{"id":58,"date":"2012-07-07T07:45:14","date_gmt":"2012-07-07T11:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wherearemomanddad.com\/?page_id=58"},"modified":"2021-06-16T14:52:03","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T18:52:03","slug":"2006-hawaii-cruise","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wherearemomanddad.com\/?page_id=58","title":{"rendered":"2006 Hawaii Cruise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last January, Joan and I bid on a 7-day, Norwegian Cruise Line (www.ncl.com<\/a>) trip to Hawaii aboard the “Pride of America”.\u00a0 And guess what, we won.\u00a0 We figured we overbid, but it was part of an auction to help support the Miami Museum of Science so we figured “What the heck”.\u00a0 Well after around 12 hours of flying from Ft. Lauderdale through Atlanta, we finally arrived in Honolulu, tired from the long trip.\u00a0 We headed over to register and were greeted with “Congratulations, you have been upgraded to a “Presidential Suite”!\u00a0 Yep, that’s right; bedroom, living room, dining room, masterbath, walk-in closet, patio, (with whirpool), butler, THE WORKS!\u00a0 I guess clean living pays off.\u00a0 Anyway days 1 and 2 were cruise days from Honolulu to Maui so not much to talk about other than great food and drinks.\u00a0\u00a0Steph demanded that we take lots of pictures so we did.\u00a0 They are at the end of the page and start with pictures of our cabin.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Day 3 –\u00a0Surfing and a Luau<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Surfing at Lahaini.\u00a0 Waist to chest high waves on a 9 foot foam board.\u00a0 Definitely a different break than in Florida.\u00a0 The waves gently build and the face is much less oblique than in Florida or even Costa Rica, Long Island, Puerto Rico or So Cal.\u00a0 Plenty of rock and coral, so I did my best not to wipe out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Pacific Paradise Luau in\u00a0Kahului.\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of good food (“eat till your tired”), local dancing and music.\u00a0 Nice wahini too.\u00a0 The sunset they ordered for us was unbelievable!<\/p>\n

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Day 4 – Zipline Adventure in Haleakala<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Believe it or not, Mom did it.\u00a0 She went through an increasing series of challenging zips and “flew” through 750 yards like a trooper!\u00a0 This was lots of fun.\u00a0 We were strapped in using rock climbing harnesses and the zip lines were airline grade cable.\u00a0\u00a0 All of the equipment was tested not to fail under 1000’s of pounds.\u00a0 So as long as we didn’t flip ourselves upside down (causing us to fall out of our harnesses) it was pretty safe.\u00a0 Definitely a rush.\u00a0 Notice the helmets.\u00a0 Don’t we look good?\u00a0 Steph, you know you want one.<\/p>\n

Day 5 – Hike to Kapoloa Falls<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On Day 5 we arrived at Kona on the island of Hawai\u2019i (the \u201cBig Island\u201d) and we hiked 1.5 miles through the valley just outside Kona to the Pololu Falls.\u00a0 The island offers nearly every ecosystem in a 45 minute drive.\u00a0 We drove from deserts to rain forests on the way to our trail head.\u00a0 An aquaduct actually follows along the valley that we hiked.\u00a0 In the late 1800\u2019s, sugar plantations were in their hayday, but sugar cultivation required extreme amounts of water.\u00a0 So it was decided that it would be a great idea to build aquaducts from the rainy side of the island to the drier side of the island where the sugar plantations were.\u00a0 We hiked along an aquaduct past 4 waterfalls to get to Pololu Falls.\u00a0 Pololu means something like long darn way down in Hawaiin.\u00a0 This falls plunges 500 feet into a gorge below us.\u00a0 On the way we not only saw incredible waterfalls, but lush vegetation, gorgeous flowers, and ate wild guava and a tasty cherry looking berry.\u00a0 I got the names of some out of the way surf spots for a future trip from the guide as well.<\/p>\n

Day 6 – Kilauea Lava Viewing Adventure Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We were still at the Island of Hawai\u2019i on Day 6, but this time went on a 4 mile hike around the Kilauea Caldera and Crater.\u00a0 A caldera is a crater that is at least 1 mile in diameter.\u00a0 We were only able to view the Caldera from its rim because the floor of the crater was dangerous.\u00a0 We spent most of our time hiking down to the 400 ft crater and then across it.\u00a0 The crater was also the site of a 1800 ft high lava fountain that lasted 5 weeks when the crater erupted in 1959 (September 17, no doubt). The best way to describe the hike down to and across the crater is that it reminded me of the \u201cadventure\u201d to Modor in \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d.\u00a0 The crater bottom is just under 1 mile in diameter and is desolate, black lava, with steam spewing from random holes.\u00a0 To make the experience even more ominous, a dense drizzle soaked us throughout our hike.\u00a0 (Mom loved it)\u00a0 The lava had several forms, such as smooth plates, rubble, and sometimes reminded me of huge cow patties (remember those horse trips in Colorado?).\u00a0 Definitely not something we get to see every day.<\/p>\n

Day 7 – Horseback Riding at Kauai<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On Day\u00a07 we had sailed to Kuaui also known as Nawiliwili\u00a0(good move in changing the name!) to go horseback riding.\u00a0 Kuaui is definitely the more natural of the islands that we went to.\u00a0 We hitched a ride on a tourist van and went to the CJM Ranch which lies on the southern coast nestled between mountains and the ocean.\u00a0 Mom astride 711 and me astride Mota, we ambled through a trail that went up hills, across streams, and along side the ocean.\u00a0 Beautiful scenery.<\/p>\n

Here are a few more pictures and stories from the cruise.\u00a0 Either click on the “slideshow” or arrow down to page through the pictures one at a time.\u00a0 Enjoy and don’t forget to drop us a line in the Guestbook!\u00a0 You don’t want to miss the pictures from our tour of the USS Arizona Memorial that directly follow this photo album.
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