Colors of Hawaii

I love all of the beautiful flowers in Hawaii. I wish I could take them home, but pictures will have to do. We had a great trip and we loved Hawaii. It would be a great place to serve a mision. Hopefully we can go back some day.

Jungle Falls By Kayak

Friday we went to Jungle Falls by Kayak. We paddled 21/2miles to the end of the water, then we got out and hiked on a forest trail 1/2 mile. It was beautiful going through the jungle. It was really good exercise going kayaking in the ocean. we ended by seeing a beautiful waterfall that Cal climbed up and went behind it to look out.

Valentines Day Surfing In Kauai

We needed a day for shopping so we took it easy here, in Kauai. The weather was crazy. We had rain, sun,rain,wind,sun. The guys went surfing again and Vicky and Natalie tried it also. I knew that I didn't have the strength to fight the waves so I took pictures for everyone. We ate dinner at Duke's Surf it was really good.

Kona, Hawaii

On Wednesday we went to Captain Zodiac Raft and Snorkel. They took us to the Kealakekua Bay, which in one of the top 10 (voted national geographic) as #7 in the world best spot. It was beautiful, colorful coral reefs, a lot of tropical fish. The water was a little chilly. They have the iron man races here. We were able to watch some of them practice. We rode in a 24 foot zodiac raft along the Kona coast. On our way to snorkel we saw humpback whales from Alaska. The mothers are having their babies and we have been watching babies learn to breech. On the way back we saw dolphins. They were small dolphins and so fun to watch.

Volcanoes National Park

On Tuesday we were in Hilo, Hawaii. We went to Volcanoes National Park. Is is just over 4,000 feet, Kilauea is not the tallest volcano on the Big Island, but it is the most active. Then we went to an extinct lava tube which we were able to walk through. Our driver was LDS. He was a Branch President of his area. He told us as we were observing a volcano that this is where David O Mackay had stood. He got a feeling that they should all move off the ledge. Right after the got off, the ledge broke. We went to the Macadamia Nut Factory. We bought so many boxes of nuts. We brought them back for everyone. While we were on the ship tonight we passed an active volcano, and watched the lava flow down it. How Beautiful!

Maui Whale Watching

On Monday we went whale watching and to Lahaina. Each winter, one-third of all north Pacific Whales migrate 3,000 miles to the warm waters of Hawaii, from their feeding grounds in Alaska. We saw a lot of whales!! It was so awesome to be so close to them.A pod was swimming and fighting it was mating season. A lot of babies were learning how to breach it looked like something you would see on discovery channel. I got a pineapple charm for my bracelet when we went shopping. They give you a gift, it is an oyster to open. My oyster had twin pink pearls. When we got back we were able to walk from the cruise ship about 5 min. away and see a lot of sea turtles. They always come to this spot because they like the warm water.

Surfing

The next day the guys went surfing on Waikiki Beach. We were able to walk to the beach from hotel. It was so fun to watch them surf. They all did a great job.