Mahalo Oahu and Bon Voyage.

Saturday March 17th- Happy St. Patrick's Day
Today we leave the lovely Ko Olina Resort, turn in the car rental, and head to the pier where we will find our cruise ship-Norwegian's Pride of America
One of the most organized embarkation processes I have been through.
Even thou we were on board shortly after noon we couldn't get to our room until after 3pm. Had a little buffet lunch and sat and relaxed.
The ship set sail at 7 pm and we sailed all night to reach Maui by morning.




The black swans KoOlina








A drive along the south shore of Oahu








Beaches have life guard huts




Our ship




On board








A barely visable rainbow as we leave Oahu




The hotels of Waikiki and Diamond Head








Sunset








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Waikiki

Friday is the day we decided to head to Waikiki----lots of big buildings, too much traffic and lots of people since it is Spring Break for many kids.
Curtis visited the Hawaii Railway Society and wandered around the lot for a bit. The train was out since some school kids had gone on a little ride. it usually only runs on Sundays. I got to visit a stamp store and get some rubber stamps with a Hawaiian theme. We headed over to Hard Rock as Curtis has a friend who asked if we would get a T shirt from there. We also ate some lunch there. Then a drive along the beach-- no parking spots in sight.


Banyon tree


Our lunch



Surfers at the beach



Surf boards at the beach


Waikiki beach





Surfer dude


Surfers catching the waves





Sunset at KoOlina


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The Polynesian Culture Centre

This is a great place to visit if you come to Hawaii. So interesting and informative.
I highly recommend it. Not only is there information on the natives of Hawaii, but all the south sea islands-Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa,and New Zealand. They give you information, let you participate in activities, share their music and there is a boat procession with dancers, native costumes and music. A little pricey for entering, but well worth the money. They also have a luau and evening entertainment. We opted out of the nightly entertainment since we have one on our cruise. But I am sure it would have been excellent.






A Samoan warrior




A Fijian with his Ukelele






















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Tropical Flowers

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Koi fish in the pond

































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The Dole Pineapple Plantation

Curtis and I were awake early due to the difference in time zones. We kept our door open, since we are on the 11th floor. You could hear the waves on the shore. And then all the birds started to sing. We headed down to the beach to enjoy some breakfast and got to see a rainbow over the ocean. We decided to visit tue Dole Pineapple Plantation and drive along the north shore of Oahu to the Polynesian Culture Centre. We rode the Pineapple Express at the plantation and visited the gardens, where we saw beautiful hibiscus and other tropical plants. I will make a separate post about the Polynesian culture centre.


Rainbow at the beach



The Pineapple Express









Sugar cane



Pineapple in the fields



New plants






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