Oahu Day: 02

Well, we're staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - and we think it's in Honolulu, but it also appears to be in Waikiki - we're still not entirely clear on where we are. But that all being said, we're in a much more urban area than we were before while we were in Ka'anapali.

From yesterday during our travels to Oahu from Maui:

- Before we left Maui, there was a neat shot of Molokai (I think that's how you spell it) where a rainbow is basically only at water level, so it's not quite a rainbow, but rather a rainbubble, or something like that.









- Here is a hula gorilla













- After checking in (which was a bit rude, to be honest) we toured around a little and found a pond with both turtles and penguins in it, which my wife loves.








Here are a couple of neat shots from our tour today.
- Some crabs while we were crossing a little bridge.














- A neat view while we're crossing another bridge.













- On the other side of the bridge there was road work, but ... there was also this really excellent view of a neat hotel that was basically standing alone, with the backdrop of some fantastic green hills.









- Here is a neat row of hotels as seen from behind a golf course, which is neat.












- Another shot of stuff through a fence by the golf course. I think this is in the direction of something called "Diamond Head National Park."











- Here's the view from our hotel room, showing the Waikiki skyline, which is very neat. The hotels and shops around here are all very classy. It's kind of like walking the strip in Vegas, or what imagine Rodeo Drive would be like in Hollywood. Pretty neat.








- Finally, I had never seen a pineapple that's still growing. I didn't know that grew out of the ground, and have no idea how they work. Here is what they look like when they're growing, and it looks weird. Never seen anything like this.

West Maui Day: 07

Sorry we missed an update yesterday, but frankly, we didn't take any pictures of anything. We didn't do a whole lot more than lay low, read by the pool and eat dinner. It was great - we even watched a Stephen King movie called "Sometimes they Come Back," which wasn't great, but it was a nice restful way to wrap up an evening.

Anyhow - all of that aside, or adventures in Maui will conclude tomorrow as we check out of the Westin and return our rental car, heading over to Honolulu on Oahu (where we've got the Lost Tour and a Dinner Cruise to look forward to.)

As for today - wait till you see what we got up to! First off, you can see that we were just standing around a beach out by the hotel when ....

we wound up on a li'l boat that ferried us out to another boat called the UFO Parasailer - which, as it names suggests, actually dragged you behind it while you're harnessed into a parachute, and then they drive you along and yank you 600 feet up into the air!

It was totally calm and peaceful at the other end of the line. We didn't have our camera up the parachute with us, but the view was cool. And it wasn't noisy, it wasn't jerky, it was just this quiet and relaxing trip around the bay between Molokai and Lana off the west coast of Maui. Very cool.

We may not have pictures up of what we get up to tomorrow - but we'll be on a new island, in a new hotel, and exploring a new resort, so we may have some cool updates.

I hope you're liking the updates!

Flying over Maui in a helicopter today

Hi - today we flew over Maui in a helicopter, and it was very cool. We actually took 100 pictures - far too many to post up on the blog; so I'll put a few highlights and ... some videos of the flight!

We flew with Sunshine Helicopters at the Kahului Heliport, located on the backside of the main airport just off Highway 37 (Haleakala Hwy). They were really great. We flew in something called a Whisper Star, and it was really great. We even upgraded to "First class" so we could ride up front right beside the pilot and get some really great photos out the front of the chopper.




Pretty cool, eh?



Toward the middle of this video you can see where it's a bit drier and there are some windmills. That's out in the direction of Ka'anapali, where our resort is. This was right at the beginning of the flight - we later went on to the other side of Maui and got some really excellent pictures.


In order of appearance:

1) A 500' waterfall;


2) The Haleakala Crater of the Haleakala National Park;

3) Jurassic Rock (from 1993's Jurassic Park - when the helicopter is approaching the Isla Nublar, this is the rock formation that you see); and

4) the Lahaina windfarm that's not too far from our hotel. Hope you enjoy the shots. I'll try and put all this stuff into a movie of some sort to show you - again, there's about 100 shots - far too many to post all at once. I hope you're enjoying everything so far.

West Maui Day: 05

So this morning we had ambitions (after our wonderful buffet breakfast - it's awesome) to go to the Maui Ocean Center where there's a great aquarium. It was a really great visit - but there are some truths that must be told before you go for yourself. But before we get there - I'll walk you through our visit and share our photos. ... I must warn you, however, that I do some awful, perverted things in the pictures to follow - so beware.

We saw some great stuff and actually learned allot about the local wildlife. Most of what you see at the aquarium is local wildlife - they haven't imported things you wouldn't expect to see - but rather showcase the many fish and aquatic animals that you'd find snorkeling and scuba diving around the islands.

I especially liked the seahorses and the crabs - those things are definitely weird and wonderful. But, to be honest, I did some terrible, terrible things that aren't acceptable. First off - I was totally peeping at the seahorses. Peeping is not cool - and I apologize. Also, not long after peeping at the seahorses, who were awesome, I also molested a starfish. To the starfish I harmed and to all starfish, I apologize. I take full responsibility. But for the record, the starfish was asking for it.


I had no idea that pineapples were grown in the ground. Then again, I didn't think they grew on trees or anything. Here's a shot of some pineapples that are growing - my wife says that the fruit will emerge in the middle of the green shoots, not underground, like a potato.

NOTICE:
So here are some of the things that you should know before you head out to the Maui Ocean Center. Their website indicates that there are many animals at the exhibit, but in some instances they get a bit liberally with the term "home" when they say "Maui Ocean Ceneter is home to hundreds of marine life in over 60 exhibits!...." and then list a variety of animals with drop-down bars. Basically, it would lead you to believe that all of the animals that are on this list would consider the Center "home." Read it for yourself and see if you come to the same conclusion.

So when you can see which animals consider the Center "home" and scroll down to see Humpback Whales, Female Humpback Whales, Hawiian Monk Seal, Spinner Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, and Blue Whales. Now - I was as doubtful as could be that there was a Blue Whale on location at the Maui Ocean Center - seriously, the largest mammal to ever live probably isn't in captivity in an aquarium. But then again, if this place contained all of these animals - maybe a Blue Whale isn't out of the question.

Turns out - NONE of these animals are there. There are some informational plaques on these animals - and most of them are mentioned on one of thost plaques, but that certainly does not mean that those animals call the Center "home." So, that was a disappointment, although it would have been an unbelievable surprise if they actually had all of that stuff. There were supposed to be three species of seaturtles as well - which they did not have.

Great discoveries

It's important to know where you are when you're hiking through the badlands of Hawaii - you'd be surprised that much of West Maui is like a desert - it's very dry and there isn't a lot of grass or anything. But, then again, at some of the resorts and golf courses the yard-keepers have done a super job hydrating everything and keeping the grounds looking healthy.

We travelled the island a little bit today, and we made some great discoveries. In these first two photos you can see my wife traversing through uncharted undergrowth - to discover a boisterous civilization. She was a real trooper - she wanted these shots to work out - so I had her get in position and stand the right way and hold the bushes to the side, and smile, etc, etc. She actually got bit by a bad-ass bug and we actually went into Walgreen's to get something to keep the swelling down. A good time to discover a Walgreens.

West Maui Day: 04

Another good day yesterday - today's been great, too, but I have to post yesterday's shots before I can get to the Maui Ocean Center. We spent a good while sunning ourselves by the pool while reading a book, walking on the beach, and having a relaxing time. To the right here you can see a nice waterfall at mid-day around the resort.


We walked along the beach that day, but didn't quite get in the ocean. My wife was wearing her contacts and just didn't make it in, but the water seemed nice, and we wanted to go in. There were some kids who were riding skim boards. These are like big guitar picks that they ride the surf that washes on the immediate shoreline while it breaks. They were doing little flips and stuff. It looked like fun.

We spent a good long while reading in the sun. Did I get a sunburn, you ask? I sure did. My belly and upper legs (just above my knees) didn't get sunscreen - and now they are tender and red from the sun. That's okay - it shouldn't be too uncomfortable for too long. Getting deeper into this book, Famous Last Words, all I can say is, "What a special book it really is. I strongly recommend reading it." Seriously, the characters and narration are carefully devised and wonderfully put together. Plus the story is captivating and really special - but enough of that, and back to the honeymoon.

While reading there are neat opportunities to share food with little island birds that flutter all over, and neat geckos to check out. Apparently there's a big white bird (I haven't seen it yet) that walks over the top of bushes looking for geckos to eat. The geckos are tiny and move real quick. If you weren't looking for them, you might not even notice that they were ever even there.

One of my wife's items to accomplish this week was to find a hammock and sit in it. We've only seen one hammock, and with luck, there was no one in it. There was also a fence around it and no discernible way to get into it. But a yellow rope fence is no match for me! Not these days, anyhow. All that said - I have a snapshot of what my wife's life was like for about 25 seconds on our honeymoon.

After that, it was more swimming for me in the pool - but wifey wasn't feeling so hot. That's fine. I like swimming whether I'm alone or on a tandem, so it worked out well for me.

We walked over to the Whaler's Village - which is basically a market on the old site of a whaler's pit-stop from years gone by where they'd refuel and stock up on amenities before heading back into the mating grounds to harpoon themselves some whales.

There were great dinner restaurants and markets and plenty of live music all over. The live music was great in many cases. We also got to see Jupiter and its four moons through a high-powered telescope, which was very cool. The telescope was so strong you could actually see the gaseous rings of Jupiter's surface and the big red storm (spot) that is in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Very cool.

We also got a great look at the moon through the telescope, too. Craters and the 'terminator' line (where the sun doesn't shine on the moon) and you could 'technically' see boulders inside the craters, which was very neat. I put it in quotes because I didn't see the boulders, but I trust that they were there.

What else? I watched a little Leno before bed and that's all she wrote. I'll have another post of today's adventures ready by the time you wake up tomorrow - again, while it's midnight right now where you are, it's merely quarter after six here, which is awesome!

West Maui Day: 03

So here's a nice shot from yesterday of the champagne flutes and champagne we were given for our honeymoon from the Westin. It is nice of them to give us something like this. I've already broken one of the glasses, though. It was too close to the towels by the sink, unfortunately.

On this balcony we get a variety of little birds that hang around looking for something to snack on. We've yet to begin feeding them, but ... it's only a matter of time. We were also surprised to find that there are cardinals here. I didn't think they made it this far out into the Pacific, but... shows how much I know about the matter.

We only ventured away from the hotel a little yesterday, and that was to pick up a few necessities that went missing over the last few days. First off, my wife forgot all of her soaps and shampoos at the Bed & Breakfast we stayed at (Branteaney's, which was awesome) so we were out of that for her by the time we were on the road back to Toronto on Sunday.

Also, my shampoo was squished in my suitcase while we were flying to Hawaii, so my pajamas were basically ruined (although nothing else was, so it's not so bad). Frankly, when I broke the champagne flute, it spilled champagne all over my PJs, too, so they're doubly no good to wear. So we went out to a Walgreen's to get some stuff. We also stocked up on some things for a picnic later in the week. That'll be good fun.

We also saw what appears to be the construction for a new aqueduct that's being installed around here. I can't find a link to it, but I'll try and get a picture later on today for the blog. It looks cool - but also like it needs some water, real bad.

Then we lounged around the pool, and swam in the pool, for a couple of hours - though no sunburn/suntan yet. Don't worry, I'll get a picture of one if it happens. The pools here are really awesome, and in several cases, there are actually big tunnels that go beneath waterfalls that connect one pool to the next, including a hidden pool that's located beneath the waterfalls.

I read some of Timothy Findlay's Famous Last Words, and I have to say, it's always remarkable to read an excellent author and watch him work. It's an incredible story already and I've only read about 10 pages or something stupid like that. It's remarkable what he was able to achieve with his words and ability to build a story structure. Absolutely remarkable.

We didn't get in the Ocean (yet) but it's only a matter of time before we hop in. Likely, it won't be as relaxing as the pool, but it'll be nice to get in and swim around a bit.

On the right here is a picture of a piece of art floating in the pond by the front entrance of the hotel. Underneath hides a big coy - and he's there most of the time. This happens to be a noticeably large coy, and he's always under that boat.

We took a few more photos of the hotel at night - and the lighting is really special. Everything looks very lovely - and again, there's something very special about the amount of space and peace there is when there are enormous crowds of people all over the place. It's so nice to have some peace and quiet. I can't really relax when it's like an amusement park at the buffet tables, or the circus by the poolside. It's been very, very nice here.

As for these evening pictures - these are the best of the bunch. It's a little more difficult to take good photos in the dark without a flash - but these seem to capture what it's like around here in the evening. It's really nice.

We'll have lots of good photos for you tomorrow. Have a good one.