Thursday, January 22, 2015 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Mostly Sunny – 73F

The Star Princess is on her Eastbound Transpacific leg…

The seas are a little rocky – a weather front did indeed come through the islands.  On the plus side, it is still sunny and warm outside.

I had another nice breakfast in the Horizon Court – an omelet (cheese, tomatoes, and onions) plus some oatmeal and biscuits.

Later in the morning, I, of course, had my iced mocha decaf latte as I worked on my next presentation.  The sunlight pouring into the International Café was very nice.

Lunch was also in the Horizon Court and at 1:30 PM, I presented the “Mysteries of the Titanic” in the Princess Theater.  The attendance today was 500 plus – I was pleased at the turnout after the four days in the islands.

The presentation, however, had an unfortunate occurrence.  About half-way through the talk, I heard a loud groan from somewhere in the audience.  Then I noticed a lot of scurrying in the back right portion of the theater, where a passenger had apparently passed out.  The ship’s doctor, who had been a regular member of my audience, ran back to attend to the man.  I told the audience to let everyone do their job and turned off my microphone. 

After a few minutes, the man was revived and taken away by the doctor and some crew members.  The doctor gave me a “thumbs up” from the rear of the theater and I coaxed the audience into giving the passenger a round of applause.  On the humorous side, the AV tech came to me after this was all over and asked me if my mic was OK since he didn’t hear speaking.  The AV tech also told me to hurry things along but I explained the situation to him and I was able to finish the talk about 5 minutes late.  I wonder if the whole thing was caught on the tape of my talk.

We spent the afternoon reading in the Solarium (warm and toasty in there) and I finished “Taboo” (Reilly Steel Novel), which I really liked and started “Blue Labyrinth”, the latest (14th) Agent Pendergast Novel. 

We had dinner in the Horizon Court (tonight, there were ice sculptures in the buffet line).  I really liked the Coke bottle and glass one below.

After dinner, we took in the Production Show, “Stardust” in the Princess Theater.  We have seen this show before with a totally different cast.  The show was still very good.

“Stardust”

Our post show entertainment consisted of listening to Magdalena playing the piano and singing in the Wheelhouse Lounge.

Hoping for smooth seas…

Wednesday, January 21, 2015 – Lahaina, Maui – Mostly Sunny – 77F

Background Information.  Lahaina is what is known as a CDP (Census Designated Place), which is neither a city, town, or other population center and has no local government.  Lahaina has a population of about 12,000 residents, who enjoy the many galleries, eateries, and specialty stores lining the main street.

Our terrific weather continues on the Island of Maui…

The ship is docked about 10 minutes from the small town of Lahaina.

The tender loading and dispatching process is very smooth on the Star Princess (as it usually is).  Ellen and I are on the same tender.

 

Tendering to Lahaina, Maui

We are both on tour today - “Maui Gold Pineapple Plantation Plant Tour”.  The tour involves a tour of the pineapple fields and the packing plant and then lunch at a local restaurant.  When we got to Lahaina, our bus was not quite ready so we waited in the shade in  the pier area. 

From the pier, I captured the Star Princess out in the Bay.

In a few minutes, we boarded our van – it was not a standard bus but a small van.  It turned out to be very comfortable for the 12 passengers on board.  Our guide was “Captain Ron” (I think) and he was very much an Island Guy. 

The route took us out of Lahaina and along the Pacific Ocean.

There were scenic mountains on the left side of the van but they were difficult to shoot while moving.  I did get a picture of Kahoʻolawe, an uninhabited island about seven miles off the coast.  The island gained notoriety because, during WWII, the US Armed Forces used the island for bombing practice.  This activity stopped in the early 1990s and now the island can only be used for Hawaiian ceremonial activities.  I bet there’s a lot of unexploded ordinance still on the island.  Kahoʻolawe is still known as the “Target Island”.

The “Target Island” of Kahoʻolawe

We were told that we would need to change transports for our tour of the Maui Gold Pineapple Plantation.  This took place at an Educational Facility not far from the plantation.  The facility had a number of school building and fantastic grounds and we also saw several students wandering around.  We spent a little time at the gift shop and, in the end, picked up some souvenirs.

  

School Grounds

We rendezvoused with our plantation guide, Bret, and boarded what looked like a reclaimed school bus for our tour.  We took us through the fields and pointed out the various stages of pineapple maturation (first and second generation pineapples).  Pineapples take several years to mature (something to think about the next time you eat only part of your pineapple). 

 

Second Generation Pineapple Field

Bret cut up some pineapples for us to taste – they were good but I didn’t think they were a lot different from the pineapples I’ve tried back home.  Still nice and juicy – there wasn’t a strong pineapple taste, as well. 

Bret Cutting Up Some Snacks

In the Fields

The pineapple fields were very flat so from our vantage point, we could see the volcano, Haleakala.  We toured the summit last time we were here.

Mt. Haleakala

The tour of the plant was OK – Wednesday is not a packing day so there were few workers around.  We also saw a small chemistry lab, which is used to test the sugar and acidity content of the fruit.  Crude but workable. 

Our next stop – and the one I was looking forward to – was lunch. 

The lunch venue was the Hali‘imaile General Store.  The restaurant was once a general store for the folks that worked in the plantation.  Today, the restaurant is run by the Gannons with Bev Gannon as the chef.  Bev Gannon is an award winning chef with other fine restaurants on her resume.  The General Store is one of the best restaurants on the island of Maui. 

We were somewhat disappointed when we could not find anything on the small menu (probably used only for tour groups) that we could eat.  Ellen had a discussion with the manager and was told that there were no options (e.g. subbing Salmon in for the meat) possible.  Just when it looked like we would be having salads, the waitress told us they could whip up something with tofu.  With that in mind, I had the Asian Salad with Blackened Tofu (below) and Ellen had grilled tofu on her salad.  The salads were delicious and what I would expect from a fine restaurant.

Lunch was a little rushed – we were told that our transportation was waiting.  We still were able to finish our meal and boarded the bus for the return trip to Lahaina.

The bus ride home took us past the West Maui mountain range.

West Maui Mountains

From the road, we could also see a line of wind turbines providing electricity for island residents.

Wind Turbines

Soon, we were hugging the coast line and within a few minutes, the Star Princess came into view.

   

Pacific Coast and Star Princess

We still had plenty of time before the last tender, so we decided to walk through the cute town on Lahaina.  There seemed to be more people on the streets compared to the last few times we were here.

Star Princess and the Island of Lanai 

Ellen and the Star Princess

The tender ride back was much rougher (there was a weather front moving in) and it took a while for the boat to be able to pull alongside the ship.  Everyone survived the bouncy conditions.

A very nice day in Maui.

Tomorrow, we start our return trip…

Tuesday, January 20, 2015 – Nawiliwili, Kauai – Mostly Sunny – 77F

A gorgeous day on the “Garden Island” of Kauai…

I started off with a nice breakfast in the Horizon Court – one of my usual breakfasts. 

It is not a long day in Kauai because the ship must leave during daylight hours – apparently the route to the sea is a windy one (“Nawiliwili” means winding river, I believe). 

Ellen and I have an all-day tour today - “Wailua River Cruise, Luau, and Romantic Ceremony” – a number of couples have signed up for this particular excursion as a way of re-stating their wedding vows.  We are in it for the included Hawaiian lunch. 

Ellen all set to Excurse

Our first stop would be Opaekaa Falls located in Wailua River State Park.  As we entered the park, we passed by the “Birthing Stones”.  These stones are where all Kauaiian Kings were born.  This is also where some scenes from “Fantasy Island” were filmed.

Birthing Stones

Also near the entrance to the park, was the Coco Palms Resort.  This resort, now closed due to damage from Hurricane Iniki, was the location used for the movie, “Blue Hawaii”.

Coco Palms Resort

Opaekaa Falls was the next stop. Opaekaa is Hawaiian for “Shrimp Rolling”.  In the past, the falls was teeming with shrimp that would tumble in the waters of the falls.  You can get good shots of the 150 foot waterfall from a viewing bridge.

Opaekaa Falls

Ellen and the Falls

The next segment of the tour involved a river boat ride along the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto.

The boats were covered, long boats with bench seats.  The aisles allowed passenger to move about and also provided room for some of the performers to do their thing.

Getting ready to board

The Wailua River is a calm, windy, relatively wide river with lush vegetation coming ride down to the river’s edge.

 

The Wailua River

At one point, I was able to get a picture of Mt. Waialeale, one of the 10 wettest spots on the planet averaging 450 inches of rain annually.

  

Mt. Waialeale

Pacing our river boat were several paddle surfers (below).

 

We reached our destination – “The Fern Grotto”.  The Grotto was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Iniki but most of the vegetation has grown back.  Once, weddings were held in the grotto but now, they are only performed on the deck in front of the grotto (for safety reasons).  We were treated to a mini-show consisting of stories, songs, and hula dancing before getting back on the river boats.

The Fern Grotto

On the way back, we were entertained by a band and hula girls.  The girl below was especially good, performing a wide variety of hula dances.

 

Good spot to watch the Hula Girls

Our final stop on this tour was the Smith’s Tropical Paradise and Botanical Gardens.  This is a 30 acre facility located in the Wailua River Valley.        

From our bus, we split up into smaller groups and boarded trams for a tour of the Gardens.

In Case You’re Lost

Either a Moa or a Tiki God

Polynesian Village Area

After the tour, we all gathered at a massive tent structure for a luau and entertainment.  While we were touring, the pig (featured guest at our luau) was cooking underground in a traditional Imu. 

Porky’s Almost Done

There was the traditional Imu Ceremony, where the pig is dug up and taken away to be prepared for lunch.  While the pig was off limits, there was plenty of food available.  The buffet process was very orderly with hostesses calling up tables.  The wait wasn’t an issue because there were Mai Tais to be had.

It was pretty much vegetarian for us - three bean salad, green salad, macaroni salad , lomi lomi salmon salad (an acquired taste), good bread, mai tais, and dessert.  Coffee finished off a fine meal.

Entertainment was provided by a local singer and his family of singers and hula girls.  They were all very good and the show went on for more than an hour.

 

Luau Entertainment

At the end of the lunch, couples, who had filled out marriage re-vows, read them to their spouses (not too loudly) and the process was completed. 

It was an absolutely perfect tour.

The bus took us back to the ship and for a moment, we thought we might check out the small shopping area near the ship (shuttle provided).  We thought otherwise and headed up to relax, watch the sail away, and get ready for dinner.  Other people might have taken advantage of the free shuttles to do some power shopping at some very familiar places (see below)

The sail away from Nawiliwili did not seem so treacherous after all – I didn’t get the impression that it was so serpentine.  I did get some nice pictures as the sun was setting over Kauai.

Nawiliwili Sail Away

After dinner, we caught tonight’s headliners – “These Guys”.  We had seen them before, but the last time, there were different guys in the group.  No matter, they were very entertaining and the crowd loved them.

 

“These Guys” Perform

A great day from top to bottom in Kauai…