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Holidays in the South Pacific

November 2022 - January 2023
A tropical odyssey with traveling friends Read more
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  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 1

    DCA to Honolulu

    November 23, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    We had a long , but blessedly uneventful day, flying from Reagan National to Honolulu via Phoenix. We shared a row with a lovely woman named Ella on the first leg, and got upgraded on the second (longer) leg. Score!!! Nice dinner- braised short ribs, shrimp, salad and mac'n'cheese.

    We arrived at the Holiday Inn Waikiki at 8 pm which was 1 am home time. It'll be an early (local time) night. We stopped by the ABC store across the street from the hotel. It's not "ABC" like booze store back home, although they had all the adult beverages. It's more like a convenience store with souvenirs- and an interesting selection of to-go foods.

    26 degrees this morning. 85 degrees tonight.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 2

    Waikiki Beach and Luau

    November 24, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We took a stroll to the beach- as it turns out, the part we went to is part of the military recreation area. Fort Derussey includes the Army Museum, and goes over to the Hale Koa Hotel, which is a military-owned hotel. (I tried to reserve a room there about 10 months ago for this visit- already totally booked.) Wayne had his ritual touching of the water. Sometimes he wades in, but not this time. I, on the other hand, did get my feet in the water, but only because a wave caught me. Luckily I was wearing my Keens, but the socks got soggy.

    After a brief rest, we were picked up by our driver, Dave, for a trip to our luau. Fellow travelers in our van were Melissa and Kevin from LA. Experience Nutridge is in the Puu Ualakaa State Park. On the way we were treated to a beautiful rainbow- a nice gift after an intermittently rainy day.

    The Nutridge property was so named because it was the site of a Macadamia nut grove- the first commercial Macadamia grove. Experience Nutridge is a unique experience- lots of cultural information and demonstrations, and a delicious luau dinner which included kalua pork, turkey (not standard fare, but offered specially tonight in honor of Thanksgiving,) barbecued chicken, purple sweet potatoes, salad with pineapple dressing, and a really good wrap of sweet potatoes and pork wrapped in leaves and cooked. Our host told us that the wrapper tasted like spinach. I thought it tasted more like green beans-- at any rate it tasted really good. Dessert included pineapple, a yummy coconut pudding, and chocolate cupcakes- not worth the calories to me after the first bite, but I ate the macadamias on top. There were Hawaiian dances, and a hula that we learned, followed by Elvis singing "Falling in Love With You," and topped off with the Cupid Shuffle.

    And then back to the hotel, grateful and thankful for so much in life, including our new Ohana from tonight.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 3

    Pearl Harbor

    November 25, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We had breakfast at the hotel with Darla and Rick. Glenn and Judy picked us up and drove to Pearl Harbor. We had the audio tour of the museum which was really worthwhile. Every time I read or visit anything related to WWII in the Pacific, I learn more about the attack. The USS Arizona Memorial was as moving as the only time I had visited before with my parents, and it brought back memories of that time together. The movie that followed the visit gave a better explanation than I had understood before about the reasons for the attack. And it reinforced the horror of those two fateful hours for the men in the ships, airfields and other facilities, and the years of war that followed.

    We decided to go in search of food, and ended up at Bonzai Burger in the International shopping mall on Kuhio Avenue- the same street as our hotel, about a half mile away. There was an ABC next to the outdoor table that we were seated at, so Judy and I visited there while the boys waited for our order to be completed. We walked around the mall for a bit, and marvelled at the huge banyon tree - around which the mall was built.

    Then a walk down to the beach, more beautiful views of the ocean and Diamond Head, and back to the car, and then to the hotel. I needed to get some nail polish remover and bug spray, so took a walk to a drugstore. Need to get stuff repacked for tomorrow morning- and probably an early night.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 4

    Sailaway-Aloha, Honolulu

    November 26, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Breakfast, hotel checkout, Lyft ride, boarding process, and chilled 'til our stateroom was ready.

    We boarded without incident, and hung out until lunch in Windows- the large dining room. I got unpacked while W people-watched.

    Walking around the ship brought back some happy memories, and a glimpse at Pride of America, and a last glimpse at Diamond Head.

    We got together with our traveling friends- Darla & Rick, and Judy & Glenn for dinner at Silk, the Asian restaurant. I had calamari and orange beef, and Wayne had spring rolls, egg drop soup, and sweet sour pork.

    The Restaurant Manager, Manoel stopped by our table. He was aboard Spirit with us when COVID broke out, and we shared some stories of our 3 weeks at sea. A group of women who were also on that cruise had T-shirts made with a picture of them and Manoel. They were behind us in the Teppanyaki Restaurant- and they were having a GOOD time. We decided to forego dessert, and I joined Rick & Darla for the opening night show.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 5

    Out and About in Kaua'i

    November 27, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    What a great day! Darla and Rick rented a van, and we had a delightful day of waterfalls and beautiful views with them, Judy and Glenn.

    We used Shaka Audio tours in the car. The first stop was Wailua Falls- 200 feet tall. There's no getting close to it, but the view from afar was breathtaking. There was a lady selling a large variety of banana bread, and we settled on one with walnuts.

    We saw several heiaus- place of various types of worship delineated by large square rock structures. The structure first of these was not well delineated- looked more like some piles of rocks- but the area is sacred, nonetheless. The first was near the Hilton Garden Inn Resort, which happened to have a Sunday craft market that we visited.

    The next heiau was very distinct, and near it we're "birthing rocks." I can think of more comfortable places...

    Then to a Buddhist monastery, where we missed the entry time by a few minutes. We did walk around the grounds, and I saw what I decided was the Buddhist version of a garden troll.

    Another breathtaking waterfall, seen from afar. We went to an arboretum- a small grove of trees near a creek that featured beautiful rainbow eucalyptus.

    We spotted some food trucks, and had fish tacos, quesadillas and the like.

    We ended the trip with a pull off into the Marriott Resort, where we parked near the golf course to enjoy the banana bread we purchased earlier.

    Then back to the ship- nap, then dinner in Taste- grilled veg and broiled Hake for me, clam chowder & Hake for Wayne. I topped it off with some mint chocolate mousse- extremely yummy.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 7

    On the Road toward Hana

    November 29, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    What a day! I walked with Darla and Rick to pick up the rental van and off we went on the Road Toward Hana. Because of time limits, we went part of the way, and enjoyed all the sights. Our first stop was Hookipa Beach- we watched dozens of surfers in some pretty impressive waves. We stopped at Twin Falls- we saw one, and it was lovely.

    We had an impromptu picnic with passion fruit & passion fruit strawberry bread and mung bean cookies that we got at a market this morning. Then back to the ship. A truly great day.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 8

    Hawaii- The Big Island

    November 30, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Glenn, Darla, and Rick got the van, and we were off to explore Hawaii with Shaaka AudioTour.
    We visited the Liliʻuokalani Gardens

     Garden- beautiful bridges and Japanese lanterns. Then off to lots of tropical forest, waterfalls, and beautiful ocean views.

    The Shaaka Tour gave us lots of history and info. Such beauty, culture, and history.

    We stopped at Tex's for Malasadas- Portuguese filled donuts-- so yummy.

    As we drove a long, the Shaka tour played music in between featured stops and informational segments. We had a Ukulele sing-along to Bohemian Rhapsody. What fun!

    Lava tube caves- made from flowing lava when the surface cools, and the hot lava keeps flowing. It was like a fern temple.

    We had a picnic of treats we'd brought along- then a trip to Long's Drugs (Hawaiian CVS associate), and back to the ship.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 14

    Bora Bora- Another Perfect Day

    December 6, 2022 in French Polynesia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Snorkels-all day long, with a break for a delicious island lunch.

    We had an early start- slathered up with SPF 50 before donning board shorts, rash shirt, and water shoes. I opted not to bring the flippers, since they weren't helpful yesterday. Mistake. Luckily the boat had some for us to use. We had more open water today.

    We saw black-tipped sharks, devil rays, manta rays, green moray eel, all sorts of fish in a rainbow of different colors and combinations. There were clams or oysters with teal and purple designed openings, sea urchins... And on and on. The coral gardens had all manner of coral- purple, yellow, green, brown, orange.

    The lunch was yummy- pig, bananas, spinach, breadfruit, tapioca root, taro, pineapple, So. Good.

    We ended our trip with a visit to a sand-bottomed area where we hung out in the water until our return to the dock. We tendered back to the ship- no waiting.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 15

    Moorea- Snorkeling & Other Fun

    December 7, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Wow. Another great day. I patted a sting ray, saw sharks, snorkeled through another coral garden, cracked a coconut, squeezed coconut milk, made ceviche, learned how coconut palm leaf hats are made, saw many ways to tie a sarong/pareo, and had an overall terrific day. Our boat driver was Wilfred, whose Tahitian name is Makiroto. He taught us lots.

    By the way- there's very little that's better than a post-snorkel shower.

    Late entry from yesterday- we were so wiped out that we went to dinner early, ate half of our dinner, went back to the room to watch TV, woke up at midnight, and couldn't believe it was actually 6:30 when the alarm went off this morning.

    Interesting fact- English was one of my college majors. I was taught not to write run-on sentences.    Read more

  • Holidays in the South Pacific
    Day 17

    More Moorea

    December 9, 2022 in French Polynesia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Wow. Again. Wow.

    We departed Papeete late last night, and returned to Moorea-. We did a similar snorkel trip- again the sharks and rays, and coral gardens. I tried to get some pictures, but the phone camera didn't love its new case- so I figured I could either try to take pics, or enjoy looking at all the cool stuff. Cool stuff won out.

    We stopped at the island for lunch, and again cracked coconuts, made ceviche and had yummy lunch of fish, chicken, taro, tapioca root, pineapple, coconut bread, and ceviche.

    Darla sat in the water, and soon attracted a shark and four rays. They sidled up against me- and their underside feels like velvet!    Read more

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