Blogs from Kahului, Maui, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 2

Today we decided to go on a Whale - Watching Cruise with the Pacific Whale Foundation. The weather was beautiful and clear and we had been hearing all about many whale sightings from shore. We took the bus to Ma'alaea Harbor and boarded the catamaran boat for our cruise. The water was great and we could see the Maui wind farm on the hill in the distance. I saw approximately 2 spoutings and 3 curved black backs slip into the water, but no spectacular breaches or tail-up dives. Of course one would have to be watching all day or more to perhaps see those. We did see a mother and her baby whale (a calf) swimming together. The glare from the bright sunshine sometimes made it difficult to spot whales in the distance. When we (Ray ... read more

Ann was up early and ready to go up the volcano. Our bus had to leave at 8 in order to make the summit and give us time to tour before the road was to be closed for repair work. She bustled me to get ready and, with bags on our shoulders and warm clothes on, we grabbed breakfast on the fly (it was continental) and were on the bus in plenty of time. I dreaded the idea of not being able to breathe when we got to the top of Hale'akala. As the bus slowly wound around the hairpin curves, going higher and higher, we took deep breaths and found that even above the tree line, we were not getting light-headed. I took hope from that. One of the things pre-occupying us was trying to ... read more

After a "continental " breakfast, we visit Lahaina - the Whalers Village - by motorcoach. Our first stop is the Lahainaluna School Hale Pa'i Printing Press Museum. We see the importance of the printing press to Hawai'ians. In spite of the fact that many diseases were introduced to the Hawai'ians, Susan says the missonaries did the Hawaiians a favor by introducing the Printing Press. Before the printing press, Hawai'ian history was all verbal, passed from one generation to the next. Our guide gave us a demonstration on the printing press and explained how the press helps to teach the students of today by giving them a view of the past. While we were there, suddenly a siren sounded and then students started coming out of all the classrooms. It was the signal for the changing of ... read more

We awoke pretty early, around 5:30 am, not because we wanted to beat the rest of our group to breakfast but because we wanted to watch the inauguration. Breakfast could wait till 8:30 and our bus to the airport didn't leave until 10:30. So we tuned in to TV and watched the lead up to the big event. Some ultra-right wing commentators had been saying what a tragedy it would be if Obama became President. Some even went so far as to say he should not be allowed, that they hoped he would be assassinated before the inauguration. Friends in rural areas of Wisconsin really believed there would be serious assassination attempts, based on how some of their neighbors were talking. I wasn't holding my breath . . . exactly . . . till 7 a. ... read more

Before I start today’s journal, let me set the scene for you as to where we are right now. We’re sitting at Starbucks, sitting yummy café latte and enjoying the luxury of the rare air con (or at least we were when we started this entry). Life here is finally a little more chilled and the pace of life finally is matching up to the Hawaiian style!! Today’s blog details our little adventure to Maui, the original capital of Hawaii. Our trip started by waking up at 4:30 am (with Tim working till midnight) to catch our ferry ride in the town harbour! Everything was well organized by the Hawaiians and very efficient. I was simply ecstatic with the ferry ride and I couldn’t wait to board. The ferry was much bigger than we expected to ... read more