Hi all,
On Monday, April 7 we arrived in Honolulu where we met up with Greg’s sister and brother-in-law (Kathy and Nick) to visit the North Shore and other areas of Oahu we had not seen for many years. The sun was shining when we left the ship but as we approached the North Shore the weather became very overcast with a few light showers around us. Fortunately, we missed the rain all day as we toured the island but the weather seemed a little cooler with the overcast skies and brisk winds around us while we were on the north side of the island.
The coast line of the North Shore is very beautiful from the heavy waves that come rolling in to the mountains that come up very close to the shore. The rock formations along the coast create a great place for waves to pound against them and allow the water to splash in various directions. If we had arrived a month or two earlier there would be competitive surf tournaments going on but we were not at the peak time for the waves. We still found a few surfers trying to challenge the waves but they didn’t seem very experienced to others we have seen in the past. Before we left the North Shore we stopped to have a snack at one of the many shaved ice shops on the island. Everyone had a different flavor and no one complained about their choices although each of us had trouble finishing the large portions they provided.
After leaving the North Shore we made our way to the Dole Pineapple Plantation in the center of the island. This is a great place to learn about the many different types of pineapples that are grown. You also have an opportunity to taste many of the snacks that are made from pineapples. They have a maze(supposedly the largest in the world) where you can try to find your way through the hedges. There is also a train ride you can take to visit the many pineapple fields in the area. This is definitely worthwhile stop if you have never been there before.
We made one last quick stop at Costco to do a little shopping and see what unique Hawaiian items that Costco was selling. We picked up a large bag of Maui chips and container of Kona Coffee Dark Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts to bring back to our cruise ship when we felt like a little snack.
Kathy and Nick dropped us off back at the ship where we dropped off our stuff and decided to take a long walk to Waikiki Beach before having dinner. Waikiki Beach is about 3miles from the cruise port but we are used to making long walks while we are at port. The walk was nice along the water front and the weather was sunny and much nicer than what we encountered at the North Shore. We saw many people coming out to enjoy water activities after work. People where paddle boarding and snorkeling. There were many kids that were being taught how to properly paddle in the large outrigger canoes. This seemed to be a very popular sport and the kids where having a lot of fun. There was also a sailing class being held in the distance as we watched a dozen colorful small sail boats navigating around the harbor. We walked on to Waikiki Beach taking many pictures of the beach, boats and Diamond Head (which is a very pretty sight right beyond the beach). We made a few stops to visit local vendors and taste a sample some delicious Hawaiian cookies that are dipped in chocolate, coffee and other unique flavors. On the walk back to the ship we watched the sun set and got back to the ship right before dark.
Went back out from the ship to have dinner at Hooters nearby to watch the reruns of the basketball game and use their free Wi-Fi takingadvantage to load our photos from Hilo and update our blog. The dinner was good and the pitcher of Sangria we had with it was even better. We went back to the ship exhausted from our full days’ worth of activities to get a good night’s rest for our early excursion in our next stop, Kauai.
Thanks Kathy and Nick for spending time together and being our tour guides!
By the way if you haven’t been clicking on the pictures in our blog you may not have noticed that each picture we download has a caption that will allow you to better know what the picture is. Just click on the picture and the photo will be enlarged and you will see the caption at the bottom.
Greg and Sharon Conrad
On Monday, April 7 we arrived in Honolulu where we met up with Greg’s sister and brother-in-law (Kathy and Nick) to visit the North Shore and other areas of Oahu we had not seen for many years. The sun was shining when we left the ship but as we approached the North Shore the weather became very overcast with a few light showers around us. Fortunately, we missed the rain all day as we toured the island but the weather seemed a little cooler with the overcast skies and brisk winds around us while we were on the north side of the island.
The coast line of the North Shore is very beautiful from the heavy waves that come rolling in to the mountains that come up very close to the shore. The rock formations along the coast create a great place for waves to pound against them and allow the water to splash in various directions. If we had arrived a month or two earlier there would be competitive surf tournaments going on but we were not at the peak time for the waves. We still found a few surfers trying to challenge the waves but they didn’t seem very experienced to others we have seen in the past. Before we left the North Shore we stopped to have a snack at one of the many shaved ice shops on the island. Everyone had a different flavor and no one complained about their choices although each of us had trouble finishing the large portions they provided.
After leaving the North Shore we made our way to the Dole Pineapple Plantation in the center of the island. This is a great place to learn about the many different types of pineapples that are grown. You also have an opportunity to taste many of the snacks that are made from pineapples. They have a maze(supposedly the largest in the world) where you can try to find your way through the hedges. There is also a train ride you can take to visit the many pineapple fields in the area. This is definitely worthwhile stop if you have never been there before.
We made one last quick stop at Costco to do a little shopping and see what unique Hawaiian items that Costco was selling. We picked up a large bag of Maui chips and container of Kona Coffee Dark Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts to bring back to our cruise ship when we felt like a little snack.
Kathy and Nick dropped us off back at the ship where we dropped off our stuff and decided to take a long walk to Waikiki Beach before having dinner. Waikiki Beach is about 3miles from the cruise port but we are used to making long walks while we are at port. The walk was nice along the water front and the weather was sunny and much nicer than what we encountered at the North Shore. We saw many people coming out to enjoy water activities after work. People where paddle boarding and snorkeling. There were many kids that were being taught how to properly paddle in the large outrigger canoes. This seemed to be a very popular sport and the kids where having a lot of fun. There was also a sailing class being held in the distance as we watched a dozen colorful small sail boats navigating around the harbor. We walked on to Waikiki Beach taking many pictures of the beach, boats and Diamond Head (which is a very pretty sight right beyond the beach). We made a few stops to visit local vendors and taste a sample some delicious Hawaiian cookies that are dipped in chocolate, coffee and other unique flavors. On the walk back to the ship we watched the sun set and got back to the ship right before dark.
Went back out from the ship to have dinner at Hooters nearby to watch the reruns of the basketball game and use their free Wi-Fi takingadvantage to load our photos from Hilo and update our blog. The dinner was good and the pitcher of Sangria we had with it was even better. We went back to the ship exhausted from our full days’ worth of activities to get a good night’s rest for our early excursion in our next stop, Kauai.
Thanks Kathy and Nick for spending time together and being our tour guides!
By the way if you haven’t been clicking on the pictures in our blog you may not have noticed that each picture we download has a caption that will allow you to better know what the picture is. Just click on the picture and the photo will be enlarged and you will see the caption at the bottom.
Greg and Sharon Conrad
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