Here's a shot of Maui, taken from our balcony. There was actually a second rainbow just too the left but it was too faint for the camera to pick it up.
Next on the agenda was Oahu. We visited the Pearl Harbor and did a city tour and went to a luau that night. This was the sunset at the luau. (If anyone wants to see my dolphin tattoo - temp, of course - that I got at the luau, let me know.)
Then we went to Kauai. It was our favorite island, we think. So beautiful! We visited Waimea Canyon but it was rainy so the pics are misty looking. This is part of the grounds of the hotel we lunched at.
Then to the Big Island. Our first stop was Kona. This is at the Place of Refuge. Gorgeous!
The next day, we stopped on the other side of the island at Hilo. We visited Volcanoes National Park and the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory. :o) Here's a shot of the Kilauea crater:
Our last stop was Ensenada. This is the courtyard of a former casino...isn't the bougainvillea amazing??
I'll post my book report soon. Nine days at sea means lots of reading time! :-D
I can't pick my favourite! I love the crater but I bet I would have wimped out and said 'hell no I'm not setting foot on that island'.
I have a dream that I will one day make it to Hawaii now that I know you can get there by a ship. Of course, I can only imagine the kind of head games my brain will play with me then ;)
CIndyS
Stacy - you should definitely start planning! :o)
Ames - I'm not even going to ask about your attraction to big holes in the ground...I'm too skeered of your answer. LOL Street Sense won the Derby. A very pretty horse, I must say. The jockey was way excited!
Cindy - It was a bit odd to basically be on top of a giant volcano (even though all of the islands could be considered that way)...even if we weren't anywhere near the active area. We did get up in the wee hours of the morning to try to see the lava flow into the ocean (from our balcony). It was really far away but we could see a few smalls glows off in the distance. Cool!
If you don't get motion sick, a cruise might be just the ticket to get you to Hawaii, peeps. You don't get jetlag. You get excellent food - and tons of it. You get to lounge around being lazy or learn to hula or participate in backgammon (or Scrabble or chess or shuffleboard) tournaments. There's shopping and movies and shows. And you only unpack once and get to visit several islands. :o) Cruising spoils you, let me tell you!
Great pics!