. Turns out the boats crew was standing counting the people and watching to see who noticed the crab they added just before we started to board. After my commenting on the crab so Claude would see it, I heard one of them say, "That was number 3!" The boat was easily half full at that point.

Here is a picture of the inside of the boat, the 3 guys singing and the hula dancer dancing. One of these guys was a regular on Hawaii Five-O and the oldest was in the Elvis movie 'Blue Hawaii'.

On the trip back I got the better picture of this little harbor. You can rent canoes here. In the foreground are some people paddling their canoe up the Wailua River.

This bridge is over the Wailua River where it joins the Pacific Ocean which is in the background of this picture.

We had a little bit of extra time before we had to be back to the ship. Our bus driver drove us past the airport at Lihue. There is a place you can see out into the Pacific Ocean. Then turn around and see the mountains of Kauai. Here is the Pacific Ocean at Lihue.

Then it was back to the Pride of American in Nawiliwili. Our ship would depart at 2pm and head to Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. The lighthouse was in the Nawiliwili harbor.

Claude and I would don our swim outfits and head to the pool. Sandi would enjoy a bit of time in the sun and Claude would find a spot in the shade close by to read a book. Claude would cool us off with soda pop. Then when I finished my sun time we would have virgin Pina Coladas. This is the life!!!

Hawaiian Vacation - Monday, December 7, 2009

This is the picture of the day!! I'll explain later... Monday morning we did woke up in another port. Yeah!!!! We were in Nawiliwili, Kauai. Claude and I have tried two other times to get to Hawaii and each of those times, in all my studying to find what we really might want to see, I alway felt a fascination with Kauai. I truly felt that, if I could only see one of the Hawaiian islands, I would want it to be Kauai. So my happiness at being able to actually set foot on this island was full to overflowing. The downside (isn't there always a downside) was that those waves good enough to hold the 'Eddie' were also good enough that no boats could travel to the North Shore of Kauai to see Na Pali. This part of Kauai you can only see by air, boat or hiking. Originally we were scheduled to take a boat ride around this east side of Kauai from Waimea to Na Pali. There we were to go to a secluded beach for a little time in the sun. Then the boat would take us back to Waimea and then a bus back to our ship. We would not see Na Pali. However, our little boat could take us around the east side and to the south side of Kauai and would find us a beach to play on anyway. While not the anticipated outing, this would be great fun nonetheless. My first views of Kauai were from Decks 11 & 12 of our cruise ship.

As Claude and I disembarked the ship, we found a Hammerhead Shark waiting to have our picture taken with him. Since Hayden loves studying sharks, we actually purchased these for him to enjoy. Please note we are in swimsuits and coverups ready for a beach outing during our day.

We enjoyed the bus ride to Waimea. The driver shared lots of interesting facts and pointed out plants and mountains. I took several pictures through the bus window.

We arrived at the little harbor in Waimea and found Micah who led us to our boat. Junior was there to help us all get onto the boat. It was a small craft with huge rubber tubing around all the sides. The center was covered with a wooden top with life preservers under this roof. The captains wheel and chair were elevated in the middle under this roof. There was a bench behind and in front of the Captains seat that you could sit on either side of. There was seating over the engines in the back part of the boat. Claude and I sat there. Everyone left over sat onto the huge rubber sides and held on. We slathered ourselves in sun screen with me forgetting the back of my neck might need a little sun screen. After Captain Billy arrived we were on our way.

Speeding along in a boat on the ocean with the shoreline in the distance and an ocean breeze in your face and every now and then a spray of water hitting you is just great fun. It felt good to be back with an ocean. We were all on the lookout for dolphins, turtles and the possibility of a whale. It was just getting to be the beginning of the whale watching season.

We got down the coast a bit and then the Captain turned the boat around and slowed down. He talked with Junior and Micah and then Junior told us that there was a problem with one of the engines and they needed return to port to have it fixed. They had called a repair person they knew and told him what they suspected the problem was. This repair person would have the correct part to replace and then we would be on our way only losing a little of our day.

When we got back to the harbor, Claude and I got out of the boat and headed for some shade. Claude does not do well in the sun and has had skin cancers removed this year. I love the sun but understand well the ability it has to wreck havoc with our bodies, so Claude and looked for a bit of shade in which to wait. We found a nice tree with a place to sit and that is where we perched ourselves. We could see the boat and know when it was time to return.

I took the opportunity to wander around and see the vegetation. There was a little bit of a hill as you entered the harbor area. On this hill was a nice bit of purple bougainvillea. This plant was all over just like it was when we visited Israel. It comes in many colors and just grows into hedges and bushes.

There was a cute little 'yacht club' next to the harbor. This is the view of the open area in the harbor through a palm tree.

As it turned out, they needed an additional part to fix the boat. They decided to serve lunch while we were waiting. Claude and I strolled back over to the boat. Claude sat in the shade on the rubber tubing around the edge of the boat. I took a seat beside him where I was mostly covered by the shade from the little roof in the middle. The back of my neck was exposed and that was the one portion of me I didn't cover with sunscreen. I didn't realize until we got back to our ship that evening how badly that little part of my neck was burned. After lunch I took the picture at the top of this blog entry of them repairing the engine to the boat. The repair guy is bent over on the right side of the picture and inside the engine box is Captain Billy. I kept thinking of the movie "Sand Pebbles" where the guy climbs into the ship engines to repair it and the engines go off and he is squished. It's been years since I saw that movie and that scene still gives me chills. Captain Billy was not squished, thank goodness.

Eventually the boat was repaired and we headed back into the Pacific Ocean. We saw wonderful bits of coastline.

This is the coast that served as the backdrop for the TV show 'Fantasy Island'. You can see the mountain in the background and the white building in the center and a bit to the right. This is now an arboretum and extends way back behind what you can see from the boat.

Even though we were on the east and south portions of Kauai, there were some wonderful scenes of waves hitting the shores. One of these was a 'blow hole' where the water is forced up a hole in the rocks and it just shoots way high in the air.

We passed the resort area of Kauai. The Marriott has a red tile roof. A bit further down the shore is the Grand Hyatt. They have a green roof and spread out for a good distance. Now that is important because Michael, our son-in-law, works for Hyatt. We have assured him that he should seek a sales position at this Hyatt and we would follow him there. The picture below is of the Grand Hyatt.

As we traveled south along the coastline we repeatedly saw huge schools of Spinner Dolphins. They are great fun to watch zip through the water and jump and dive into the water. Getting a picture of that is not so easy. I did get one picture that you can see their fins out of the water. The picture below is of the southern tip of Kauai. Captain Billy would not take us around the end because then we would be back where our ship was.

Because of the time it took to do repairs, we missed our time on the beach. There was one really nice section of white sand beach with absolutely no one on it. This was owned by the plantation owner and was strictly private to them. You could only use it if you had permission from these owners. How would that be to have your own private beach on Kauai???

We had a delightful ride back to our port. We saw several ocean turtles on the way back. This poor little guy came close enough for me to get a pretty close picture of him. I just love turtles. When we visited the Cayman Islands we went to a turtle farm that raises sea turtles, tags them, and then sends them back into the ocean. Their numbers are decreasing and they are trying to repopulate them.

Our first day in Kauai was about over. It was a good day even with the need to repair a motor. On the bus ride back, Claude told me he could see why I felt so strongly about Kauai. I think he could even spend a whole week there some time.

Hawaiian Vacation - Sunday, December 6, 2009

Okay, Sunday was the day that our trip changed directions...just a bit. The ship should have departed Honolulu Saturday evening at 8pm. When it was 8pm the ship was still in the harbor. We thought nothing of it. These islands are not huge distances apart. You aren't dealing normally with big tidal changes so that a ship must be out of a port before the water level decreases, etc. Claude and I both left on this trip with colds so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to turn in a little early and sleep a little late before the daily shore excursions began. When we woke up Sunday the 6th, Claude said, "We're still in Honolulu!" I said, "That is impossible the ship was supposed to leave last night." I looked out the window and, sure enough, there was the hospital on the hill that was pointed out to us the day before. Okay, we decided to check our mail spot by our door. There was no notice there. We got showered and dressed and headed up to Deck 11 to the Aloha Cafe breakfast buffet. No notice was posted anywhere we could see. After breakfast we headed back to our room and somewhere closer to noon we finally heard the Captain giving an announcement on the PA system but it was in the halls and not in our state room. I opened the door and heard him talking about the huge waves that were along all the islands north shore. No ships could go there. They were working with their Florida office to set us a new course. Claude and pulled out the newspaper we received on Saturday and there were reports of huge waves. We saw some of them on the north shore on Saturday when we were on the North Shore of Oahu for lunch and shopping. Now these waves were in the 60 to 80 foot heights. The Hawaiian's were very happy because now they could have the surfing competition call the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau. This is usually shortened and called the 'Eddie'. The end result was our cruise ship would stay in the Honolulu port all day Sunday. We could get off the ship and tour if we so chose. Claude and I spent a bit of time by the pool. Then we took a LONG nap in the afternoon. This was great for the adjusting to the time change and getting those pesky colds to go away. We finally got a change of schedule in our mail box by our door. We would depart Honolulu Sunday evening at 5pm and head to Kauai. This should have been the last 2 days of our cruise. Nonetheless, we would have 2 days in Kauai. Then we would sail to the Big Island of Hawaii and hit Kona the 1st day then round the point of Hawaii and hit Hilo the 2nd day in Hawaii. Then we would have only 1 day in Maui instead of two. Then return to Honolulu and disembark Saturday, December 12th. For this change each guest was given $25 credit at the ships stores. The picture below is of Honolulu from our cruise ship with an airplane in the sky. The other picture is of Claude and I on Deck 12 with Diamond Head in the background.

Please note the cute necklace I'm wearing. It is made of Kukui beads. These are very popular and come in necklace and bracelet varieties. A class was taught by the Hawaiian on-board Ambassadors, China & Kekai. I spent a bit of my day making this cute necklace. All supplies were furnished for free. I purchased 2 kits so that Katelyn and Aubrey could each make a necklace when I got home. These Kukui nuts were very useful to the Hawaiian people. They are filled with an oil. A hole was drilled in the end of the nut and the oil was burned to provide light. The oil was also used for their skin and hair to keep them healthy. Then a 2nd hole was drilled in the opposite end and they were used for leis. The nut is actually heart shaped. When we were at the airport waiting to fly home from Hawaii, Claude and I found one with purple turtles painted on each side of each nut. Well...my favorite color is purple and I collect turtles (my favorite word). Claude purchased that Kukui lei for me right away.