Hawaii 2011

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Day 1
My family and I boarded in Toronto at noon. We flew to Minneapolis and we were delayed at our lay over. Because of this delay we were late for our connection from Las Angeles to Honolulu. We were anxious and disappointed to be delayed to getting to Hawaii, but the airlines complimented us with 4 First class tickets, food vouchers and a stay at the Hilton. It would have been nice to get to Hawaii sooner but it was neat taking up these perks.
Day 2
After almost missing our flight due to my dad’s respirator looking suspicious to the security officials we finally were on our way to Hawaii. We arrived, rented a new STS which comes with air conditioned seating. We drove Aloha Stadium and decided that we will check out the market the following day. We went to see the USS Missouri and the Pacific war plane museum at Pearl Harbour historic sites. We checked into our hotel and went for dinner at an excellent Chinese food place. I got my duck. We then went to some art displays and saw the wall of whales among others. A good first day in Hawaii
Day 3
We woke early and still weren’t accepting of the time change. We woke and went straight to breakfast in a hole in the wall. It was a great $4 egg sausage and rice meal. We then went to Aloha Stadium and watched the festivities prepare for the Aloha bowl which was being hosted the next day. We then went shopping at the market around the bowl. We then drank coconut juice out of the shell before heading to see the USS Arizona among Pearl Harbor museums. The USS Arizona was a great battle ship that was sunk at Pearl Harbor. After we learnt much about the war we had dinner and walked on Wakiki beach and then swam at our hot tub and pool on the roof of our hotel. My brother and I then went out and walked around town and swung like Tarzan from tree to tree within the city limits.
Day 4
My brother and I woke up and hit the beach. We grabbed a few boards and surfed for a couple hours all before breakfast. We packed and left and flew a DHC8 to Maui. A huge change from the B767. Upon landing they bounced it a couple times down the runway reminding me of my own landings. We drove to Kihei and settled in our condo and I prepared for the rest of our vacation. We went for dinner and enjoyed a fantastic Christmas eve dinner and spent some time with the family before bed.
Day 5
Waking up for breakfast, we ate fresh bread toasted with local fruit jelly spread. We decided to go to the red hill Volcano. We drove up 10 023 feet and saw amazing landscapes and habitats. We encountered many endangered species and were blinded by either the light or the cloud masking our way. We left a little bit of Canada while making an inukshuk. The temperature difference from ground to top was greater than 25 degree Fahrenheit. And we learned that the temperature changes between 60 degrees within the day. The view between cloud and the 8000 feet beyond all the way to the ocean was two completely different and amazing images. Once we came down we then prepared for an all you can eat luau. We travelled there in our convertible wrangler and enjoyed great views and shows along with our new fresh grown and hand woven leis. We saw the fire shows as well as dances. Everything was great and we were able to spend Christmas with our ohana… “ohana means family”.
Day 6
The day started off by spending way too much money at the grocery store and booking our time with the scuba and snorkeling for the three following days. We then went to PI’ai where we crashed into 10 ft waves and washed up on shore. On the way there my dad thought it would be fun to run through these puddles left from the drainage in the mountains…. We are in a convertible wrangler… we got wet and dirrrrrrtay. It was a lot of fun. After getting off this world class wind surfing beach we swam in our pool and got ready for dinner. While we waited for dinner Lucas and I walked to another world class surf beach and watched these skateboarders on the pipe. It was interesting watching a 6 year old showing up many of the others. We went to dinner at Sensei a sushi restaurant and had a fabulous dinner and I drank some Saki with my father. We then drove around to visit an outdoor high end mall designated for tourists and went to our condo to get ready for diving tomorrow
Day 7
My brother and I went scuba diving today. It was amazing. We went to Molokini which is an old sunken crater with immense wildlife. After that we went to a wreck called St Anthoney. There was once again much wild life and we were able to swim and awaken these corals which were in fact frog fish… as well as swim next to these giant prehistoric sea turtle. Throughout the entire dive we heard the whale calls. After the dive we cooked an amazing dinner ate it as a family and watched lie to me.
Day 8
Today Lucas and I woke up early to go on to the cathedral one dive. Our dive master Victoria has recently discovered a new species of lobster which DNA tests are currently being done on. We entered the cathedral where it looked like an alter was placed with the stain glass in behind. There was many creatures to be amazed by but the structure was the most magnificent. Our second dive was done in the valleys of the lava which came from the volcano. We saw once again sea turtles, and a giant eal larger than our selves. After our dives we went to the Hyatt Hotel and checked out the spa and the fish as well as the African penguins they had playing around. We had also gone for dinner at Bubba Gump shrimp shack where they took the idea from Forest Gump the movie. We then explored the beach where we saw kids catch a couple of mating crabs. Once again an amazing day in Kihei.
Day 9
After a good breakfast we walked around and explored. We went on a catamaran and went whale watching and snorkeled with the entire family. We were lucky enough to see some whales breach, slap their tale and wave. We then went snorkeling at Molokini which was amazing. After that we saw some more whales and headed back in while eating some pulled pork sandwiches. Came home and walked the back and enjoyed our evening. Was a great family filled day.
Day 10
Dad and I woke up early to go fishing. We went deep sea fishing for 8 hours. The people who were on the boat with us had caught a 20 pounder Mahi Mahi but it was hooked through the head and got loose as we raised it into the boat. Another person hooked a 2 pound tuna. Although nothing special was caught.. like a 1100 lb black marlin… the fishing experience was great. At the end of the trip we saw a calf and mother whales who came up to our boat. The young was so young that the mother was teaching it how to breath. It was amazing. After some boogie boarding we ordered the best Hawaiian pizza ever. Its maui zaui. It was to die for.
Day 11
Lucas made some banana pancakes which we topped off with coconut syrup for breakfast. We then left to Hana. On the way to Hana, we went to black sand beach. It was an amazing setting and we went inside a lava tube. After that we went to a secret local spot with the softest sand, the bluest water and the friendliest locals. We then continued our journey through the Hana rain forest where we sat at the seven sacred pools and ate our lunch in front of a beautiful waterfall leading into the ocean. On the way back we managed to find red sand beach and then travelled back to our condominium to prepare for New Years Eve. We had showers and at 7 oclock we sent emails and texts and phone calls back home and to our friends for their new years, and we cracked a bottle of champagne and celebrated at that same time in our apartment. We went to dinner at a tiki bar, which was alright and then went back to the condo to celebrate new years. My mom dad and I watched house until midnight. We then drank more champagne and watched fire works on the ocean from our balcony.
Day 12
Today the family went to Piai and surfed and boogie board these amazing waves. After a quick lunch we went to the south beach. On the south beach there was a beach filled with lava rock. The rock was from the most recent explosion 200 years ago. The beach sand and the lava rock were beautiful. After that we went to big beach which was all sand and a lot of fun. We went out for dinner and prepared ourselves for our flight to Kuai in the morning.
Day 13
Today was mostly a travel day. Although the flight was only an hour long. Packing and unpacking took up a lot of the time. And football. We settled into our new place in Kaui. Lucas and I went for a walk on the beach where some kids made an amazing fort. I then familiarized myself with the cabin and hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Day 14
Today we drove out to the end of the island. It is about an hour drive from where we are to a place with no roads. We then hiked up and saw the beaches that were “untouched”. We had also seen some wet and dry caves. Those were amazing. On the way back we stopped along many beaches as well as markets, shopping for trinkets. We as a family then went out to a lounge called tree lounge. We had the most amazing foods with the most amazing Hawaiian/ local favourite music.
Day 15
In the morning we drove out to the canyon. All the way up we saw the beautiful landscape and untouched paths to the beach from a 5000 ft canyon to your left. We saw inside of the canyon and river approaching the rain forest to our right. We drove up and saw some key look out points. We took a new way down and saw completely new scenery. We then drove to one of the gardens. This is where many films were shot. Such as raiders of the lost ark, pirates of the Caribbean 4, and Jurassic park during the 1992 category 5 hurricane. We saw some native, canoe and introduced plants. They were done up and planted at least 56 years ago. The garden is left to regulations of a 40 page book written by the late owner. Most of it is to be left untouched. Once that tour was finished we drove to Brekenecks beach. It was down a long dirt path on the other side of a 2 minute hike bush. We were on this beautiful white isolated beach with 6 kite surfers. It was amazing. While we were preparing for dinner we met the mother and father of Chantel Kreviazuk. We then came back and ate dinner at Kintaro. This was a Japanese restaurant where they cook the food in front of you. It was an amazing last day.
Day 16
On our last day we packed and went to the beach. We spent a few great hours there. We went market and shopping. It was a great last day. I will miss these islands.

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