Day 4 & 5: The Big Island

On the third day, our ship docked at Hilo. From our ship, we headed straight to Rainbow Falls State Park since it was only a 10-15 minutes drive. Supposedly if there had been enough water, we would have been able to see a rainbow appear in the mist of the fall. As you can see below, there was not enough water, which made the waterfall nondescript. But whatever, it's close by. Next, we drove to Volcanoes National Park. Nobody should leave the Big Island without visiting this park because this is one of the main attractions of Hawaii. This park is home to the world's longest continually erupting volcano. Last time we were there, the volcano was still dormant. This time, however, we could see and smell sulfur dioxide permeating the air. In fact, they closed off half the park because of high sulfur dioxide level. For comparison, I included a picture that I took in 2007. After looking at the crater, we drove to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory where we bought lots of macadamia nuts. To conclude our day, we drove on Onomea Scenic Drive on our way to see Akaka Falls. With water tumbling 440 feet to its base, Akaka Falls is definitely the most majestic waterfall I have ever seen in Hawaii.

That night, our ship sailed slowly to Kona, our second port on the Big Island. Along the way, we were able to watch the lava flow. The sight was spectacular. Unfortunately, it was far away so we had to use a binocular to see. Still, how often do we see an active volcano with lava flowing? The experience is ineffable.

The next day, we headed to Greenwell Farms for a tour of their coffee farm. We got to see the entire coffee process and even tasted the renown 100% Kona Peaberry Coffee. Needless to say, we bought several bags of coffee. Afterward, we visited Puuhonua O Honaunau Historical Park. Apparently, up until the early 19th century, this had been a place of refuge for people who broke a kapu or one of the ancient laws against the gods. Finally, we drove to Kahaluu Beach to go, what else, snorkeling! Kahaluu Beach is not as pretty as Kapulua Beach in Maui. The beach is very rocky and the water is extremely shallow. We found it really difficult to snorkel with our flippers because we were afraid of kicking the coral reefs. The waves were also stronger that day which made it difficult to swim away from the coast. Moreover, we all got cuts and scrapes either on our hands or legs. All I can say is I'm heading somewhere else to snorkel next time.

Rainbow Falls

Kilauea Caldera (January 2009)

Kilauea Caldera (July 2007)

Thurston Lava Tube

Onomea Scenic Drive

Onomea Bay Overlook

Akaka Falls

Banyan Tree (doesn't it look freaky?)

Greenwell Farms Coffee

Puuhonua O Honaunau Historical Park

Day 2 & 3: Maui

We started our day in Maui by driving on Hana Highway, a scenic drive that connects Kahului to Hana. As this is a 68-mile convoluted drive, I would not recommend taking this trip if you are short on time. Since we only had two days, we only drove part of the way. We stopped at various points, including Keanae Peninsula Lookout, Wailua Valley Lookout, and Waikani Falls.

After getting back to Kahului, we headed to the Haleakala National Park where we waited to watch the sunset. The summit is about ~10,000 feet high and it is absolutely freezing there. Last time we were there, it was in August so it wasn't as cold. But this time, it was almost unbearable because the wind was very strong. Keep in mind that we came prepared with winter coats and hats. After watching the sunset, we proceeded to drive very carefully down the volcano because there were no lights except the ones from our car. I would not leave Maui without visiting this park because the view is simply sublime. However, I would recommend coming in the summer to watch the sunrise, follow by a bike ride down the volcano.

The next day, we drove to Iao Valley State Park to see the famous Iao Needle. Afterward, we drove along the west coast of Maui toward Kapulua Beach where we plan to snorkel. Along the way, we stopped to do some whale watching. Each time we caught sight of a whale, we shouted in excitement. There were so many whales swimming that it was hard to pull away and continue on our drive. But pull away we did and thank goodness because snorkeling on Kapulua Beach was truly an unforgettable experience. We swam with countless variegated fishes, coral reefs, and even a huge Hawaiian turtle! Needless to say, it was one of the highlights of our trip.

View of Maui from our balcony

"Painted" trees along Hana Highway

Keanae Peninsula Lookout

Wailua Valley Lookout

Waikani Falls

View of the rim of the Haleakala

View from the summit of Haleakala

View of the sunset from the Haleakala

Nene: a Hawaiian bird

Iao Needle

Kapulua Beach

Journey to Hawaii- Day 1

The trip from Taipei to Honolulu was exhausting primarily because we had to wait nine interminable hours in Kansai International Airport in Osaka. However, all that was forgotten as soon as we stepped out of Honolulu's Airport. We were immediately greeted with soothing warmth, a nice respite from the cold weather in Taipei (yes Taipei can get cold). Looking silly in our heavy winter coats, we quickly doffed our coats and packed them in our suitcase.

Since we didn't have to board our cruise ship until later in the afternoon, we decided to take a stroll through Waikiki Beach and the shops nearby. Although we weren't hungry, we wanted to taste some sushi because the sushi in Hawaii is actually pretty good--an observation we reached from our last trip to Hawaii. Not to mention we really miss having American style sushi--rainbow rolls, dragon rolls, volcano rolls, etc....

After our afternoon "snacks" it was time to board the ship. There was a line but the line was definitely shorter than when we went 1.5 years ago. Overall, I noticed that not only were there fewer people, many of the people present were older. There were fewer children and fewer honeymooners, a deviation from our cruise. Is it the economy? Or the season? I'd say it's a bit of both.

Pride of America is very similar to Pride of Hawaii. However, Pride of Hawaii is noticeably newer and better maintained. Although Pride of Hawaii is only 15% bigger, it appears significantly larger to me. I enjoyed the shows on Pride of Hawaii better. As far as the restaurants are concerned, some are better and some are worse. But, I don't like how we have to pay a cover for Italian restaurant (which was "free" on Pride of Hawaii). I also don't know how Pride of America can claim that "East Meets West" is an Asian Fusion restaurant when in reality, it's just serves Americanized Chinese food. I definitely would NOT pay $15 cover charge had I known we would be eating really bad Americanized Chinese food. Everything was either too sweet or too salty. It was without a doubt the worst restaurant on the ship.

The shows were good (the ones that I attended anyways). There was a really funny comedian and a really good magician. The rest of the shows didn't look appealing so we didn't bother going. I wish they had more dance shows or acrobatic performances--primarily because we went a bunch of people who didn't speak English very well.

In summary, I would definitely go on NCL again, probably not in Hawaii though. As much as I like Hawaii, taking two cruises is enough. Not to mention there are so many other places in the world to explore. I will post the pictures from the other island if/when I get around to it.

Waikiki Beach

Hitachi Tree

Random cute figure

Side view of Pride of America

Front view of our ship

Back view of our ship

Exhibition area inside the ship

Reception area

One of the main dining room

Upper deck

Our cabin with a balcony