Home Again, Home Again

We left Hawaii at 10:00 pm on Wednesday Sept 28th.
We landed in Vancouver, then off to Toronto. We arrived in Toronto at 5:00 pm on Sept 29th.
We spent the night at the Sheraton Gateway, (as we were worn out from flying) and arrived home early Friday Sept 30th.

A great 21 or so days.

Thanks to all who read and commented on our blog. It was fun to write, and will provide us with a journal of the trip forever.

Last Full Day in Hawaii

I suppose you thought I forgot to take a picture of the sunset last night. Well you are wrong, I just forgot to add it to the blog. So here it is a day late. lol

Up this morning to catch the "green line" for another trolley tour of parts of Oahu.

As we headed towards Diamond Head, we spotted a beautiful beach down below the road.

Approaching Diamond Head

Inside the Diamond Head Crater, there is a hiking trail to the top, that will take 60 to 90 minutes.
We decided to decline the invitation.
The Diamond Head Crater is a 760 ft volcanic tuff cone, a US state monument, and one of Hawaii's most famous landmarks.

This is the entrance/exit to the crater.

Another picture of the landscape after we exit the Diamond Head Crater. You can see Koko Head in the distance.

We passed the Hawaii 5-0 studio as shown below.

One of the many parks.

We had luch at Tony Roma's. The "best ribs in America" is their slogan.

I must say they may be right.

After all those ribs, I needed a walk and took a couple of pictures along the way.

Another boat race. Guess what boat we are all in? We did have a couple of helpers in this race as it was a 6 person canoe.

And, of course a couple of tonights sunset

Off to Vancouver and then Toronto tomorrow.

Up and About

Today we thought we could use a little more exercise, as we only have one more full day after today.
The time has flew by.

Bonnie signed us up for sailboat racing. As you can see, we are in the lead boat, and currently way ahead. A fairly easy victory over a team from the University of Hawaii.

Off to the pool for some much needed relaxation.

We thought we would walk over to the Hawaiian Village as they have a great ice cream store and an equally good candy store. After ice cream, we picked up some candy. (chocolate coated macadamians)

Bonnie found a fellow holding onto a pig and he wanted us to take his picture. We couldn't refuse.

On the way back we saw a family of ducks in the rock waterfall pond.

Watched the debate (at 3:00 pm in this neck of the woods) and got ready to head for The Beachhouse at the Moana for dinner.

Great spot for dinner. Bonnie, Jane and I had the "catch of the moment".
Dan had a steak that looked fabulous.

Picture of the catch of the moment. I had to be quick in case it got away.

There was a gigantic tree growing in the centre of the restaurant.

We needed to get a picture of your fearless adventurers who have destroyed the competition in all the boat races. This is your team.

Off to bed, as tomorrow is our last full day on the island, and we have a lot to do.

At the Pool and on the Bus

Another wonderful morning when we arose, at the ungodly hour of 7:00 am.

We are starting to develop a liking for the Hawaiian life. Hang Loose!!!!  The signal of the thumb and baby finger held up, and moving it back and forth means "hang loose".
Some of us can do it better than others. I, have become an expert.

We went down to the pool this morning for our daily exercise. Running on the spot in the pool.

Around noon, Bonnie and I caught the "purple line" trolley for a 2 and a half hour tour of the island.

This a picture of "our ride"

We went to see the Duke Kahanamuko Statue, one of the best Hawaiian surf boarders.

We also stopped briefly at the Aloha Tower.

Further along on the tour, we passed the Aloha Stadium and Pearl Harbour.
A very smooth ride through the streets of Oahu.

Back at the condo to meet Dan and Jane for a late lunch at the Moderne Hotel.

And finally, a sunset picture.

A quiet day and we will see y'all tomorrow.

A Great Day in Waikiki

A very relaxing morning as we contemplated on what to do today.

Breakfast over , it was time to head to the pool.

Jane and Bonnie were in the pool. Dan and I were in the deep end showing some of the locals how we Canadians dive into the pool.

We then headed back to the Hilton Hawaiian Village, as the girls needed a few more things in the shops.

Lunch at CJ's New York Bistro and more shopping.

A picture along the way.

A short rest at our condo and we went down to the courtyard where Les and Tania were playing Hawaiian music from 6:00 to 9:00.

We spent an hour or so listening to The Hawaiian music. Terrific.

A picture of the sunset and off to bed.

Back tomorrow with more action, although Dan and I are getting a little tired from all the physical activity. See y'all tomorrow.

A slow day at Waikiki

As noted yesterday, today was shopping day, so we took a taxi to the mall (Macy's) as the girls had some more shopping to do.

Dan and I headed for the Mai Tai Bar to wait for the girls.

We looked to the left and saw this vista through the window, and thought we better get a picture, lest the girls think we spent the whole time drinking Blue Moon Beer.

And that picture is from the 4th floor of the mall.

Lunch at Bubba Gumps Shrimp Company (wonderful lunch) and off home.

Our idea was to spend a quiet afternoon in the condo, with a drink or 2, and await the spectacular fireworks at 7:45.

A knock on the door and there was a challenge. Remember our canoe race a few days ago when we destroyed the competition? Well here it was. A challenge by a sailboat for a race around the bay. 

How could we not accept.

The picture is not the best, (taken by a rank Amateur), but it shows us leading the sailboat as we near the finish line. If you have trouble recognizing us, Jane and Bonnie are in the front and Dan and I in the back. What a glorious victory.

Sunset time. Well, I slipped down to photograph a trio playing in our courtyard and when I returned, a GD cloud had covered my sun. 

Here is the trio and the worst sunset of the trip.

Tonight was fireworks night. Our balcony provided spectacular views of the fireworks.

The pictures do not do justice to the fireworks that we saw.

Until tomorrow

Circle Island Tour and Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

We were up early this morning to head out on the "circle island tour". This tour goes around the whole island, starts at 8:30 am and ends at 6:00 pm.

The scenery was spectacular and the pictures do not show what we actually saw, but we will attempt to convey what we actually saw.
 Off we go.
Pictures of some of us on the bus.

Joe was outside helping to load up the bus, so missed the photo op.

A short stop at Pearl Harbour to pick up more folks for the bus tour

We went to the Dole Plantation, but things have changed over the years and all that is left is a gift shop. So off we went to a small village of Hauen where we stopped for a short visit. They served shaved ice but we were waiting for the pineapple ice cream.

 As we headed along the coast our driver, Paulo Matsumoto, who is part Italian and part Japanese, and a terrific driver/guide, related a story about the Hawaiian's and Eddie Aikau. Some of the Hawaiian's wanted to duplicate the Polynesians trek, from Tahiti to Hawaiii, and headed out in a similar boat. The boat capsized and Eddie, an excellent surf boarder, grabbed his board and started off for help. Eddie never made, but they put up a memorial for him at Waimea Bay as a hero.

Following is the memorial to Eddie, and a couple of pictures of Waimea Bay

They have a surfing competition at Waimea Bay, in honor of Eddie, every year if the waves reach 35'. So far this competition has gone on 9 of the last 30 years.

A number of TV shows have been shot in this area including Hawaii 5-0, Magnum P.I. , Fantasy Island and Gilligan's Island

We headed onward to "The Chinaman's Hat Island". This area and the rock formation was the scene of a number of movies including The Karate Kid and 50 First Dates.

Further on we managed to get a picture of the King and the Queen. Not sure who the statues behind us are though. Couple of natives I expect.

Off to the Nuuanu Pali Lookout. These views are fantastic. Hopefully the pictures will show some of that.

This area was used in the shooting of Jurassic World.

More shots along the way.

Lunch?

More pictures along the coast.

One of the highlights of the tour was the opportunity to do some hang gliding.

Dan and I took that opportunity. The 1st picture is Dan and the 2nd picture is me. One of the girls was taking the pictures. 

We finally found the photographer and got this picture of her.

More pictures of the coast

Well, you can't say I didn't warn you about the number of photos.

Now, You thought I forgot about the sunset I suspect, with all these other pictures. Well, here it is.

The girls say tomorrow is a shopping day. Probably just as well as Dan and I are a little tired from the hang gliding, and they do have a couple of good bars at the mall

See y'all tomorrow.