Blogs from Kaua'i, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 4

Aloha! Day 2 started with a visit from Shana from Kauai Habitat for Humanity. It was great to get to meet her and the staff at Kauai Habitat, including a tour of the ReStore. She reaffirmed why we were here... to help make the dreams of others come full circle. She shared her story which includes her journey to homeownership through Habitat. We were lucky enough to get a tour of her beautiful home! After orientation, we were off to energize with a trip to Kauai Coffee Co. - the largest U.S. coffee estate. It was beautiful and interesting all at the same time. Kauai Coffee Co. is located adjacent to the Eleele Habitat for Humanity site where we are building, and we learned that the land we are building on was donated by Kauai Coffee ... read more

We have 7 so far at the Kauai Habitat house, with 5 pending. Looking forward to meeting more locals, bonding as a team and helping build a house in this wonderful community.... read more

Geo: 21.876, -159.446Quiet and uncrowded, the lush, green island of Kauai is known as the "Garden Isle." It is home to spectacular cliffs and canyons. The most popular shore excursions visit Waimea Canyon, the Wailua River and Fern Grotto and that's where we'll be going today. The alarm goes off at 6:30am. Time to get ready. It's Cream of Wheat and fruit for me, oatmeal for Mom. We meet in the Queen's Lounge at 8 but the ship is still positioning so we must wait. We still get off ahead of everyone else because this is a Holland America excursion, our only one on our trip. The balance will be independent tours like Ricky's. At 8:30, about a half hour late, we head out to board the bus. Mom was in the restroom when they called ... read more

We have arrived in Hawaii!! Yayy! It’s absolutely beautiful – just as we expected. What we didn’t expect was that the people would be so unpleasant. First our Hertz rental shuttle driver, than the Hertz counter lady, then the hotel receptionist, then our dinner’s waitress… our first day’s sample size has proved Kauai’s people are grumpy. We asked for a recommendation for a place to grab a quick bite to eat, and we were actually told McDonald’s is a Hawaiian favorite. I can’t tell if they were being sarcastic or serious. Maybe we were just unlucky, because misfortune continued for the next 24 hours. We arrived and went to bed early last night, it was about 3am East Coast time. We woke up at the bright and early hour of 4am. Not for any other reason ... read more

Day 19 – Jan. 29, 2015 – Port of call: Nawiliwili, HI on the Island of Kaua’i – Weather forecast: sunny – temperature: 75°F/24°C – actual: 81°F/27°C – experienced mist then light showers leading to heavy showers on north shore We rose early as is our usual practice on a port day when we have an excursion booked and had our breakfast delivered to the room. Today we shared harbour space with the NCL Pride of America, the only ship to be permanently stationed in the Hawaiian Islands. Today we choose the shore excursion entitled: Hollywood Hawaii: Movies and Waterfalls which is scheduled to last approximately 6 hours. The description indicated that this excursion would be a comprehensive, in-depth and fun “movie-themed” sightseeing tour aboard a 25 seat capacity ‘Theatre on Wheels’ air-conditioned mini-bus. Throughout the ... read more