It will be good to be home. I always enjoy cruising but my clothes are fitting a bit tight. A constant diet of high carb food and beer is taking its toll. Hopefully we will not encounter trouble getting home due to the shutdown. Oh well time to pack up…
Today we took a trip to a botanical garden on Kuai that several movies were filmed on. Scenes from the original Jurassic Park and one of the Captain Jack Sparrow movies were filmed there. It was an interesting visit. An opportunity to see typical house plants in the wild…
Below are some pictures from the park….
We booked an excursion that seemed innocent enough—just some sightseeing and wildlife watching. I didn’t look too closely at the details, though. When we got to the dock, we were presented with a ride on a Zodiac. Sixteen people in a rubber raft—what could possibly go wrong?
I spent most of the time hanging on for dear life. A rubber raft on the open ocean is something I never need to experience again. That said, we did spot a few whales, so it wasn’t a total loss.
I’m pretty sore today. I’ll try to go back and post some pictures. I didn’t take any myself, but I think Sue snapped a few.
We have been to the Island of Oahu before so there was no compelling reason to do much there. We did go to lunch at Dukes on Waikiki Beach. Had some Mahi Mahi fish and chips. Also a couple of glasses of the local beer. A perfect afternoon.
We spent the day driving around Maui. I think it would have been better to have spent out time on a beach. Below are a few pictures taken from a botanical garden we stopped at.
Finally the unofficial state bird of Hawaii. They are everywhere.
Well we made it. The island of Hawaii is a bit less populated than most of the other islands. Didn’t feel overwhelmed by throngs of tourists. We went to the Volcanic National park. No employees due to the shutdown but we got to see some things. Glad to do something other than milling around the ship all day..
Had a meal compliments of the casino… Ok we paid more for it than if we had just went to the restaurant but that is how comps work. Tomorrow the big Island.
Well not much to report here. Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. Its getting warmer as we head south. My internet connection isn’t quite as good as a dial up modem. Oh well, lots of food and alcohol on the menu for today. Will hopefully hit land in a couple of days….
On the boat and sailing away. Will see what kind of excitement we can find on the boat. Stay tuned…
It was surprisingly quiet for a Friday in Vegas—tourism is definitely down. Lines were short, and getting through security at both Vegas and Vancouver airports was a breeze.
After arriving at our hotel, we found we were able to check in early. We then took a taxi to the Gas Town area of downtown Vancouver. We spent some time walking around and stopped at a coffee shop to do a bit of people-watching.
One of the highlights was a clock that runs on steam. Amusingly, it doesn’t seem to keep accurate time, but it was still fascinating to see.
It’s been a long day. Just kicking back for the rest of it.
Off to the ship tomorrow
