My travelogue and pictures of the three islands of Hawaii

I'm planning to slow down from 7-8 trips/year down to 5-6 this year, and 4-5 next year. My age is catching up with me!

Gained over five pounds in Hawaii.

This shirt is on display at Hilo Hatties in Honolulu - our last stop before returning our rental car.


Our two bedroom apartment in Maui.


Lahaina: a government building converted to shops and restaurants.


The Baldwin Missionary Home; a museum.


At the Papakea complex north from Kaanapali.


A whale skeleton.


Iao Valley needle.


We stopped here for lunch before our drive back to Lahaina.


This plant at our lunch stop was luminous.


The dinner-show at the Hyatt Regency; Drums of the Pacific.


A scene from the show.

More coming later today on Maui.

My daughter is on Oahu right now. Lucky her.

Hard Rock Cafe in Lahaina.


Polynesia warrior?


Cheese Burger in Paradise. They have the best french fries.


Fire dance at the show at the Hyatt.


Waiting for our boat for our trip to Molokini for snorkeling.


Many grey whale sightings during the day.


Molokini: it's shaped like a quarter moon, and looks like a small btother to Santorini in the Aegean Sea.


Our son getting ready to snorkel.


The lifeguard through my monoscope.


Scuba divers not far from our boat.


I just love this picture taken from Lahaina.

More to come on Maui.

Our last morning in Maui helicopter ride.


Ritchie our pilot.


Flying above the clouds. It was a very nice day for flying. Most of it was clear.


The Haleakala volcanos.


One of many waterfalls in the rain forest.


A high one.


This is where they filmed Jerassic Park.


This is Paia; my father's birthplace.


Nagata's Market in Paia.


Getting ready for our very short flight to the Big Island just before 4pm.

The last island pictures coming up tomorrow. If you return to see the last batch of pictures, you'll see a surprise.

Loved the waterfalls, especially, c.i.

I like the hottie who seems to have forgotten the bottom half of her wetsuit.

Looks like I'll have to stick around home to wait for FEDEX to pick up my VISA applications for the Middle East trip in May, so I'll try to finish posting my pictures today.


Our hotel, the Royal Sea Cliff Resort, a few miles away from Kona's downtown.


Our "living" quarters. They have wireless hotspot in the lobby area on the 5th floor, and we were on the 7th floor with an ocean view.


Our ocean view.


Sglass treated us to lunch at this marina restaurant. The Yitwails joined us as we finished.

Yitwail recommended some places up on the north shore where we should visit, so that's what we did to look for humpbacks and turtles.


Turtlees at the first beach.

The second beach area.


Shops at Kona. We had dinner at the Kona Inn restaurant; Sglass, her friend Charlotte, the Yitwails, and mr and mrs ci. Thanks for the treat, Sglass.


The lobby of the restaurant.


The "official" a2k meet.


The Kona Hard Rock Cafe.

The following day, Sglass, the Mrs, and I drove around the Big Island. Sglass was our tour guide. Our first stop was at the Kona Hotel in Waikoloa Village where Astronaut Unizuka was born and reared. The owner of the hotel that Sglass knows, Mrs Inaba, also knew Unizuka and his family. They have a picture of Unizuka in the hotel "lobby" which was built in the early part of the last century.


South Point: this is the southernmost point of the US.


This "dummy" jumped off the cliff - about 100 feet down - and climbed back up a small steel ladder.


The windmills at South Point.


Black sand beach. They also have a green sand beach on the Big Island.


The Volcano Art Center: many paintings and crafts made locally for sale.


Kilauea Caldera in the Volcanoes National Park.


The Jagger Museum has seismograph instruments, how they measure the surface levels before and after eruptions, and other info about the ages of these volcanos. The Big Island is the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands.


Big Island Candy Factory and Store: our friends told us not to miss this store. They gave us samples as we walked into the store, and they were really delicious! We walked out with several packages of cookies and candies.


Downtown Hilo: Sglass' home town. We had dinner here, because we missed lunch from the long drive and no place to eat.


A Scenic Drive spot where Sglass directed us to.

It was a full day of driving and site seeing.

The steaming caldera.


The Kona Hotel.

Some more pix from Oahu and Maui.


Sorry. This is the Bodi tree in Oahu.


Oahu: Punchbowl.


Waikiki: International Market Place.


Oahu: Byo do in.


Dole pineapple.


Oahu: China hat.


Maui: Roasted pig at the Hyatt.


Dancer at show.


We landed safely.

Back on the Big Island.


We spent the last day at the Hilton Resort Hotel lazying by the poolside. Sglass joined us for the day, and Yitwail works at the hotel.


Walkikng behind one of several waterfalls by the pool.


Dolphins. Some people pay to play with the dolphins and have their pictures taken.


Sglass enjoying the water.


Suspension bridge.


Train at the hotel. They also have boats to transport people from one area to another of this large complex.


One of many pools.

The final surrise: can you guess who this is?



It's Onizuka. sorry.

Great pictures! I wanna go!!!!!!!

Just great - the location and the pics.

Some notes:
The first tree was a baobab tree (not bodi). They are common in Africa.
The botanical garden my cousin's nephew took us to is the Foster; there about a half dozen botanical gardens in Oahu.
The bodi tree came from the original bodi tree in Sarnath, India, where Buddha established the first temple.

You sure know how to vacation, CI!

You should've come! The weather was very good - about 80 degrees F on all three islands with a little bit of liquid sunshine.

Your photos are always a treat, c.i., thanks again.

Nice shots, I liked the aerials the best.

Ok, the next time I want to meet you at a nice place like that!

Wonderful pictures CI. I wish you could have stayed longer. Sigh, you and Mrs. CI and Sean are great company.

Sglass, Thank you for being a gracious host; you made our visit richer for the experience, and allowed us to see things we would have missed on our own. All three of us really enjoyed our visit to the Hawaiian islands.

Meeting my cousin and her nephew, and having dinner with my nephew in Oahu was a special treat for me; I even saw some "family" resemblance in their faces. After all, my father was born on the islands.

This trip will have an everlasting place in my heart.

Thank you, Sglass.

ci, great pics. Makes me want to go to Maui again. The gray whale flipper was terrific; must have been hard to click at precisely the right time.

nobody's guessed yet on who's in your surprise pic. Maybe a hint's in order.