We arrived in Hawaii on New Year's Eve just in time to watch, from our hotel balcony, a great fireworks display over the water. We spent the next day exploring Waikiki and the following day got on a cruise ship for a week long trip around the Islands.
On Maui we rented a car for the picturesque drive to Hana on the east coast. After we returned the rental car we found a shuttle bus back to the cruise ship. We were the only two passengers on the bus and the driver was a very funny happy man who kept us laughing the whole way back to the boat. He was a nice conclusion to the day trip.
While on the ship we met numerous friendly happy people. Two of our favorite people were a young newlywed couple from New York. We met them while getting a rental car to explore the volcanoes of the Big Island. They joined us in our car and we had a fun time with them as we looked at lava beds and waterfalls. We saw them only a few times afterwards, which is as it should be, after all they were on their honeymoon! However we did hear the bride had been a bit seasick so we truly hope they enjoyed most of their trip and got home safely to New York and back to school to finish their degrees.
While we were exploring the lava beds I met a tour guide who had sent all her passengers exploring. She was waiting in the shade, with refreshments, for their return. We got talking and with enthusiasm she told me, about the area ...the geography, geology and history. It was nice to talk to someone who was so cheerful and happy with her work.
Our tour bus on Kaua'i decided to break down as we were leaving the viewpoint of "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific". Although we had to wait an hour and a half for another bus everyone was cheerful and understanding. After all it was a pretty place to be stranded. I left cards with several of the passengers and the bus driver. He managed to get us where we were supposed to go and gave all the history of the area we could ever want to know.
Because we spent so much time off the ship I did not have much opportunity to meet a lot of the passengers. However I did give some cards to happy people from other places in the States and to some of the friendly smiling people of Hawaii.
I've included two pictures with this posting as I could not decide which best represents what we saw in Hawaii, the barren volcano or lush waterfalls. So you get both!
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