Highlights from Hawaii

I just got back from a terrific vacation trip to Hawaii with my sister and parents. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and I can't recall a more relaxing vacation in recent times. Mind you, I thought the family was crazy when they thought that we should travel to Hawaii in August....but as it turned out, the weather in Hawaii was MUCH cooler than here in Mississippi. And for that reason alone, the trip was also a relief. It had been 40 years since I was in Hawaii the last time and memories had faded a bit.

Day #1--Travel to Hawaii--Friday

We met in Atlanta for the flight to Honolulu, a ~10-hour flight during the daytime that got us to Honolulu mid-afternoon. I'll give Delta credit for a safe, on-time, enjoyable flight with a super-friendly cabin crew.

My initial impression of Honolulu was: crowded! We stayed the night at the Hale Koa Hotel, a hotel run by the Army for military folks. What a great place....right on Waikiki Beach at Fort Derussy (70+ green acres in the middle of Waikiki, the only "open" space in sight). The photo above is from our 13th floor balcony, looking down on the surfers. We had a quiet, restful afternoon and Lori and I had a bite to eat at an outdoor eatery right on the beach, next door at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. After the long day of travel, it was no trouble getting to sleep.

Day #2--Honolulu and Embarkation--Saturday

On Saturday morning, I headed out for a run down Waikiki, up and around Diamond Head, then back to the hotel (~8 miles), my first outside run in a while. I felt like there were about a 1,000 other tourists doing the same thing. Pretty funny. After breakfast, we headed out for an early morning tour of Iolane Palace, the palace once used by Hawaii's royal family. In modern times, the stair steps are probably better known from the original version of Hawaii 5-0.

The "real" purpose of the trip was a cruise on the Norweigan Cruise Line's Pride of America....a 7-night cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. We set sail on Saturday afternoon, bound for Maui.

For the cruise-minded, this was a typical large ship cruise. Nothing terribly unusual....good or bad. If I had any complaint, I'd say that the service in general might have been better. But there's probably no easier way to get a glimpse of the islands than to have the ship take you to the next stop each night. The fitness center was good and I logged more than a few miles on the ship's treadmills.

Day #3--Maui--Sunday

We awoke as the ship was arriving in Kahului Harbor in Maui. From the ship, you could see the nearby airport. After a pre-docking run on the treadmill and a quick breakfast, I headed off with the family to pick up a rental car. Today it was Enterprise. Then, it was off on the drive to the top of Haleakala, the island's extinct volcano. The drive took about 90 minutes and topped out about 10,000 feet.

One sight along the way was the many silversword plants, found only here. The picture here is of one of the plants that was flowering.

The view from the top was great. You could see over to the island of Hawaii, with it's Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea and over to Lanai in the other direction. We passed a few hardy cyclists making the uphill journey....and more than a few cyclists making the downhill trip on fat-tire bikes.

After our excursion to Haleakala, we returned to Kahului and then headed out the Road to Hana....at least as far as our lunch stop at Mama's Fish House. This was awesome. Beautiful setting, totally peaceful, and great food. No wonder that several of the Twitter friends wrote back quickly about having loved Mama's, too. We spent the late afternoon and evening on the ship which remained docked for the night in Maui.

Day #4--Maui--Monday

After another early session on the treadmill, my sister and I left for a day-long snorkeling excursion to the Molokini Crater, a couple miles off the shore of Maui. The parents joined a shopping excursion from the ship that headed to Lahaina. We would catch up with them in the late afternoon back at the ship.

Our snorkeling excursion was with Trilogy Excursions on a large catamaran. There were about 20 folks along for the trip. We made stops at the Molokini Crater and also along the reef off the shore of Wailea. This was my first time to try SNUBA and I thought this was great. We had 20-foot oxygen lines, so it was possible to dive down and really have a close look at the fish and coral. The best sighting was a large sea turtle. We had fun chasing after some dolphins between the 2 stops and we used the sails for about an hour on the return trip.

While we were at Molokini, I could look over at Lanai and eye up the Lanai Channel. Each October there is a relay (or solo) swim of the 9-mile channel. With each island's coast climbing to (very) tall volcanos, the 9 miles didn't look very far. There'd be no problem sighting, given the volcanos. I'd like to return some day to do that swim. It'd be fun to be part of a relay, but it'd be even more fun to tackle the swim solo.

Back on the ship that evening, I went to a spin class. It was more like a tutorial....just me, 1 other cylist, and the instructor. We had a good time, though. With the ship under sail, I got a little sea sick as I was spinning. There was a lot of up and down and I was happy that to see the class end.

Day #5--Hil0--Tuesday

Tuesday was Hilo day. After a treadmill run and breakfast, we picked up a rental car and drove to Volcanoes National Park to see the Kilauae Volcano. Pictures won't do this justice, but the picture below is from one of the observation areas at the rim road. The volcano has been erupting continuously for more than 20 years now.

Our excursion stopped at the visitors centers along the rim road and then again for a walk through the Thurston lava tube, one of the "tubes" that once carried molten lava toward the sea. Our ship departed Hilo in the late afternoon and at about 10 pm we got close to shore and slowed up to cruise by the seashore (at least from binocular distance) where the lava is currently flowing into the sea. Amazing, really. There were about 8 areas where molten lava was putting on a display as it hit the cold ocean water.

Day #6--Kona--Wednesday

I'd been looking forward to Kona day for a long time. We had met a fellow triathlete, Gerd Weber, on our trip to Brazil last year and it turns out that he lives in Kona. I made plans to meet Gerd on the pier and go for a swim and bike. Mom rested and Lori and Dad went on a snorkeling excursion south of Kona.

Gerd was waiting on the pier and it was fun to catch up with him. He's done 6 Ironman races this past year to celebrate his 60th birthday. Wow! At any rate, we stored our gear bags and went for a swim on the course. It's different than I had imagined from TV....didn't realize that the course parallels the left shoreline (on the way out). It's really beautiful. Crystal clear water with big visibility. Lots of fish and a couple manta rays. Plenty of swimmers, too.

After the swim, we picked up my rental bike at BikeWorks and headed out for a long ride. We had a quick tour of town, then got onto the Queen K Highway and went north as far as Waikoloa. Like everybody says, the scenery is on the bleak side with the lava fields on each side of the highway. There's a little bit of greenery at the turnoff to head to the Four Seasons Hotel (and Lance's Kona home) and then no greenery until Waikoloa. We turned off there, went on a lap around the resort, checked out the beach, then grabbed an ice cream. The guys at the Waikoloa branch of BikeWorks watched our bikes. The return ride featured a headwind and the afternoon heat. I can see why this ride would be a challenge on Ironman day.

Back in Kona, we stopped at Lava Java for a smoothie and Lori joined us there. It was fun people watching as we sat outside on Alii Drive. We returned the bike and returned to the ship. An awesome day. After seeing Kona for so many years on the TV, it was great to see the place in person.

Day #7--Kauii--Thursday

Thursday morning we arrived in Kauii as I was finishing up a treadmill run on the ship. Nawiliwili Harbor was my favorite place name. Almost everybody has seen Nawiliwili Harbor....even if they haven't been there. Picture the opening pictures from the TV series MASH. The twin peak hillside where the choppers fly around is actually the hillside along the pier at Nawiliwili Harbor. Small world.

Here, we rented a car and drove to Waimea Canyon, Hawaii's version of the Grand Canyon. I must admit it looks very similar, if only on a smaller scale.



We had a restful afternoon on the ship and then went (with the masses from the ship) to a luau at a local plantation. The show was fun and I thought the pineapple juice was great. Couldn't make a trip to Hawaii without a luau, I suppose.

Day #8--Kauii--Friday

The ship overnighted in Kauii. We didn't plan any activities for Friday morning. I went for a long run off the ship, heading up the hill, down to the airport, and back to the ship. There was a mini-hurricane, it seemed, but it only lasted as long as my run!

The ship left port at 2 pm and cruised toward the Na Pali coast, the setting or backdrop for many movies--most notably, Jurassic Park. The scenery was just beautiful in the afternoon sun.

Day #9--Honolulu Again--Saturday

The ship arrived back in Honolulu early on Saturday morning. I think I was the last remaining passenger in the fitness center as everybody was getting ready to disembark.

We spent the day on a bus tour of Honolulu. The highlight was the stop at Pearl Harbor. We had a chance to visit the exhibits and movie at the Visitors Center and then take the short boat ride out the USS Arizona memorial.

It's just so hard to imagine that there was a world war in our parents' lifetime. The tour also included a drive through the Punchbowl cemetery and a quick drive to Oahu's north shore. We got dropped off at the airport, where we picked up a rental car and returned to the Hale Koa Hotel.

Day #10--Honolulu--Sunday

Sunday was a recover day. I went for a short run, but we spent most of the day just lounging at the hotel pool. We took a breat to have Sunday brunch a couple doors down at the Halekulani. Great food. Great setting. And a waiter who offered to take the family photo....

We ate an early dinner at the hotel and went to bed early so we could be up early the next day.

Day #11--Honolulu--Monday

Monday was race day. The 2010 Waikiki Roughwater Swim. I'd been looking forward to this for a long time, too. The 2.4-mi swim is the original Ironman swim. This day, there were 965 swimmers, organized into 4 waves by seeding time. I was in the 2nd wave, with the 437th fastest seeding time. There were a lot of fast swimmers! There were a couple entire college swim teams in the first wave.

The race starts on the beach in front of the New Otani Hotel, heads out about 700m through the boat channel, then parallels Waikiki Beach, heading to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The final leg toward shore happens in the boat channel there, with a finish on the beach. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was awesome.

The swim went well and I reached the final turning buoy, with 670m to go in ~51 minutes. I thought that was a great effort in just a bathing suit (no wetsuit!), but with the surf and undertow, it took me nearly 16 minutes to do the last 670m. Wow! I finished 256th. I thought it was my best-ever open water swim. Solid from start to finish. My folks and sister were there to cheer me across the finish line. I picked up my t-shirt and cap and we enjoyed a celebration lunch at Cheesecake Factory down the street.

After lunch, Lori and I took a trip to the Ala Moana Mall, where we had a smoothie and took in a belly dancing show. The rest of the afternoon was spent just resting at the hotel. What a week!

Day #12--Depart--Tuesday

Tuesday, departure day, came all too quickly. It was a great vacation. We left on Tuesday afternoon for the afternoon flight back to Atlanta, then the short flights to our own hometowns. All I could think of was....the flight to Australia is 6 hours longer!