the hawaiian islands...

Welcome to Day 4 of 'Let's Take a Trip'! We are having great fun traveling to interesting places at home and abroad this week. If you would like to be a tour guide...simply do a travel post and send me the link (by e-mail or as a comment). I will display all travel links at the bottom of my post each day. Tomorrow is our final day away from home...so enjoy the tour!

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Mention Hawaii and I think beaches...and endless hours of relaxing in the sunshine with a good book. That was the Hawaii vacation I was familiar with...but last year we tried another kind. We decided to take a seven night cruise around the islands. Rather than spending all our time at one spot on the beach...we checked out four different islands.

We sailed out of Oahu and spent our first two nights docked at a port on the island of Kauai. Since this was our first visit to this island, we rented a car and explored from morning until night. Rather than picking one or two sights as a shore excursion...we did our own thing, and saw it all.

We visited Waimea Canyon...

...and the breath-taking beauty of the red rock canyons contrasted by the green vegetation.

Far below, we spotted a little farm nestled into the valley.

If you don't like chickens...this may not be the island for you! Chickens roam freely throughout Kauai...at the beach, at the grocery store, in the rain forest, everywhere. Certain ethnic groups brought fighting chickens to Hawaii...and in the 80's they were all set free as hurricanes swept across the islands destroying their cages. Since the chickens have no natural predators on Kauai, they have flourished.
They are rather striking birds...evidence of their fighting heritage. We stopped for lunch at a picnic site along the beach...while chickens scuttled about everywhere.
We travelled to the far north of Kauaii...a wonderful resort area called Princeville.

Here we spent a while enjoying the beach...the waves...and the mist rolling in off the sea.

We passed taro fields in this area...

...and spent a great deal of time viewing a grove of coconut palms. It wasn't intended to be a stop on our tour...but we spent a few hours parked right next to this grove of palms when the one-and-only highway on the island was closed due to a fatal car accident. Fortunately, our ship was not due to sail until the morning...so we weren't too upset by our roadblock. Thankfully we had books along...so we read until the lights went out. We missed a wonderful dinner on-board that night...but had a lesson in patience beside the grove of coconut palms.

Our cruise ship passed by the rugged Napili Coast...and on to Hilo on the east coast of the Big Island. We again rented a car and saw as much as we could!

From Onomea Bay...

...to Rainbow Falls

..Akaka Falls

...and Luliuokalani Park (the Japanese Gardens of Hilo).

Having been to Kona before, we knew exactly where to go when we arrived at that port. We hopped onto a shuttle and headed for 'turtle bay'...where we snorkeled at our favorite spot.

We had planned to bike the volcano in Maui...but by the end of the week we decided to take a day off and relax. Getting up at 4 am to take part in the bike tour just didn't seem that appealing anymore.

So we spent our last day in Maui on the chaise lounge with a good book...

...and woke up on our final morning in the Port of Honolulu. It was a fun way to explore the islands...sort of like a sampler buffet. So if you are interested in checking out all the Hawaiian Islands on a whirlwind tour...check out the cruises.

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Next stop on your tour...

1. Trish ~ My Corner of the Universe Beautiful B.C. ~ Vancouver Island
2. Pat ~ Mille Fiori Favoriti Ireland
3. Jeanelle ~ Midlife by Farmlight Iowa
4. Kathy ~ Shocking Pink Thread Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Park
5. Penny ~ Lavender Hill Studio Italy
6. Penny ~ Lavender Hill Studio Italy
7. Penny ~ Lavender Hill Studio Italy
8. Millie ~ Wreathmaker Waterton National Park
9. Vee ~ A Haven for Vee Pemaquid Point
10. Trish ~ My Corner of the Universe Ucluelet
11. Marg ~ Home Again Shaking Hands with Europe
12. Knitting Mania ~ Napa Valley
13. Trish ~ My Corner of the Universe The Pacific Rim
14. Marg ~ Home Again Riding the Blue Danube
15. A Woman Who is ~ Giverney
16. Lovella ~ What Matters Most Ride to Sturgis
17. Trish ~ My Corner of the Universe Wonderful West Coast
18. Lisa ~ Stop and Smell the Chocolates Bryce Canyon