October 1, 2022

This trip to Hawaii was delayed, rescheduled, postponed and transformed a number of times over the three years or so it has been in our travel plans.  So when our departure day finally rolled around with no new roadblocks we were delighted.  You really cannot imagine how delighted!

We began our journey with a drive to Toronto and a 2:00 p.m. flight to Vancouver.  Then our 'red-eye' flight from Vancouver to Honolulu got even 'redder' when we sat on the tarmac for over an hour while WestJet decided what to do about a medical emergency aboard the aircraft.

Vancouver Airport has some amazing aboriginal art on display.

It's a beautiful facility.

They finally taxied us back to the departure gate, offloaded the sick passenger and her family, and we left two hours behind schedule.

We landed in Honolulu about 10 minutes before the Alamo Car Rental desk was due to close at 11:00 p.m. so as soon as we left the aircraft Carol bolted toward the Alamo desk while I headed to the baggage carousels to gather our luggage.

The bags came surprisingly quickly and I was waiting on the sidewalk outside the Arrivals level when Carol pulled up in a white Toyota Corolla.  By this time we had been travelling for over 24 hours and it was almost midnight in Hawaii.  We were exhausted, but had an hour-long drive remaining to get to the Marriot Courtyard Hotel at Leia, on Oahu's north shore.

It was after 1:00 p.m. when we tossed our bags in our room and flopped into bed!

Our first day on Oahu was overcast with off and on rain showers.  We were still very tired from our 24 hour travel day, but we did manage to see a bit of the North Shore and eat shrimp on the side of the road.

We were back to our hotel by mid-afternoon and enjoyed a nap followed by dinner in the hotel dining room, and a relaxing evening.

October 3, 2022

On our second day in this tropical paradise the sun shone all day. We did some more exploring up the North Shore, stopped for a shave ice and had lunch at the Polynesian Cultural Center located next to our hotel.

After lunch we enjoyed a swim in the pool followed by another nap.

The view from our hotel room was amazing.  We overlooked the hotel's magnificent pool and hot tub with a volcanic mountain range covered with tropical rainforest as a background.

This gave us a beautiful vista to look at as we recovered from jet-lag!

Our third day was spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  What an amazing place. Even though it rained most of the day it was extremely interesting and enjoyable.

The Cultural Center represents six Polynesian islands, Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Almost all of the workers at the center are students at the nearby Hawaiian campus of Brigham Young University who seem proud to present the culture and traditions of their homelands.

This is Loco Moco.  Steamed rice topped with grilled hamburger patties, gravy and scrambled eggs.  It tastes better than it sounds!

Carol wasn't as adventurous . . . she had a BLT

It's luau time!

October 5, 2022

On our last day at Leia we had nothing planned.  We spent a nice day driving around checking out the sights all around the North Shore area of Oahu

Dole Whip with pineapple chunks!

Mmmm!  Malasadas - Portuguese pastries!

After a leisurely breakfast at our hotel we drove through the mountains from the north shore, past Honolulu, to the west coast and the beautiful resort Aulani. This is where we will spend 5 days with our friends from Florida, Michigan and California. It's a paradise!

Our room was ready when we arrived so we settled right in, then spent a few hours roaming the lush resort, getting our bearings.

Later in the day we met our 'gang' of friends at a poolside bar for some libations.  A Hawaiian beer for me, something exotic and fruity for Carol!

We all met again for dinner at The 'Ōlelo Room.  Linda took a 'selfie' with Raleigh, Mari, Deb, Lee, Laura and Sandy in the background with Carol and I.

We started our day with an amazing breakfast at Aulani's Makahiki Restaurant with Mickey and his friends. We then spent several hours by the pool and beach. We are really enjoying the resort.

We had another relaxing day, just soaking in the magnificent resort. We spent the morning by the pool and swimming in the ocean.

When it got too hot we went back to the room to watch the Blue Jays in post-season play; that was a big disappointment!  We finished off the day enjoying Disney's version of a Luau.

The show was entertaining and had a few Disney elements included, but Carol and I agreed that we enjoyed both the food and the show more at the Polynesian Cultural Center. 

We spent a few hours baking in the sun beside the pool, then it got too hot.

Warning:  Aulani can accommodate four or five times as many guests than there are lounge chairs at poolside.  If you want to have a chair to plop your butt into beside the pool you must be up early and sit in the chair of your choice by about 7:30 a.m.  When the towel stations open at 8:00 a.m your accomplice should be in position to pick up towels which you can use to 'reserve' your chair for the rest of the day.

We took a drive up the west coast and went all the way to the northern tip at Ka'ena Point State Park.

We joined our friends for dinner at Noe, an elegant Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort next door to Aulani.

We were up bright and early; by 7:30 we had staked out a couple of chairs in a shady spot beside the former adult pool, and we spent most of our last day there hopping in and out of the water.

We joined our friends for the last time and had a nice dinner at The 'Ōlelo Room.

This pair of talented performers serenaded us as the sun went down and our time at Aulani came to an end.

We left Aulani in the morning, drove through Honolulu to Waikiki Beach and checked in to the Marriott Hotel.

After being at a Disney Deluxe resort you can expect a bit of a let down. When we opened the door to our room it was more than a bit of a let down, it was a complete crash.

It was like going back in time to when all you could afford was a musty dim basement apartment. It took a few minutes to adjust to the disappointment before Carol picked up the phone and called the front desk. We were not spending 5 nights in this dungeon.

They were very apologetic but couldn't move us until the next day.

We settled on that and immediately left to drive around and take in the scenery. We drove up to Diamond Head and all around Waikiki. The best part was we found a Baskin-Robbins. Ice cream always makes things better!

Inside the Diamond Head caldera!

October 12, 2022

We got up early, showered off the musty smell of our room, put our luggage in storage and hit the road.  There are so many beautiful places to see on this island.

We drove up the coast past Diamond Head and stopped at the Holona blow hole.

Then on to the Byodo-In temple. It was lovely and tranquil, except for when Gary rang the bell.  BONG!

Carol enjoyed feeding the birds, ♪♫ Tuppence a bag ♫♪

From there we went on to Nu'uanu Pali Lookout.

When we got back to the hotel our new room was ready, this one is lovely and when I look out the window I can see the ocean in the distance rather than a dumpster.

A blow-hole in black lava rock.

A Buddhist Temple nestled in the Hawaiian mountains!

Some people made this big bell go 'ding.'

I made it go 'BONG!'

Carol became a 'bird-whisperer'!

Who looks happier?  Carol or the birds?

When dinner time rolled around it was pouring rain so we dashed across Royal Hawaiian Avenue and had an unexotic dinner at IHOP! 

October 13, 2022

We started our day of tourism at Pearl Harbor then took another drive up the western coast of the island. The beaches along Ka'Ena Point State Park are breathtaking. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a Dole Whip at the Dole Plantation. A beautiful sunset finished off the evening.

We saw plenty of riders in the back of Hawaiian pickup trucks, but these two were certainly the most unique!

Carol hit King Kamehameha in a drive-by shooting!

The sunset from our window.

October 14, 2022

Our day was all about sea turtles on Kawela Beach, mongoose, flowers, big surf and scenery. Also shrimp at the roadside shrimp truck on the North Shore.

Volunteers monitor the honu (sea turtles) and place red ropes in the sand to keep tourists at least 10 feet away from the basking amphibians.

The volunteers can identify individual turtles.

We were watching Makana.

We wore our bathing suits today, intending to swim in the pond at the bottom of Waimea Falls.  Unfortunately there had been no rain for days, the falls were a mere trickle and the pond was almost dry.

Drat!

As we ate at Fumis one of the employees tossed a plate full of

shrimp tails out beside a patch of shrubs and long grass.

About a dozen mongoose scampered out of the grass and entertained us as we finished our lunch.

October 15, 2022

We wanted to spend more time at the Polynesian Cultural Center so we traveled back up the North Shore and spent a perfect day enjoying the facility without rain.

Carol got a new tattoo!  It washed off later that day.

Everything we wanted to know about coconut oil . . . and more!

This is the Tahitian temple where Carol and I renewed our vows!

Tahitian weddings involve a great deal of dancing!

You may now slap the groom!

He's playing a Tongan nose flute.  Yup - that's how you play it! 

Use your thumb to close one nostril and honk away with the other side!

October 16, 2022

On our final day we had no plans until we had to head to the airport for the red-eye home.

We drove around the historical area in Honolulu, then up the west coast with a stop at Costco to put in time.

King Kamehameha's palace.

(pronounced Ka-may-a-may-a)

Ua Mau ke Ea o ka 'Āina i ka Pono is a phrase coined by King Kamehameha.  It is now the Hawaii State Motto.

It means 'The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness'.

Across from the palace is the Hawaii Supreme Court building

and a statue of King Kamehameha.

At Costco in Honolulu - 8 12oz. cans of Spam for only $16.89

Spam is very popular in Hawaii!

October 17, 2022

Home we go!