Day 8 Hawaii-Poly Cultural Center

Day 8

Welcome to the Polynesian Cultural CenterWe drove to the complete opposite side of the island to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. As usual it was another picturesque drive with spectacular scene after spectacular scene! I was so excited for Doug, Jaren & Michelle to experience the PCC. It was one of my favorite things when I came to Hawaii as a teenager. I told them it was like Disneyland, but without the rides... but just as fun and entertaining.

First, we stopped at the temple, which is right next door. We were disappointed, as we were planning our trip, to discover that the temple would be closed for renovations while we were there. We really wanted to do baptisms. We have had such neat experiences going to the temples in places we travel. Next time ~ we'll just have to come back! :) But the temple grounds in Hawaii are, of course, amazingly beautiful.



We also stopped in at BYU Hawaii. We found the Assistant Athletic Director and the Basketball Coach. We had a nice visit with them. Who knows, it could be a fun option for Jaren. Then Doug & I would definitely have to visit often!



Then to the PCC where we spent the whole rest of the day. We were welcomed with a lei greeting. We visited all the different villages. Our favorite villages were: Tonga and Samoa. Both the guys that performed were hilarious ~ especially the Somoan kid.(above) The whole time we were cracking up. We were laughing so hard we were crying.



We played Maori games with sticks and balls, we danced the Hula, we learned how to correctly and perfectly crack and shed a coconut, and we did some spear chucking. And we loved watching the parade along the canal. It was hot so we ate lots of delicious fruity ice cream with fresh peaches and pineapple in it. Mmmm...














At 6:00 we went to a big, delicious all-you-can-eat Hawaiin Luau! We loved the fruit, the fish, the rice, the purple sweet potatoes and especially the Kuala pork! It is so good. Jaren especially loved the all-you-can-eat part! During dinner there was, of course, a show with singers and dancers. All in authentic, splendid Luau form. I loved that there was absolutely no alchohol served anywhere in the park and we started dinner with a prayer. After dinner we stayed for the big show in their new amphitheater: "Ha ~ the Breath of Life". It was very good. It was a long, fun, wonderful day. Just like Disneyland. :)

Day 7 Hawaii Cont...Arrive Honolulu

Day 7 Continued..

Oahu, Honolulu, Waikiki... just one little island away from Maui but in some ways it seems worlds away. We arrived in Oahu and got our rental car and we got a convertable Mustang. Now, that's the way to drive around Hawaii. So fun! The kids were totally excited. We checked into our hotel and then we went out to walk around Waikiki. Waikiki is filled with tourists: 10,000 hotel rooms crammed into dozens of skyscraper hotels. The streets are packed with people and shop after shop after shop filled with much of the same touristy memorablilia: T-shirts, candy, jewelery, grass skirts, leis, swimsuits, woodcarvings and postcards! The streets are also lined with restaurants, ice cream parlors, or the popular shaved ice. We decided that Waaikiki reminded us of New York City: crowded with shops & people ~ but also with palm trees. :)

Day 7 Hawaii-Last Day Maui

Day 7 Our last day on Maui. Very Sad! We spent some time shopping for souvenirs, but mostly we spent the day on the beach. We went down to Mekena ~ Big Beach again because we like the waves there and it is close.

We are sad to leave Maui. We have had so much fun here. We have loved the beaches, swimming, snorkeling, all the fish, and the beautiful scenery.

We are glad we've had the chance to come see this beautiful paradise ~ it is a bit of heaven on earth! We flew out at 5:00pm... here we come Oahu!

Oahu, Honolulu, Waikiki... just one little island away from Maui but in some ways it seems worlds away. We arrived in Oahu and got our rental car and we got a convertable Mustang. Now, that's the way to drive around Hawaii. So fun! The kids were totally excited.

We checked into our hotel and then we went out to walk around Waikiki. Waikiki is filled with tourists: 10,000 hotel rooms crammed into dozens of skyscraper hotels. The streets are packed with people and shop after shop after shop filled with much of the same touristy memorablilia: T-shirts, candy, jewelery, grass skirts, leis, swimsuits, woodcarvings and postcards! The streets are also lined with restaurants, ice cream parlors, or the popular shaved ice. We decided that Waaikiki reminded us of New York City: crowded with shops & people ~ but also with palm trees. :)

Day 6 Hawaii "Up Country"

Day 6
Today we drove to the "up country" of west Maui. To the wet, lush and magnificently beautiful, green 'Iao Valley and 'Iao Needle.


Thick with rain forest, trees, vegetation, bushes, vines, flowers, and a river flowing through. But in all it's splendor and beauty it has a tragic history. It was here that King Kamehameha I battled and conquered the people of Maui ~ uniting , for the first time, all of the Hawaiin islands. King Kamehameha and his 1200 fierce & skilled warriors trapped the Maui warriors in this canyon. Finally after the 3rd day of bloody battle King Kamehameha was victorious.


But it is called the Battle of Kepamiwai, which means: "Battle of the Damned Waters" because there were so many dead that their bodies filled




the river and blocked the water. It is said that the river ran red with the blood of the slain. As we thought about this violent scene it reminded us of Book of Mormon battles.



From there we drove around the west coast of Maui. We have now driven the entire circumference of this island! It is another long, narrow, twisty road. Although not quite as long or twisty as the Road to Hana it is still filled with beautiful beaches & breathtaking scenery. Whoa-Jaren, watch that edge!








Another roadside stand with fresh, ripe, sweet fruit. Here we drank the coconut milk fresh, right out of the coconut! Mmmmm....

Eventually we ended up in a favorite spot: Ka'anapali Beach for more swimming & snorkeling.

Day 5 Hawaii-Scuba Diving!

Day 5

SCUBA Diving!

Today was super fun! I love SCUBA diving and I was excited for Doug, Jaren & Michelle to go. We had to wake up really early: 5:45 am to catch our boat. We went out to Molokini Crater for our first dive. Molokini is a small volcano about 15 miles from Maui. It has a vast coral reef which makes for spectacular diving.After a mini Intro-Lesson for Doug, Jaren & Michelle we jumped into the water. Some of my photos turned out better than others. And some are from our SCUBA guide and his good camera. But nothing quite captures what it is really like being underwater with all the sea creatures. Awesome! We saw big sea turtles... lots of tropical fish... eels... sting rays...

And our guide caught an octopus! Doug & Jaren both held it! They let it go when it started to wrap it's tentacles around their necks and chest... just kidding, I mean around their arms! :) It was fascinating.











Our second dive was closer to the coast of Maui. We saw more turtles, eels, and tons of colorful fish. I was hoping for a shark, but no luck. It's probably for the best because I don't think Michelle would have done well with a shark!

After SCUBA diving we spent the rest of the day at Big Beach in Makena again. We had fun swimming and body surfing.

Day 4 Hawaii-Road to Hana

Day 4

*The Road to Hana*

Tucked away on the windy/rainy side of the island is Hana. It, in fact, is so far removed from the rest of the island that in ancient times the island chiefs would keep this little spot as their own hide-a-way. It is so beautiful and desireable that some fierce fighting occurred over it anciently.

To get to Hana one must drive the crazy Road to Hana! It twists & turns through thick jungles, lush rain forests, over bridges, past waterfalls, and along cliff edges for some 50 miles! Now, that may not sound long, but it is so twisty & turny & narrow it takes most of the day to drive it.

Plus we stopped several times along the way to hike into the jungles to discover streams and waterfalls, to look at the beautiful scenery, and to take lots of pictures. That was Jaren's favorite part. Haha

This is our first stop(left). We hiked back to Twin Falls. It was so cool ~ really like being in an Indiana Jones movie: hiking through thick jungles, pulling away the heavy vines dangling from the giant trees overhead, walking through the water-up to our hips-until we got to the falls. I was just waiting for a big snake to bite my ankle! :) These falls reminded us quite a bit of Misol Ha in the jungles of the Chiapas in Central America. Jaren & Michelle jumped off the rocks, swung like Tarzan from the rope into the water and swam around.




Mmmmm... a delicious fresh fruit smoothie from one of the many little roadside stands. We loved stopping at these stands for fresh, sweet, ripe fruit and/or yummy smoothies.
Mango-Pineapple ~ scrumptious!

We stopped here at Kaaumahina State Wayside for a picnic lunch. As you can see the view is truly breathtaking!
Our next stop was very exciting: the Ke'anae Peninsula, which is a huge lava coastline. The giant waves crash dangerously and excitingly on the lava. The wind blew furiously and the waves splashed. It was so fun, and a little scary. :) But mostly really fun and exciting.

We ended the long drive at the Oheu' Gulch: Seven Sacred Pools, where we swam and jumped off the cliffs.
It was a really fun day!

Day 3 Maui-Makena Beach

Day 3: August 2

Wow! Things sure have changed in the 30 years since I have been here. We found a nice, typical LDS chapel and the ward was big ~ filling the chapel & the overflow. Those are good changes.

After church we drove up to the first little, old chapel ever built in Hawaii. The early missionaries, in the 1850's had the most success here in Maui and this is where the first chapel was built and it still stands today. It is located near Pulehu, in the Kula area. George Q. Cannon and Joseph F. Smith were two of the very first missionaries here.

We loved the acres and acres of sugarcane fields with their giant stalks of sugarcane. We had to get out and see just how tall the sugarcane stalks really were. They were tall! Jaren & Michelle thought they might sneak a sweet taste. :)

Then we went to the beach ~ Big Beach in Makena. It is a fun beach because it has good waves. One thing that Doug & the kids were surprised to discover about Hawaii was that there aren't always very many big waves on the beaches. But they enjoyed the other beach activities: snorkeling, swimming, cliff jumping etc... But we all really liked Big Beach in Makena because it had big fun waves and that is my kid's favorite part of the beach.

Day 2 Maui-Lahaina, Ka'anapali

Day 2: August 1

Today we drove to the west side of Maui. The west coast of Maui is lined with exquisite beaches and luxery resorts. First, we stopped in the quaint little town of Lahaina. King Kamehameha III made this the capital of his kingdom in the early 1800's. It soon became a stop for whaling ships where the boats could resupply and the sailors could get some R & R.

Lahaina was a popular port and still looks much the same as it did back then with narrow streets lined with old buildings now filled with shops, art galleries and boutiques. The old wooden floor of the Pioneer Inn (above) creeks when you walk on it and the walls are covered with old faded photos of sailors and ships. The best was the "House Rules" still posted in the lobby today with rules such as: "Women is not allowed in you room" and "If you burn you bed you going out" and "Only on Sunday you can sleep all day" :)

This is the giant Banyan tree in Lahaina. Planted in 1873 it's branches reach up to 60 ft high and it's canopy covers 2/3 of an acre!

From Lahaina we drove furthur northwest along the coast to Ka'anapali.

Ka'anapali is truly breathtaking in it's beauty and grandeur. Sweeping from Pu'u Keka'a(Black Rock) to Hanaka'o'o Beach, Ka'anapali offers a beautiful sandy stretch of beach lined with green rolling hills, golf courses, palm trees, shops, and luxery resort after luxery resort. The beach is lined with beautiful grassy lawns and a long paved pathway that stretches from one end to the other.

We walked along the path and looked at the grand resorts, we swam in the waves, we ate lunch(above having sweet, juicy, fresh pineapple) and we snorkled. We saw lots of colorful, tropical fish and this big friendly sea turtle (right).

Then we climbed up on Pu'u Keka'a(Black Rock) and jumped. It was an exciting 30 ft jump!

Before we left we "snuck" into the luxurious Westin Resort to swim in their huge, incredible pool with waterfalls, grottos, tunnels and waterslides. It was so fun! If I ever come back to Maui this is where I want to stay!

That night we went to Mama's Fish House. It was the best fresh sea food we've ever had. It was very expensive, but worth it. Doug & I at Mama's Fish House after dinner. (Right)

Day 1 Aloha! In Hawaii

ALOHA!

Day 1: July 31

We are in Hawaii. We had an amazing trip. We arrived in the afternoon, settled into our Condo, changed into our swimsuits and went straight to the beach! It was absolutely beautiful. Soft sand, palm trees and a cool breeze. A nice change from the 115 degrees in AZ. We walked along the beach, swam a little, and found fish & small sea creatures in the lava rocks.

This is the beach in Kihei near our Condo.

We stayed at the beach for the rest of the day. We watched a beautiful sunset on the lovely beach of Maui. It was simply breathtaking... just like in the movies. :) For dinner we stopped at a cute little marketplace in Kihei with thatched roofs and tiki torches and had some yummy fish tacos.

Summer 2009

Okay, it's late, and we're leaving for Utah tommorrow, but I haven't posted in so long. I have lots to post about from Summer. I'm going to add a couple pictures quick tonight. I'll do more when we get home from Utah.We just returned from our incredible trip to Hawaii. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

We had fun with Justin, Marin & Carden coming to swim! He was loving it.