Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Kauai

We boarded our ship in Oahu and headed to our next island stop Kauai. What better way to see an island than in the air, so we had a helicopter ride booked for our arrival on Kauai. Our driver picked us up at the pier to transport us to the helicopter he told us there was a tsunami warning for the Hawaiian islands. He went on to explain that we would be in the best place, in the air at its expected arrival time. If the tsunami was going to be extreme our ship would have to leave and than return after. As it turned out while we travelled up above the Napali coast the water only rose 2-3 cm so everything was fine on the ground.















   

Thursday, April 5, 2012

I was thinking of past trips and I thought I might share some photos from Hawaii and the South Pacific that I took back in September/October 2009. There are a lot of pictures so I will not overwhelm you with too many at a once.I will start with the island of Oahu since that's where we started our adventure.
These are from my pre-Canon T2i Days.
All of the pictures on here are small, but if you click on the picture you will get a bigger image. Aloha.

                                                                            
 Honolulu Airport
The long flight was well worth every hour in the air.


We were greeted by the annual Floral Parade in Waikiki.

 Waikiki Beach was a very clean beach, in fact the cleanest beach I have ever been on.


The view of Diamond Head from Waikiki Beach

 Everyone who goes to Hawaii must attend a Luau.
It is a great show with hula dancers, fire throwers and really good food.
I would show you more, but I would not want to ruin it for you....you really have to go and see for yourself.


 The surf was up on The North Shore but not by much as you can see in the picture.
The day before had 35 foot waves.

Oahu was 85 degrees with a slight breeze.

 It looked like rain a couple times but we did not get a drop.
There was just a nice warm breeze and great scenery.

This park on Oahu would be a good place to stop and eat with the lush mountains on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other.

 I think anyone stopping here would have a hard time packing up to leave.


 Hanauma Bay park is another good place to stop with the funky trees supplying plenty of shade.


The other side of Hanauma Bay park supplies you with hours of snorkelling in the clear waters of the bay.

  
The last day on Oahu took us to Pearl Harbour before we had to board our ship.
The last american navy battleship USS Missouri was getting a makeover since being donated in 1998. We where on a water taxi to the USS Arizona as I took this picture. The size of USS Missouri makes you feel much closer than the 500 feet away we actually were.

The oil from USS Arizona still rises to the surface even 68 years after its sinking.


A flag stands in the same spot as the original did in 1941 aboard USS Arizona before her sinking. I hope you enjoyed the Oahu photos and up next is Kauai.
Thank you for stopping in.

RAD

Monday, April 2, 2012

Manitoba from our room.


IMG_2575_edited-1

Calgary Landing

A little Video I recorded while landing in Calgary. I asked the flight attendant to clean the outside window before I shot the Video but I had no luck.

Follow the link:  https://vimeo.com/39641558

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Finally an Epilogue ..........

Pardon my tardiness for I am just now posting Vancouver pictures. I also would like to give you my opinion on how I felt about travelling by rail in Canada. Taking the train to travel across the country is very relaxing, given the fact  that "The Canadian" passenger train travels coast to coast.

It was very interesting to learn that a person can be picked up or dropped off at any mile marker along the route, provided you give Via 48 hours notice. So if you wanted to go fly fishing in northern Ontario you could get dropped off /picked up anywhere along the way with your canoe/supplies.

Its also a good opportunity to meet people from all over the world and Canada. If you choose the sleeper class your food is included, and let me say it is gourmet. There is also a selection of fine wines, beers and spirits available and/or you can bring your own for consumption in your own room.

Via is also in the midst of upgrading there Chateau sleeper cars to include queen beds, private bathrooms and showers in each room.  Our room was compact for sleeping but I found it quite roomy by day and the shared shower was always on the very clean side with a change room attached.

I also learned that if you are going to use new electronic hardware on a trip it is wise to give it a good workout before leaving. Memory cards are not all created without defects as quite a few pictures did not materialize properly on my new card. In the future I will put in a request with Environment Canada for better weather in Vancouver. Given the aforementioned information there is a limited amount of pictures from Vancouver. Here are a few that did.

Photo taken from Granville Island
Great Market, Lots of Artsy Stores and Aggressive Seagulls
Little Ferries that run to and from the Mainland to Granville Island
Olympic Torch 2010
Now only lit every Canada day
Gastown Steam Clock
Built by horologist Raymond Saunders in 1977 (based on an 1875 design), it was the world's first steam clock, powered by steam from an underground system of pipes that supply heat to many downtown buildings.
Air Taxis to and from Vancouver Island 
Talk about a nice way to commute.
Shaves off 4 hour ferry ride round trip, for a price of course.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and thank you for coming aboard.
RAD