Hawaii Pics

As my friends and blog visitors know, last month I took a two week cruise to Hawaii. Though I have visited several of the islands in the past, this was the first time I'd cruised around them and visited several in a short span of time. I actually think spending several days on each island is a far better way to see them, but I wanted to share a few photos of the trip.

Our first stop was Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Here's Aunty posing in front of a hedge of pretty blue flowers in old town Hilo. When we visited the Big Island before, we stayed in Kona which has an entirely different climate.

Next stop Honolulu.

Here's a shot of the koi pond in the center of the International Market Place, right across the street from Waikiki beach.

We didn't really have enough time to get out of Honolulu, which was a shame. I love the beaches on the North Shore of Oahu, and January is when they have some spectacular surf.

On to the island of Kauai, where I'd never been before.

Unfortunately, it was raining when we arrived, and the rain continued all morning. We took an excursion to Waimea Canyon, but the heavy mist kept us from seeing much.

The sun finally came out on our way back to the ship and we stopped to see the famous "blow hole." When the waves come in, the water spouts up through the rocks like a geyser.

Here's a nice shot of the plume of water. Even more exciting, we could see whales spouting on the horizon! They were too far away for my camera, but we enjoyed watching them.

Last stop was Maui, where we visited the old whaling village of Lahaina.

There's a HUGE banyon tree in the middle of town in front of the old court house. The tree is spread over about three city blocks! This is not even one of the main branches, but one of dozens this size going off in every direction.

We'd stayed on Maui in the past and took a drive up to the fantastic crater of the extinct volcano Haleakala. I'd have loved to go there again.

So while I enjoyed spending a few days in paradise, I'd much rather go back to just one island and spend a week or two.

Do you prefer short get-aways or one to two week vacations? What's the longest vacation you've taken?